PCT Days 53-56

Day 53

Miles...?

Last night a few more hikers arrived at the Courthouse Motel's hostel. Mr. Green, Rock Bottom, and HotXBuns got stuck in Independence after missing their bus to Lone Pine. Rock Bottom has a friend in Ridgecrest who is picking them up today for two days of resupplying, watching movies, and relaxing. I imagine them laughing and joking around for two days and I want to go with them. I don't know them very well, I've only met them once before at the Saufley's, so I don't ask. 

I'm not sure why I don't feel ready to get back on trail, maybe because I'm alone in the land of high snowy passes or maybe because my mind and body are still exhausted from this last section. Maybe I don't want to leave because I'm in a town vortex. Maybe I'll feel better once I'm back on the trail.

I still feel badly about dropping Miles off at the trail and not going with him. He's a quiet guy and wouldn't say one way or the other, but I'm not sure if he really wanted to continue hiking with me or if he was excited to hike on his own for a while. At least now he won't have to wait for me to catch up all of the time.

I want to stay another day in town, but Independence has little more than a gas station and a Subway, so I know I need to leave. I've been trying to calculate where Rocket Llama must be and how I can meet back up with her, but I can't figure out if she's ahead of me or behind. Teddy Rose still hasn't hiked out of Kennedy Meadows and Sugar Pine and Lingo are summiting Whitney today.

I check out of the hostel and sit at Subway to wait for my dad. I get a sandwich because Miles once packed out a sub and I thought it was a genius idea. Carloads of hikers I've never met pull into the parking lot and I see Carrot Quinn cross the street. She says that her friends are already back on the trail and she's trying to catch up, only 17 miles until their camp site. She invites me to catch up with them too and I smile, but inside I squirm at the idea of meeting another group of hikers that hike faster than I do.

My dad shows up at 11:30 and has an iced vanilla latte with my name on it. I gulp it down, knowing I'll need the energy for the 3,000 feet of climbing it takes to get back to the PCT. I have 8 days of food, a new ice axe, and a sub sandwich in my pack, so it's heavier than it has ever been. I hobble slowly up the trail and back into the John Muir Wilderness.

A mile into the steep ascent, I pass my friend Gretchen on her way down to the trailhead. We chat for a bit about our plans and I tell her that I hope she enjoys Bishop.

My dad surprises me, walking up the trail and passing Gretchen and I. He says that he is trying to hike to a lake to go fishing. With my dad and Gretchen within 20 feet of me, I realize that I don't feel ready to be back on trail for 8 days and I need another day (or two?) in town. Most of my friends are behind me and the snow is still really bad in the high Sierras. Besides, why am I pushing myself so hard? Why get back on trail alone when I really don't want to?

I spin around and run down the trail after Gretchen. I yell her name and sprint as fast as I can with my 40-pound pack. She has her headphones in, but I catch up with her about a quarter mile back down the trail. She happily agrees to split a motel room with me in Bishop and we hike down the trail together, sitting at the bottom to wait for my dad to drive us into Bishop.

I can't express how grateful I am for my dad's help and support. This week, his birthday week, he has driven over 200 miles back and forth from Bishop to Independence to the Onion Valley trailhead just for me.

Gretchen and I eat dinner at the bowling alley in Bishop, watch some Fashion Police and lounge around the motel room. I have extra energy at 8pm, so I decide to walk down the street to the movie theater and see the new Disney movie with Angelina Jolie.

The movie is so so and I fall asleep twice, but it's nice to relax in a big empty movie theater. After the movie I stroll back to the motel to find Gretchen sleeping. I peel off my clothes, still smelly after two cycles in the washer, and crawl into the big soft bed. Maybe I'll get back on trail tomorrow, maybe not.

Day 54

Zero day

I wake when Gretchen trips over my shoe and accidentally grabs my foot. We laugh and I remember that the Travelodge has a free continental breakfast. 

We go downstairs and I gorge myself on cereal, yogurt, muffins, donuts, bagels, and juice. I feel stuffed and go back to our room and climb into bed. I still feel exhausted and I wonder if I have Lyme disease from a tick that I haven't found yet. No, I think, I just ate 2,000 calories and I'm just tired.

In the afternoon I go to Schat's, a giant local bakery that reminds me of my favorite Jewish bakery back in Ohio. I order a giant BLT and sit on the front porch to eat. I see Gretchen coming back from the grocery store, flag her down, and we both sit in the shade talking about food and who might be coming into town today.

After I eat we go back to the room and watch a marathon of Sex and the City.

I laugh when Sarah Jessica Parker gives a monologue that strangely resembles how I feel about going back into the snow. It feels like she's lecturing me, but maybe she has a point.

She says, “when you're young, your whole life is about the pursuit of fun. Then, you grow up and learn to be cautious. You could break a bone or a heart. You look before you leap and sometimes you don't leap at all because there's not always someone there to catch you. And in life, there's no safety net. When did it stop being fun and start being scary?”

After a few more episodes Gretchen and I meet Hog at Schat's, eat more food, and walk to the outfitters in town (there are three outfitters on the same block) to look for bug spray. We see Mogli, Doc, Driftwood, and Tidy Camper on the way and stop to chat. We talk about our experiences on Forrester Pass and about Mogli's experiences hiking to this point without a sleeping pad of any kind. 

Hog mentioned that there is great espresso at a place next to the outfitters, so Gretchen and I stop in for some drinks. 

After four shots of really delicious espresso I'm hungry again, so we walk across the street for Mexican food. I'm pretty sure I've gained five pounds since I got to Bishop a few days ago, but I don't care. I tell myself that I'll just burn it off again, I still have 1900 miles to hike this summer.

