July 25 2017 Day 11
This day was pretty great. I cruised the miles into Red's Meadow Pretty easily. Made it to the Mule House Cafe in time for an early lunch. Met another PCT hiker and chatted as I downed a double cheeseburger, fries, and potato salad. They also had real restrooms so I could wash up and they had a trash can where I could throw away 11 days worth of food wrappers and bathroom *ahem* stuff. (wink wink) I was stuffed to the brim. Everyone I met there was staying in the camp for the night. I was not so I left. It was immediately uphill and I was on a full stomach so the going was slow at first. Then I was full of burger power and I started smashing miles. Past the Devils Postpile. Through the crowds, up and up back into the high country. Things are much more crowded on the trail now that I'm so close to Mammoth but I eventually found a great camp at Gladys Lake. I had to ask a couple if I could tuck into the brush behind their site. There was NOWHERE else to camp. There were people everywhere. They were sobo jmt so they happily said yes and we chatted a bit. I was camped across a gully from a group out backpacking with llamas. The llamas wore bells so that they could be found if they managed to get off their tie downs. This meant ding dong all night but that's ok. I had to charge my phone for the first time tonight. The trails behind Mammoth are confusing so I used the app a lot today. I also had 3 bars at Reds so I tried to call home but it didn't work.
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| 900 mile marker on the PCT. (someday) |
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| Devils Post Pile from the JMT |
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| The Minarets. |
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| Gladys Lake |
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| Gladys Lake |
Overall a great day. 21.14 Miles.
July 26 2017 Day 12
Started out the day great. Headed away from the crowds into a remote section between Mammoth and Yosemite in the Ansel Adams wilderness. I passed Garnett Lake and Thousand Island Lake which were absolutely stunning.
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| Garnet Lake with Mt Ritter in the background. |
Then up and over Island pass which was easy.
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| Island Pass looking back south. |
It was a blue sky morning and all was well. I was cruising along looking to shoot over Donahue pass by afternoon and drop into Yosemite. Then the clouds started building. I know from experience that the top of a pass is a terrible place to be in a thunderstorm and once again I was ahead of schedule and trying to make the prudent decision so I stopped to eat lunch and watch.
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| That cloud in the back was building by the minute and moving over the pass. |
I set up my tent and decided I'd stay here for the night. It felt like the right decision. As Teresa told me before I left "You have a family to come back to". I did more chores, laundry, bath, nap etc and hung out for the rest of the day.
By evening the clouds had moved south and east and I was left with a great spot by myself. I was still well ahead of schedule and planned to make it to Toulomme Meadows by tomorrow where there might be food and cell service. I needed to get cell service to call Teresa and tell her when I'd be finishing/ getting off the bus in Mammoth so that she could book me a hotel to sleep in until the next morning when my plan was to take another bus down to Lancaster.
That night I woke up to pee and a HUGE owl was in the tree over my head. He silently flew away when I disturbed him. Then I looked down into the Mono lake basin to my east and there was a raging lightning storm in the valley 20 miles away and down hill. I was above it and couldn't hear the thunder but I could see the strikes happening every few seconds. I lay awake for a while and watched that. It was a calm lovely night.
Short but beautiful day 10.74 miles.
July 27 Day 13
Another great day. I started out by crushing Donahue pass in the morning. Donahue is the entrance to Yosemite. I was in my last jurisdiction! On the way up 2 sobos told me that there is great cell service at the top. I called Teresa and told her to book the hotel for Saturday in Mammoth for me. It was so great to hear her voice and talk to her. I really needed it . I realized how lonely it had been out there. After a while we hung up and I started walking in to Lyell Canyon and realized that I'd given Teresa bad info. The shuttle from Mammoth to Lancaster only runs on M/W/F and I was planning to be in Mammoth Saturday night and I told her I'd be home Sunday night. This was wrong... I actually needed the hotel for Sunday night. I could spend an extra day in Yosemite and catch the shuttle on Monday. OR she could come up and pick me up but I had no way to tell her that. Ooops.
Lyell Canyon was beautiful and it was all downhill into Toulomme Meadows.
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| 2 sobo hikers on Donahue pass. |
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| Top of Donahue pass and into Yosemite. Plaque says that and states new rules for National Park vs National forest. |
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| Lyelle Canyon in bloom |
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| Down towards Toulomme |
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| First sign in Yosemite the old school Iconic JMT signs. |
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| The Cathedral peaks from Lyell Canyon |
The Toulomme Meadows Cafe had been badly damaged under the huge winter snowpack so it wasn't open but there was a store open. I bought a bag of chips, and guacamole. I ate all of that then went back for a Haggen-Daz ice cream bar. I ate all of that. Chatted with the same PCT hiker I had met at Reds Meadow. The backpackers camp in Toloumme where I'd planned to stay was closed. Besides the cafe nothing in Toulomme was open. With that I set off to find a place back in the wilderness to spend the night Yosemite has rules that you have to be 4 miles on trail away from roads/ services to backcountry camp. Otherwise there'd just be people camping right off the road. So I had to go another 4 miles on a FULL stomach. Of course it was all uphill into the Cathedral peaks. I had been going primarily north/ northwest this whole trip now I was bending west then south. The trail was once again really crowded since I was near a tourist area. ALL of the camping 4 miles from Toulomme was taken so I kept walking. Miles started to pile up and eventually I found a great spot near the top of Cathedral pass. It had great views and I had it all to myself.
