Tag: Sierra Nevada Mountains

I heard Bear and Sassy mumbling about 6:30. I looked out the tent and saw 2 Nobo’s leaving camp. Like an idiot, I started to boil the water we needed for breakfast. I’d already prepared everything last night, so it was the fastest we had gotten breakfast complete. Just as we were finishing our food, Sassy yelled “Take your time. We haven’t started any packing yet.” 

I changed up my order of things. Normally, I entirely pack up before I get out of the tent. Bunny pretty much does the same but gets out first for her morning beauty ritual. Today, I made the command decision, poop before pack. I headed up from camp and had my spot all picked. I did one final look around and saw Sassy waving at me. Mission abort. I took a wide circle around her (she was done) and headed further up. I dug my hole, laid out all the paperwork, and took one final look. I had a direct line of sight to Bear and Sassy’s tent. It was mission critical that I not abort. I had only one option, keep staring at Bear in case he sees me. I always try to hold eye contact with non participants which tends to give you a wider birth in future outings. 

Bear never saw me. I suppose Sassy told him my general whereabouts and he chose to not intrude upon my moment of zen. I filled out my paperwork as quickly as possible then returned to camp. Bear saw me and announced a changing of the guard. While Bear was imitating the pope, I quickly packed up and took down the tent. Bunny and I decided to get front row seats to observe how Bear and Sassy get ready. As they were taking down their tent, a pole slipped and hit Bear in the eye. This was the moment Sassy had been waiting for. While Bear was hurt, she got to give him the “hurry up” hand roll like he had done to her when the same thing happened in reverse a few years back. 

It was a level to downhill walk the first 5 miles today, yet I managed to get overheated. It wasn’t hot, I just can’t be allowed to be in front. Like Bunny and Sassy, I outpace myself trying to make sure I’m not holding anyone up. The next Creek we got to, I soaked my sun shirt, hat, and bandanna to try to get my core temperature down. Sassy gave me a couple of salt tablets to make up for all the sweating I had done. I don’t want to get behind on electrolytes again. It’s too hard to get straightened out on the trail. 

Under normal hiking circumstances, it’s got to be confusing as hell to our bodies what is going on. For 6 days, we expect maximum physical output on a reduced calorie diet. By reduced, I mean we can only carry about 2500 calories worth of food for 6 days and we are burning in excess of 3500 calories (it would be more if we were putting in bigger miles). To help confuse matters, we’ll come into a town and consume 5000 calories per day and reduce demand on our bodies while we rest. It’s amazing that our bodies function as well as they do under the conditions we subject them to.

A major highlight for today was entering Yosemite National Park. We could see the park boundary by the mountain size change as we crossed Dorothy Lake Pass. There was still snow clinging to crevices. We’ve heard plenty of Nobos say that Yosemite is the most difficult section of the Sierra. Today was the exception as the first 10-12 miles in the park heading south is a gentle decline. We made good miles today, but we’ll pay for it tomorrow. 

Bunny’s left hip is good for about 11-13 miles as long as the terrain isn’t too rocky and loose. We had a few miles of that prior to and right after entering Yosemite. We took a break at the 11 mile mark to see how the old Hare was holding up. She said she might have another 5 in her if she took one of her meds and applied some CBD oil. She did both, but it started to wear off before we made our goal. She kept pushing, though, in the hopes of a shorted day tomorrow. 

For some reason, I was leading after Dorothy Lake. A hiker was coming towards me and yelled “10 and 5.” I was shocked that this guy was yelling at me and didn’t know what he was talking about. He continued yelling “you’re the 10th woman and 5th man I’ve seen today. Isn’t is great that women outnumber the men on the trail?” Just then Bear and Sassy caught up and he yelled “11 and 6.” We tried talking a few minutes, but I was a bit uncomfortable with the yelling. When we moved on, Bunny said he had hearing aides in, but possibly the batteries were going dead. 

A few minutes later I saw 2 girls coming towards us. It took every bit of will power I had not to yell “12 and 6; 13 and 6.” I frighten women enough in the back country without yelling at them. 

We finally got to our spot hoping it wouldn’t be full. Guthook says there’s lot of flat spots all along Falls Creek, but we had seen very few camping spots. We hit the jackpot tonight. This turned out to be our best spot so far. Falls Creek runs nearby to the site and there are several flat boulders in the creek. The four of us sat on the boulders soaking our feet while cooking and eating supper. It was the perfect end to our longest day of hiking so far this season.

EFG

There weren’t any beds in the dorm last night, so we set up tents in the designated PCT hiker area. The biggest difference I’ve noticed between the PCT and AT trail communities is one of attitude and cliqueishness. From my perspective, the AT community is much more open and accepting of all people you meet on the trail. A day hiker or section hiker is not looked down upon (as much) as these lesser life forms are on the PCT. If we, as gods of the AT (we were thru-hiking) would have looked upon our lessers with the same attitude as a PCT hiker does to lesser hikers, we would have never become such good friends with Bear and Sassy. 

