Day 99 – 29 Jun 19. People Everywhere and Pleasant Cruising

Today 37.5 km (23.3 mi), Total Distance 1979.2 km (1229.8 mi) 10 hours 45 minutes (0745-1830)

I slept in this morning and got a surprise when I woke up and saw the time. This morning I changed my morning routine as a trial. I packed everything up inside the tent, got changed and put on my shoes then went and collected the bear bag. I then sat in the door of my tent having breakfast before packing everything into my pack and taking my tent down. I think this order works well as long as there are no insects around and when it is not cold.

I was on my way at 0745. The trail continued down the hill, doing a zig zag on the way. It emerged next to a big campground and went over a sealed road. The campground was half full and it was horrible having to go past with the beautiful smells of cooked breakfasts that campers were having.

Now the trail started climbing gently up through the forest, through an open patch and back into the forest until starting to climb in a rock area. There were a couple of little ponds and next to one I saw the first hiker of the day. He was section hiking from Burney to Whitney. He had a big old fashioned canvas external frame pack.

Now I started climbing and the small patches of snow started appearing. 10 minutes I later came across Lone Ranger as he was having a break. He is a PCT hiker going north who had flipped after exiting the Sierras at Kearsarge Pass. 5 minutes later I caught up to the man he was hiking with called Bobcat. He had flipped north from Kennedy Meadows South. After a quick chat I continued up the hill.

The trail climbed then started heading along the side of the ridge before dropping down again.

Just as the trail started to drop I lost the trail for a minute and when I was checking my location two young PCT hikers came charging up. I told them the trail turned here and they took off, finding the trail and disappearing into the distance. The lead guy was running in places. However he failed to turn at a switchback and the guy in front told him then started on the correct route.

To my surprise I was keeping up with him. I was loving having someone else navigate and having their footsteps to use on the traverses and climbs. I ended up following him for quite a while. His hiking partner caught up and they stopped for a break while I continued on. I wonder what they thought of the middle aged lady they caught up to but then could not shake off.

The trail started climbing again on the side of a ridge. There were some clear patches and some mixed patches.

At one point the trail climbed up to a high pint and as I came around a corner I saw three men. As I approached one of them said “ You wouldn’t happen to be Homemade would you?”. I said yes and he told me he had seen some of my videos. He started watching as I was one of the earlier hikers and was regular with my postings. We took a photo together and chatted at bit. The men were locals out for a few days. They were Geoff, Geoff and Dwayne.

I then headed down a steep snow slope and crossed over to the other side of the ridge which I initially thought was going to be clear of snow but ended up heavy snow.

Before it turned 100% snow I saw another deer. It was ahead of me and ran a few steps, stopped and looked at me then started walking crossing over some snow at an angle towards me so it ended up less than 15 meters away. When my camera beeped as I turned the video off it looked at me but did not run away. It casually walked away. It was not in as good a condition as the last deer I saw. This is now number 17.

Not long afterwards the trail turned to pure snow and navigation was simply try to maintain the same height going around the hill.

As I was about to drop and cross a small stream I saw a hiker below. He asked where the trail was and seemed glued to his GPS. I gave him a brief on where the trail was and he did the same on the conditions coming up. The great thing is that he said not long after Belden is the last snow for 200 miles so now I knew in 4 days I would be free of snow for a long time. He had done the normal and flipped from Bishop (exiting the Sierras at Kearsarge Pass) up to Ashland and was now heading south.
Not long after leaving him the trail started to make a few appearances. The snow stayed thick for another mile and then started petering out and I was largely on dirt trail. It continued to be travel just below ridgelines, drop to a road, climb back up to the ridge and repeat. While this may have become boring the scenery was changing so much. There were lakes, patches of flowers, mountains of different types of rocks, grassy valleys and forest. It was great.

I stopped for lunch on a rock outcrop overlooking some lakes way behind. Just as I was finishing a day hiker approached asking if I knew where the trail to Long Lake was. I showed him on the map. He had no daybag, spare clothes etc. He was just in trousers, t shirt and had hiking poles. He also had no map and admitted to struggling to navigate in the snow. I am not sure how far he had come but I hope he wasn’t going too far as he seemed very underprepared.

There was another snowy section and even some traverses to get to a saddle. There were established footprints and not much exposure below so easy.
From the saddle it was along the side of a hill, over a couple of snow patches and then a few zig zags to drop height before continuing along the side of the hill. This next section had several traverses that could have been more serious without the established footprints.

The trail dropped below the snow and then was going along the side of the hill, bending around as the hill curved and then above a river and down a valley for mile.

It turned into another valley and started climbing. I stopped and got enough water for camp tonight as I was not sure if there would be another nice stream.

The trail crossed the road and climbed up the side of a hill to a saddle.

It turned 1730 and I got to see my distance for the day. Today I had decided not to look at the distance all day so it would be a surprise at the end of the day. I also figured this would keep my pace at a comfortable one rather than trying to race for high mileage. I had started the day with a slight niggle to my left lower shin and right upper outer kneecap which are as a result of being back on dirt trails again. I need to get used to them and while I do I will get niggles, just like when I started the trail and was adjusting to the walking.

At 1730 I had done 21 miles which was nice especially as it had been unrushed miles. I decided to keep going as I was feeling good and start looking for a campsite in 30 minutes. I had not looked at the map when I made this decision as I would have realised the next couple of miles were on the side of steep hills with no flat spots for camping.

Eventually at 1830 I came too some roads on a saddle and found a spot beside the road where I would get the morning sun. I wandered a little further up the road to see if there was a better site but there wasn’t and I returned.

As I started heading back a man with a beer in a neoprene holder appeared. He was definitely not a hiker and I assumed he had a car parked nearby. He started talking about the snow drifts and how this is the first time he had been able to come up here and inspect his mine. He had a gold mine here. I get the feeling that he is lonely as he then kept talking, and talking and talking. I was really hungry and just wanted to get ready for bed.

Eventually I realised he had all the time in the world and was going to continue too talk. His subject matter was limited as we were starting round two of the same information so I walked back to my site and started setting up. I then went to find a tree to string my line for the bear bag and he followed along. Thinking I was going to be stuck with him and after several polite attempts too break away I said “It was lovely to meet you, I hope you have a good night” and started walking back to my tent. Thankfully he did not follow and headed back to what I assume was his camp by his mine.

I had dinner and some snacks but was still hungry. I calculated the time to Beldon and counted my snacks and had one more chocolate bar before packing all of my food and toiletries into my bag and hanging it on my prepared string.

Then I prepared for bed. It was surprisingly cold and I was happy to snuggle in my bag.

Visits: 473