Bishop- Mammoth

I did it! I hit the point where hiking the Pacific Crest Trail feels like my normal day to day life. How does that happen? The morning sun on the snowy mountain tops still makes my spine shiver a bit, but a good rest of it feels like I’m doing my daily routine: waking up at 6am, assessing what belongings of mine are soaked. Am I soaked? No? Great! Yes? Well, what was I expecting sleeping by the creek? Pack up as much of my pack as possible without getting out of my quilt. Brushing my teeth and spitting into tree wells, eating my 500 calorie protein bar and heading off. I even have a meal prep system, of course. Now that my life is a bit more routine out here, I’ve found that I rely on my daily journals a whole lot more to remind me what I’ve been up to. 

I’m in Mammoth now, a mountain town that I know and love dearly! I hit my favorite coffee shop three times within a 30 hour stay (Stellar Brew, of course) and meandered around my favorite gear store (Mammoth Mountaineering Co., I learned in the past that I cannot enter after even one drink, this place will make me drool). Mammoth is pretty spread out so I spent a lot more time laying in bed rather than socializing and hanging out with other hikers (I will NOT walk any more than I have to). Therefore, I am feeling very well rested and ready to hit the trail again today. 

I asked my hiking buds, to help me refresh my memory of this section, how they would summarize this past week. Here’s what I got:

-Diva: Wet. Water, muddy, snowy, wet.

-Hotpants: The first time the wilderness gave us a real challenge. Water crossings, steep passes, food carries. We had to push ourselves into and through the wilderness for the first time. (this is my Danish friend who just finished a masters in Anthropology and who always has the history of the world on his mind, for reference on his response)

-Hootz: A daze. That’s it. 

-The Oracle: Wet. Arduous. Testing. Excellent. 

The water crossings in this section were much more technical than we’ve encountered before: planning our mileage to cross in the morning when the streams are lower, or taking alternate routes to cross at wider points. Prior to this section no water crossing would make me second guess my approach- I love skipping across rocks and watching the river flow below me. This section though, I found myself with the same confidence but often perched horizontally between two rocks, my trekking poles submerged below me after a slip on a mossy rock. There were many crossings where we had to just sacrifice our dry feet to the current and walk through thigh deep water. We might be excited that our feet finally dried out after a crossing an hour before, just to come to a bigger crossing- my friend Diva found me crawling through a current after attempting to rock hop where I definetly should have forded. There’s nothing more humbling than walking back to your friends, half soaked, and saying, “Well, it’s not that way”. 

This section was challenging; challenging in a way that I felt like I needed a 24 hour nap and to sit in bed, eat popcorn and watch movies all day. Good thing there was a star wars marathon on and a Grocery Outlet here, because I got both of those things! 

Along with river crossings, this section had a LOT of mountain passes. I learned that I love walking through snowfields, more than most. And I love the energy around a pass: planning to wake up early in the AM to hit the snow when it’s still packed, and sometimes getting lucky and glissading down the back side. I especially love when we find lots of friends on the pass because it makes trail finding in the snow a whole lot easier and more enjoyable. 

Here’s a little review of all the passes from this section! 

Kearsarge: Our hike out of Bishop, up and over the pass back to the PCT. We camped at Bullfrog Lakes- one of the prettiest lakes I’ve seen in the Sierra. Lots of switchbacks, last time we hiked over into Bishop there was a snowstorm in so it was cool to see this in clear weather. 

Glen: This was a fairly long snow approach, lots of switchbacks up and some significant scrambling down. We all had a lot of fun going down because the snow was in great condition to travel. Our treat after this pass was Rae Lakes- easily the most beautiful alpine lakes we’ll see all trail. 

Pinchot: this pass was 7 miles of straight uphill over steep steep steps. I would stop every hour at a creek to give myself a mental break from the trek. It took all morning and into the afternoon to get up this pass, I surely listened to some Mamma Mia EDM to keep me going. 

Mather: The most mountainy mountain we’ve climbed yet! We had to mountaineer up more technical terrain than we’re used to, using our trekking poles as makeshift axes. I loved it! It was a very focused climb, and our friends up top sang we are the champions to us as we finished the climb. 

I had a BLAST on the way down, glissading and hopping around the snow for hours. 

Muir: This was the longest snowfield we’ve trekked, the snow slushier by the minute, causing us to fall into it (I now have permanent snow chaffe on the inside of both of my calves). The peak of Muir Pass has a shelter, Muir Hut, built in the 30s and a perfect place for a short respite before traversing the slush on the way down. 

Selden: This pass was easy peasy. We hiked it on a rainy day, the sky was grey and it felt like a dream state day. I hit the pass by myself and watched the birds fly through the rain and enjoyed the misty sky. “It takes more mental fortitude and physical exertion to get out of my tent and pee at night than it does to climb this pass”- an infamous comment on our map app that definitely rang true regarding this climb. 

Within this section, we took some side trails to take us to Vermilion Valley Resort- a little camp in the middle of the Sierra for JMT and PCT hikers to stop in for a meal and showers. On my way in, the owner of the resort was driving back to the road, saw me and picked me up- he drove me the two miles left into the resort which was a HUGE treat. I had taken my time that morning and missed the kitchen’s breakfast hours (which I was not aware of). As soon as I walked in, after being greeted by the owner’s mother, the cook saw me and said “You look hungry, what do you want?”. He turned the kitchen lights back on so I could have a plate of eggs and potatoes. I drank hot cocoa for a day straight and played egyptian rat slap with all the other resting hikers- needless to say, I loved this stop. 

Silver: Another no biggie pass to finish this section off. We hit the top first thing in the morning because we camped just south of it. It makes the rest of the day a downhill trek, which is often a needed rest. 

This section tested our strength and spirits and was definitely a challenge- a long food carry and the longest stretch without beds and showers. I am grateful for the rest I got in Mammoth, as I likely won’t have a day off for a few weeks. I packed out my favorite granola and a whole lot of jelly beans for this next stretch (I even splurged on a block of feta cheese, hoping that stays good for some trail charcuterie). I’ll be heading towards Yosemite and will make it to Tahoe in about two weeks. I’m halfway through the Sierra and am feeling my strongest so far- I’m looking forward to ditching the extra weight of the bear can and increasing my mileage as the terrain flattens out a bit come NorCal! 

Seeeee ya!