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| You can see why they call it Cathedral peak. |
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| Another evening thunderstorm built north of Cathedral peak. |
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| View of the range from my campsite. |
I hadn't planned to do this many miles today but there was nowhere to camp. I ended up doing my biggest day of the entire trip. 21.56 miles. This meant I would probably finish tomorrow or have to stop really early.
July 28 2017 Day 14
I decided to go for it. SURPRISE!!! This way I could call Teresa and ask her to cancel or rebook the hotel.
From my journal written after finishing.
"So, I am done. I can't believe I did it. I'm ridiculously proud of myself. ~237~ miles in 14 days. I faced all sorts of new challenges, situations, and mental roadblocks but I overcame them all. Really not to sound full but so proud."
The day was ALL downhill. I passed through the super mosquito territory of Sunset Meadow camps. Where they were so thick you could hear the high pitched whine before dropping into the meadow so I put on my headnet and just started running. It was insane. Then more downhill along sunrise creek where I scared a Mamma bear and cub 100ft off the trail and they turned tail and ran before I cold get a picture. I was also treated to a sage grouse just sort of hanging around the trail for a while.
This area was pretty but had been burned a few years ago in a fire so it was hot and mostly shadeless. Then I dropped down to where the JMT and trail from the valley floor to Half Dome converge. Things got INSANELY crowded. People were everywhere, slow and super rude. Almost every time I came upon a hiker on the JMT the last 14 days we'd chatted or at least had a hearty hello, hows it going! great!. Now people were grumpy, rude, pushy and not generally awesome. I made it down to the top of Nevada Falls and it just got worse. Plus the trail was now super steep and covered in people and paved. After so many miles with a pack on my back my feet and knees hated the steep paved downhill pounding.
I made it down to the valley floor and waited in line for a shuttle bus. A huge line. It was like Disneyland.
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| I stopped and asked a group to take my picture with this sign. They asked and I told them I'd just come from Whitney 13 days ago. Suddenly they were telling everyone and I had a crowd around me. Was kinda rad. |
Yosemite was REALLY hard to take. First order of business was to find a place to camp so I checked out a map and caught the shuttle to the North Pines Campground.
I asked a Ranger which way to the backpackers camp. She told me I couldn't stay there. I told her I'd just come off the JMT after 14 days where was I supposed to stay? I showed her my permit for the JMT and asked what I was supposed to do? She finally relented and said I could stay if I found a group to join... Seriously? What is a backpackers camp for if you need reservations? I walked through the camp full of people and RV's and found the camp for backpackers. I asked around and there was hardly even a spot to put down a tent. It was like Coachella or some kind of festival. Big groups of backpackers were everywhere. I finally got an in with a couple who had come off of the Little Yosemite Valley trail. They were from San Fran and he'd previously worked as a maintenance tech at Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon. They were really nice. I split the site fee with them and put my tent in the only open spot. RIGHT BEHIND THE OUTHOUSE... At least I would have somewhere to stay. I walked to the Curry Village where there was cell service, restaurants and crowds because waiting for the bus was futile.
I ate a huge meal, cleaned up, called Teresa and she agreed to come pick me up in Mammoth the next day. I'd take the bus out of Yosemite and be in Mammoth by evening on Saturday. Aside from the crowds all was well. I went back to camp, hung out in the festival and slept in the stench.
Day 14 FINISHED!!! 15.3 miles
July 29 2017 Day 14+1
The only information I'd been able to find about the shuttle from the valley floor to Mammoth said that it left at 2pm from the Yosemite Village. I hitched a bus over there and had breakfast while I waited for the ranger station to open up at 10am so I could ask about the shuttle and tickets. I ate, hung out, looked around and sat around until 10. I went into the ranger station to ask and they said that there were 2 buses to Mammoth even though NO signs anywhere said that. The first shuttle had left at 9 am before they were open. I had been in the village and missed it. URGH. This meant hanging out with my pack all day. I ate more, went on a hike (I know but what else is there to do with a 25 lbs pack) checked out the sites and tried to avoid the crowds.
I went to the bus stop at 1 to make sure I didn't miss it. There was already a line. I chatted with fellow hikers as we waited. There was a group of old guys from Orange County on their annual trip, a couple honeymooning all over the west who had backpacked from Toulomme to the valley the last 3 days a couple PCTrs, and another guy who'd finished the JMT in 14 days and had gotten to the valley floor that afternoon. Lots of people to talk to about our adventures as we boarded the bus and set off.
for 2 miles.
Then the bus broke down and we all got back out. I texted Teresa and told her but she was driving so didn't get to talk. Eventually a new bus showed up but we were way behind schedule. We arrived in Mammoth after a long ride into the evening. It was dark but Teresa was waiting for me at the Shuttle stop. I was done. Wooh!
The end. Until the next year of Ryan Post anyways.
A map of the trip in case you're interested.
Ryan
