Got a slightly later start since we didn’t have to put in many miles today. I was surprised that I slept in till 6.
The day started with the climb that remained up Kearsarge pass. It was a pretty steady climb and we could see the trail on the side of the mountain from where we camped last night. That is one thing that I really enjoy about this trail, seeing the trail cut into the side of the mountain from afar.
After an hour or so, we were up on Kearsarge pass enjoying the morning sun with Alphabet Soup, Desert Fox and JR. Had a great view of the lake below from the pass.
We continued on down to a campground that is at the trail head where we had heard there was trail magic and rides into the town if Independence. Bristle Cone was in fact set up with food and drink and chairs at a site. Had a nice timing refueling a bit and chatting with him and other hikers there, before Sleeping Bare gave us a ride to town.
In town, I was able to retrieve 3 packages that had been sent to me there. New Shoes (bright red Brooks trail runners), a replacement sleeping pad and socks, as well as my food resupply. It took some digging through all of the packages in the post office, and my friends thinking that I was lost in there, before locating all the packages.
The tread on my previous shoes was slick and parts of it had come off, so I was very stoked that the shoes had arrived. My previous air mattress couldn’t hold air, so having this one waiting for me at the post office was excellent. Many thanks to Robin Hood for lending me his Z Rest for the past week!
We grabbed some food at a local restaurant, Dugans, I believe was the name, and then tried to get a hitch out to Bishop. The motel in Indi was full, and Qball and Wolfpack needed some new socks so going to Bishop (the larger town made sense).
A car pulled over after about 20min but just had room for 2. JJ and Wolfpack took that one and got our lodging sorted so that by the time Qball and I made it to Bishop we had a room all set.
It took Qball and I roughly an hour and a half to get a hitch, and it really wasn’t even our hitch. After attempting to get a ride for over an hour, I walked over to the PO and sent home my deflated mattress and forwarded the borrowed pad. I stopped and chatted with some hiker friends (scarecrow, tiny dancer, and creech), when a lady rounded the corner and asked if we needed a ride. She had probably seen those guys when she pulled into the gas station. I ran two blocks up, grabbed my pack and Qball and all 6 of us squeezed into her mini SUV, with creech in the baggage area under a pile of packs.
The hitch to Bishop was over 40 miles, and we were very glad to be out of the 100+ degrees on the side of the road and in a nice air conditioned car.
Once in Bishop, all 7 of us hit the China buffet and ate too much, but were quite content.
No official trail miles for this post as we had to hike off trail a ways to get to the road for town.
Daily Distance: 0
Trip Distance: 725.4
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