This was kind of like a town day; minus the beds, minus the laundry, minus the shower, minus the food. On second thought, as far as town days go, this was a bust. This was a flyby resupply. MTR doesn’t open for business until 8, so we had no rush getting up this morning. That was as close to town day as we got. Did I mention no toilets, or even an outhouse? This wasn’t a town day.
Bear headed up at 7:30, because he’s also Yogi Bear at times. If there’s a chance of getting anything extra along the way, we send in Bear. The best he got today was an early charging station. I joined him at 7:45 so we could get our buckets and pack up. I had forgotten everything I included so it was a bit of a surprise to me as well. There were several other hikers getting their buckets at the same time so food was being traded and given away. I picked up an extra supper and breakfast and gave Bear my bacon. I never thought I’d see the day that I couldn’t stomach bacon, but bacon jerky is a distant second that I’m through with for a while.
The guys we shared a table with were ultra-lighters that had overpacked…bad. This was our bonanza. We shared their Oreos while packing up. They also gave away candy. I got M&Ms. I’m trying to decide if I should tell Bunny or not. I still haven’t forgiven her for making me fish my M&Ms out of the lake in France on the GR10 rather than give me 1 measly M from her sweaty paw.
As usual, we were the last ones out of a very crowded camp last night. We didn’t hit the trail until nearly 11. We had taken so long getting ready, we had our first snack before leaving. I was actually grateful to get rid of any weight. My pack is designed to carry up to 30# comfortably. I weighed in at 43# today. Normally, on a long carry like this (6 days) I’d have Bunny carry more food. Since her hip has been bothering her, I want to keep hers under 28#. She came in at 27. We are going to have to do a serious shakedown before Maine. I carry the tent, stove, fuel, Bear canister, and 90% of the food. Me thinks she has too many luxury items in her pack.
On the AT, I routinely carried up to 52#. I’m older now. More feeble. I can’t lift that and walk very fast. My pack did feel a bit oppressive today. I was coming up with break guidelines I was going to insist upon: every 3 miles on level ground, every 2 miles on inclines, every 4 miles on declines…I want a 5 minute pack off break. Bear doesn’t like breaks. When we do take them, he usually keeps his pack on. Usually, after 2-3 minutes, he’s ready to move on. Bunny and I like packs off for 5-10 minutes every hour. The rest helps us keep moving. Bear and Sassy don’t need rest. They are ridiculously fit. I’m getting 10# of lead shot to sew into their packs in Bishop.
We did get trail news at MTR. None of it was good news. 2 days ago, a guy was struck by lightening and killed. It was a freak accident. He was in a group waiting out a storm. They were standing under the tallest tree in the area. The lightening struck the tree and bounced to his shoulder. We don’t know how long he lived or if it was instant. It’s so tragic. It also doesn’t help calm Bunny’s nerves any. The weather report showed diminishing chances of storms today and tonight, then we should have clear skies for the next 7-10 days.
Something unexpected happened today. Actually, it wouldn’t have been unexpected if we had looked at the map, but who has time when we’re all suffering from resupply flu. We entered Kings Canyon National Park. Bunny and I immediately fell in love with it. It’s just stunning. We know nothing about the park other than it’s more beautiful than Yosemite. I think of Yosemite as sedate with nice trails connecting beautiful alpine lakes. Kings Canyon is the exciting uncle with fast rivers that picks up any woman he wants.
The first valley we entered had the South Fork of the Joaquin River running through it. The walls are steep like Yosemite, but not nearly as wide. But it was spectacular with the River rounding outcroppings and dropping nearly 500’ over the course of 3.5 miles.
After a lunch break, we headed up Evolution Canyon. Evolution Creek is probably one of, if not the, most dangerous creek to cross in the early spring when the melt is in progress. It’s not unusual for 1 or 2 people to die crossing it in most years. It can be chest deep, swift, and scary as hell. Most people who die try crossing alone rather than waiting for others to show up and help. Where we crossed, it wasn’t even knee deep, but it is August and not May.
We had a stretch goal of nearly 13 miles today, and we made it. Bunny kept CBD in her system to help reduce her hip pain. We also tried a new tactic. Put the weakest member of the party out front and see if you can shame him into walking faster. I suppose it worked. Bunny and I took off from MTR first (me leading…weakest). We stayed in the lead almost all day until the final mile and a half from camp. Then we released the hounds (we told Bear to pick the site and we’d eventually show up).
We are camped under the Hermit and across from Mt Darwin (this is Evolution Valley). Bear and Sassy were a good 10 minutes ahead of us. I was doing ok, but I felt my energy fade. I asked Bunny for some energy chews. She gave me 3. A half mile later, I still felt nothing, so I dropped my pack for a 5 minute shoulder break while I ate a protein bar. When we started up again is when we uncaged Bear. I still had nothing. The last mile and a half can only be described as a saunter. John Muir would have been proud of us.
While Bear and I were trying to decide on camping spots near the creek, we spied what appeared to be a camping spot in the trees below the falls in the creek. It was about a tenth off trail. We went down and it checked all the marks we look for: close water source, flat spots for tents, ample seating area, a meadow to observe nature, with the added bonus that it made our wives put their packs back on and hike more after they said they were done. There was a little grumbling at first, but they agreed with our decision. We always tell them to listen to their man. It always seems to fall on deaf ears.
EFG