In the evening we watch Anthony Bourdain. Princess and Mr. Sandals get into town and she comes to our room to tell us about her experience on Mt Whitney and Forrester Pass. Princess and Mr Sandals are a German couple that have been hiking with Gretchen for a while. I've met them a few times. Princess tells us a story about falling on Forrester Pass and ripping a giant hope in her pants, underwear and leg. She also talks about how mentally draining it is to see faster hikers jog past her everyday. She has decided to let go of trying to keep up with other people's pace. I agree and, for the first time in a few days, I feel less alone.

Day 55

Zero day

I meet Gretchen downstairs for breakfast again today and we ask each other when we should hike out. Princess and Mr Sandals are staying until Tuesday, but I'm not sure I can stay for two more days.

I go back upstairs and take the post-breakfast nap I've become accustomed to since getting into town. I wonder where Sugar Pine and Lingo have gone. Maybe they decided to skip Bishop and go straight to Mammoth. Maybe I've missed them and they're far ahead of me. I check Facebook and see that Lingo's mom has messaged me. They should be getting into town today!

I tell Gretchen that I want to hike out today. At least the 7.5 miles back to the PCT so I can get an early start tomorrow for the next big pass. Yogi's guide says that we should go over Glen Pass in the afternoon, but I don't want to believe that. I equate crossing passes in the early morning with easy walking on hard snow and I equate crossing passes during afternoons with postholing and misery. Gretchen offers to leave today, but says that a few other hikers (Hog, Dirty Girl, Tidy Camper) are leaving tomorrow. I remember how delicious Schat's Bakery is and, pondering how many more BLTs I can eat in an extra afternoon, agree to leaving tomorrow. 

More Sex and the City, BBQ ribs, and 4 shots of espresso later, we walk back to Schat's Bakery and meet Hog, Princess, Mr Sandals, Dirty Girl, and Tidy Camper for lunch. We all talk about our plan for the next section and I take a picture of the German's itenerary so I don't have to calculate it on my own. They calculated a way to go over a mountain pass every day in the morning, except Seldon Pass which we will go over in the afternoon.

While at lunch, I get a text from Rocket Llama. She decided to get off trail at Kearsarge after all! She's on her way to Bishop!

Gretchen and I go back to the motel and watch an episode of friends, the one where Rachel tells everyone that she's pregnant. I fidgit in my bed, checking my phone every few minutes waiting to hear from Rocket. Finally she texts me as Rachel thinks Joey is proposing to her and I run down the stairs. Rocket and I embrace! It has been forever since I saw her at the Saufleys!

Rocket checks into a room down the hall from Gretchen and I. Gretchen and I sit on the chairs next to her king sized bed and ask about her trip over Forester. She says that there was much more snow this year than last year and she felt a little unprepared. She wants to buy trekking poles in town before going back. We all make a plan to go to Independence tomorrow so we can get an early start on Tuesday. That puts us on the same schedule as the Germans, Sugar Pine, Lingo, Acorn, and Estero. I'm choosing to stay in town yet another day, but I feel ecstatic at the thought of climbing these big passes in a large group.

It gets dark and Rocket and I go down to the hot tub. It's really tiny, maybe 4 feet in diameter, and we crowd in with a young guy on his cell phone. He's drinking beer and yelling at his mother. He says, "we wouldn't have this problem if you would have done what I told you!" "Stop talking and listen to me!" "It's not my fault you don't listen!" He hangs up and his scowl turns into a smile. 

His name is Ryan and he works for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife at a fish hatchery a few miles down the highway. He helps raise mostly trout and uses them to stock the lakes in the area so people can catch and eat them later. He tells us that they use small planes to fly over the high backcountry lakes. Big doors open on the bottom of the planes and tiny fish drop hundreds of feet into the lakes. We listen to his stories for an hour, then tell him it's "hiker midnight" and we need to go to sleep. 

Day 56

LAST zero day, I promise

Gretchen, Rocket, and I walk down a few blocks and order breakfast at Jack's. It's an old greasy spoon, but the waitress is friendly and asks us about our hike. An older gentleman overhears and stops by our table to talk about his experience section hiking the PCT in the 70s. 

After breakfast we go back to the coffee shop because, for god's sake, they roast their own beans. On the way we run into Sugar Pine and Lingo who just bought a children's book for their niece's birthday. The book is about baby animals in Yosemite and Rocket reads it aloud to us. 

Back at the motel and full of caffeine, Gretchen and I get our last reality television fill for a while. We check out at 1pm and try to hitch south to Independence. Some people give us a thumbs-up, but no one picks us up. I wonder, are we bad hitch hikers? Do these people think we're just hanging out in the highway giving drivers a thumbs up? Eventually a local bus comes and we pack $6.50 for the 40 mile ride back to Independence. 

At the hostel, I shower and lay yout my food supply for the next 8 days. 

Eight days of food is roughly equivalent to the size of a llama.

Rocket and I walk to get ice cream at 10pm. We find three hikers who just got into town from the trailhead (Jordy, Penguin, and Scorpion) and we show them back to the hostel, pointing out the courthouse where Charles Manson was detained and the tree that you can sit under to get wi-fi.

I feel excited to get back on the PCT. It's going to be an adjustment, leaving the comfort and safety of town, but I'm ready to get back to the freedom and the exhaustion of trail life. In this upcoming eight day section we'll be climbing one big mountain pass each day, ascending in the morning and descending in the afternoon. I'm with good friends and a large group that is going to brave the snow together. I feel ready.