Even though they were mere section hikers at the time, we befriended them and introduced them to all our friends on the trail. They eventually brought us down a notch in the pecking order to become the social pariahs we are today—LASHers (Long Ass Section Hikers). We still love them even though they have ruined our trail image. 

In reality, they are much stronger hikers than we are. Even a sick Sassy is hard for us to keep up with. Bear is the strongest and most detail oriented of our group. The only differences between older hikers and younger hikers is money, time, and physical recovery time. They have all three on us (yes, we are the younger couple of which I am the youngest in our foursome—that’s why I get to ride in the back of pickup trucks by myself while they sit up front in AC. I understand they need the extra space to “spread out.” It just hurts a little when the driver stops to pick up another hitchhiker and they make room up front. They will, on occasion, open up the rear slider to allow me to hear their joyful conversation while I’m sitting on a spare tire. It takes me back to my “dungeon days” in the Whites. My point in all of this? I forgot.) Now I remember, it wasn’t Bear and Sassy that ruined our trail lives. We did it ourselves by choosing not to risk our lives in deep snow. Bear and Sassy saved our trail images by agreeing to hike with “fallen” thru-hikers. 

North Kennedy Meadows has no connection to Kennedy Meadows South (other than the Kennedy name and being a meadow). This Kennedy Meadows was once owned by an asshole Irish immigrant who killed 2 men for fishing on one of his lakes. They didn’t know they were trespassing. Ignorance of the fact was no excuse. He shot one, made the other carry him back to his cabin, dig a grave big enough for two, and then hung the guy that did all the work because he wasn’t worth the cost of a bullet. Nice guy. 

We took the zero day here to allow Sassy recovery time and to eat. The restaurant here has very good food with reasonably priced steaks since they raise their own cattle. This is, more or less, a horse camp. People come here to ride the trails rather than do the manly thing and hike. (Yes, Bear and I have manly wives. It’s why we are both so meek.)

Bunny and I resupplied here. The prices and supplies are pretty geared towards hikers. I felt a bit bad spending a little over $100 for six days of food until a nobo behind us in line spent $160 for his 5 days of food to get him to Lake Tahoe. I guess our hiker appetites haven’t kicked in yet. 

Once the “royalty” of the trail packed up and left this morning, Bunny and I moved our tent into the shade closer to the water. We also cleaned up all the crap the spoiled, self entitled, brats left behind. They deemed us not worth talking to last night because by the time we showed up to set up our tents, we had already done laundry and showered. They had been here a couple of days and hadn’t bothered to do either (even though it’s included in the $30 price to camp here). 

It wasn’t until evening that we started running into other lesser trail types who were also LASHing. We met a few couples that had also started in 2019 and had to skip large portions of the trail because of the snow. It’s really funny that the group of Nobo’s who left today were still so arrogant. Of the 2 van loads who went out, I would guess only one or two hikers actually have a chance of completing their thru-hike this year. Any hiker who is only to this point after more than 2 1/2 months of hiking, will have to flip north to have any chance of finishing. By their own definition, they are mere section hikers that haven’t done the math yet. I spit on them. The only nice thing I have to say about any of them is that they liked my Yoda pajama bottoms. 

All in all, this was a restful day of overindulgence. We were able to make up our calorie deficit we had created since South Lake Tahoe. We had showers and laundry. The only thing missing was an actual bed to sleep in. The dorm rooms above the restaurant were full last night. We could have moved into a bed tonight, but we heard from several people that the rooms were hot and noisy. It was much better sleeping next to a River that drowned out most of the camp noise. 

EFG

It was a good night’s sleep but not 100% rejuvenating. Bunny’s hip kept her tossing and turning and my having to get up…wait a minute. I didn’t get up. That makes 12 nights in a row. I felt physically tired still but mentally in a fog. In other words, a typical night on the ground. We decided we need a day off. We’re pretty sure Bear and Sassy want one as well, but we’ll let them make the suggestion so we can acquiesce. Someday, they’ll do the same for (to) us.

It’s only 9 miles to Sonora Pass, so we took our time getting ready. This might have been a good time to tell the women we had a 2500’ climb which might have sped them up a bit. We chose to remain silent. Bear had said we have a 5 1/2 mile climb, but that didn’t quite sink in. 

Sassy was more like herself. Bunny’s hip is always a bit stiff for the first half mile (especially if the first half mile is uphill). It’s no big deal for Bear and me to hike the PCT. We’re not in pain all that much. Occasionally, we’ll have bad days, but Bunny’s hip hurts almost every day. She will eventually build up more muscle to ease the pain in her hip and allow her to have bigger mileage days, but… Even on a good day, her pain is a 4 and gets worse the longer she’s hiking.

Our track record this section is not good. We’ve been hitting 4-5 miles by the time we take lunch, usually between 1 & 2. That’s when we start hiking by 8:15 or 8:30 at the latest. Today we started a little after 9. We’ve heard it’s an easy hitch to Kennedy Meadows, and that there was a later shuttle than the 3p we were hoping to catch. I wasn’t overly worried. 

