Goodbye to the High Sierra

July 6, 2012

We woke early this morning looking out on Purple Lake, excited to get into town. This has been our longest and most difficult stretch between town stops. Eight days and six mountain passes in some of the highest mountains in the lower 48. We cowboy camped so that we could make a quick dash for town in the morning, but the lake's moisture left our sleeping bags soaked with dew. We packed, chatted with some people passing by, had a small breakfast and plenty of coffee to fuel our run for town, and set out. Town fever set in as soon as we set foot on trail and the miles seemed to melt away. 13 miles...10 miles...5.5 miles...5 miles...2.5 miles...Mammoth, here we come! As we got closer to the tourist stops, Devil's Postpile and Rainbow Falls, the trail became more and more packed with day hikers and people just starting their journeys on the JMT, shiny and new. We had tried our best to keep clean, but after eight days without laundry or a proper shower, we weren't feeling too fresh. In the presence of these people, the contrast stung, but we also couldn't help but puff up with pride for what we had just accomplished. What we had just conquered. Our filth seemed to highlight what a different breed of hiker we are. We passed the 900 mile mark. The familiar old arrangement of stones. I chuckled at the thought of day hikers stopping to wonder at its meaning. When it means so much to us. This last 100 miles has probably meant the most. We have struggled and strived through the High Sierra. We have experienced that adrenaline rush and exhileration of climbing over a pass and seeing a whole new landscape laid out before us. The quick breath and thin air cleansing and then we descend into a new canyon, flying faster and faster down the mountain, fueled by adrenaline. We have also felt the low of being at the bottom of a canyon, looking up at the next pass we have to climb. Squinting into the sun, wondering which one is the pass and where this trail is dragging us. Feeling every ounce of energy in our bodies depleted. The Sierras hit us hard, even after over 700 miles behind us. We summited Whitney and passed through Forrester before we even knew what hit us. After our stop in Lone Pine, after celebrating the ease of going over these two huge formations, we headed back to the trail over Kearsarge Pass. That day, we did both Kearsarge and Glen Passes, arriving to our campsite at 10pm. Maybe it was too much elevation gain and loss in one day, maybe it was the rumor that it's the hardest pass going to our heads, but when we headed out the next day with the goal of going over Pinchot Pass, our energy crashed. We kept thinking that we were further than we were based on the number of hours we'd been walking and found that we were dragging ourselves 1mph when we typically go 2.5 to 3 mph. This would mean that an 8 mile ascent would take all of eight hours compared to a little over three hours. We finally decided to call it a day, a few miles before the pass. A full night's sleep and our energy still hadn't returned in the morning and we were really starting to wonder if our bodies were depleted of calories, nutrients, electrolytes, water, or rest. We huffed and puffed our way to the top and relaxed at the top with a couple of other hikers. The speed picked up a bit on the way down and, miraculously, by the end of the day, our spirits and energy levels were much lifted. We went over Mather Pass with strong legs and celebrated Brett's birthday by enjoying the view at the top. The next day, we spent some time at the river napping and washing up and made the long, beautiful journey toward Muir Pass. This section of the Sierras has been the most beautiful yet. Suddenly, the landscape is filled with lush forests and waterfalls everywhere. We climb into new plateaus of lakes and creeks and wild flowers. There are wild onions everywhere that are good to eat right out of the ground. We camped overlooking a waterfall and a lake and woke up to find a buck nibbling at our cooking equipment. We just watched it for a long time, curiously poking around our campsite. We were feeling much, much better by now and climbed up to the top of Muir Pass easily. There's a really cool rock hut at the top and we spent a while there hanging out with some fellow PCT hikers. The Sierra section of the PCT is also considered the JMT (John Muiir Trail). There are so many options for which towns people can resupply in, hot springs and resorts to hang out at, that PCT hikers leapfrog each other. People that we were hiking with for weeks prior could have chosen different town stops and everyone gets jumbled up. Most of the people we see out here are thru hiking the JMT so it was really nice to see familiar faces and people that have been through the same journey we've been through. It is starting to mean more and more. The next two passes after Muir were Selden and Silver, which were much smaller and easier. The JMT hikers start North to South and these are some of their first passes. PCT hikers do all of the high passes first, making their way North to the smaller passes as we exit the Sierras. The JMT hikers gradually work up to the higher passes as they head South. The people we met at these passes were just starting out with the passes as we were finishing them. They seemed exhausted as we were feeling rejuvenated and alive with the accomplishment. We made it to Red's Meadow General Store where the bus picks up hikers and tourists to take them into the town of Mammoth Lakes. It was a small reunion of PCT hikers and then we boarded the bus.

July 9, 2012
Hello from Clocktower Tavern in Mammoth. Setting out tonight. This weekend, we had the incredible luxury of staying at a condo owned by Brett's Uncle's friend. We didn't want to get our hopes up about it and when we left Bishop it was just a maybe, but you know it was all we thought about for three days of hiking before getting into town. What we would be able to cook. Movies we could rent. Popcorn and a fire. Soaking in a tub. Real beds. I feel like we still have to pinch ourselves to believe it was real. We had such an incredible time. Thank you Mark and Lawrence! We also had a great time with Brett's parents and the surprise that his brother, sister-in-law and brand new baby neice came up too. We really appreciate you guys making the long journey up. This was the most relaxing break we've had yet and it was so needed. It's hard to say goodbye to town and venture out to trail again, but we'll be in Tuolomne in a couple of days which is said to be one of the most incredible parts of trail. Then South Lake Tahoe soon soon soon. Can't wait!

Love to everyone. Happy birthday, Mom!