We don’t just hike with Bear and Sassy. We hike with several Bears and Sassy. There’s Safety Bear that analyzes all the risks we might encounter. There’s Concerned Bear when Sassy gets sick or in a semi-dangerous position (suck as walking on a steep, exposed trail—a daily occurrence in the Sierra). Then there’s Analytical Bear (Anal Bear for short) who over thinks all details of the hike (this is Off Trail Bear’s predominant persona—I haven’t seen it yet, but I KNOW he has a daily spreadsheet for this trip. He keeps referring to dates we “should” be there.) Today, we hiked with all the Bears at once. 

By our first break at 2.5 miles into our 6 mile climb, it was apparent Sassy was not miraculously cured over night after our longest day of hiking so far. We all just wanted to get to “town” for a day of rest. To her credit, Sassy didn’t say much. As any man alive knows, when a woman doesn’t say much, there’s something wrong. As all men also know, if a man makes such a statement about a woman, or women in general, that man’s life is forfeit. I said it. I know it. It’s been a pleasure relating my experiences on the trail. I have already started digging my grave. I just pray for a quick, clean shot (preferably in the back of the head). There’s so much I still wanted to do. 

At our second break, Sassy threw up a bit. Yes, I had planned to sit in that spot, but the space at the other end of the shade turned out to be much better even though I had to sit on a thorny bush. Sassy was in that quiet state women enter when you’re not certain if it’s anger, illness, or both (I’ve already said the grave is in progress, allow me a few last words). I thought this was a good time for Bunny to lead. (Bunny, by the way, has entered her “Energizer Bunny” persona and can walk the same pace for hours, uphill or downhill, without pause. It’s not fast, but it will eventually wear your ass down.)

We took off at Bunny’s uphill, pace. This worked for another 1.6 miles until we all stopped again. Now, Sassy lead. Sassy, who is sick and hates hiking uphill and wants to get to town, took the lead. We didn’t see them again until near the top of the climb, at which point Sassy took off again. Three of us thought the worst was over. One of us, who had analyzed the trail (guess who) knew better. We hit a section of 850’/mile. It didn’t slow Sassy down, but it did take the remainder of her energy. 

The top section of the trail was a bit more than a mile of rocky trail at 10,500’ in full sun. Bunny and I were a couple hundred feet behind when I saw that Sassy had taken off her hat. I was convinced she was in early heat exhaustion doing irrational things. We caught up with them and she was severely nauseated. They dropped their packs to get her an antacid and told us to go on. 

Bunny and I headed to the first shady spot we could find (1/2 mile ahead). I dropped my pack and headed back to them. I planned to grab Sassy’s pack. We need to get her off the trail. About 100 yards back, I ran into them coming down the trail. Sassy had her hat back on and said the antacid was working. She’s like a cat, except she has nine daily lives. 

We made it across the rock section to the break point where the trail starts heading down. There was a group of 7 Nobo’s all in there 20s sitting down in a depression. They had just finished the 3 mile hike up from the pass. We had heard that Kennedy Meadows’ internet sucked, at best, and there isn’t any cell service down in the valley. Every one of these “kids” was on their phones and had ear buds in. It was like an AA meeting had accidentally been held in a VFW with a free open bar. I’m not certain they even saw us pass by.

Anal, excuse me, Analytical Bear had projected we need to be to this spot by 12:30. It was 1:17. By the time we had walked nearly a mile down, it was 1:47. We still had 2.4 miles to go if we wanted to catch the 3p shuttle to Kennedy Meadows. The trail was actually worse than Pennsylvania rocky. This is the worst kind of terrain for Bunny’s hip (which was supposedly tired from yesterday). Going downhill is harder on her hip, to boot (whatever the hell that means). Sassy stepped aside to release the hounds. She told Bunny it was the land of kittens, rainbows, unicorns, and bunny rabbits if she made it to Sonora Pass in time to catch and hold the shuttle. In the language of combat pilots…we were dots.

Hurting hip Bunny was hopping so damn fast I couldn’t keep up. I begged her to slow down. She came to a complete stop. I’ve always warned people not to get too close to Bunny if she suddenly stops in the trail. It usually means a supersonic fart. In this case, it was even worse. She full roundhouse slapped me. “I love you. You’re my husband, but don’t you EVER get between me and “Bunny Nirvana” again.” Enough said. We covered the 2.4 miles in 44 minutes. 

There were 3 people at the pass that directed us to the parking lot we had passed 1/4 mile ago. Back to the lot we went. There were dozens of cars but only one hiker who seemed to be following us. We asked if he knew where the shuttle picked people up at. He told us that he was only following us because we looked like we knew what was going on. By now, Bear and Sassy had arrived. While we were trying to figure out what was happening, the shuttle drove by the lot up to the pass where we had originally gone. Never trust a day hiker!

Ultimately, we flagged down the shuttle and made it down to Kennedy Meadows in time to make 5p dinner reservations. It may not have been “Bunny Nirvana,” but it was Hiker Paradise with flush toilets, hot showers, a grocery store, laundry machines, and, most importantly, free refills on drinks with dinner. We will live to hike another day. 

EFG