PCT 48 - JMT - Long Distance Hiker

Daily miles: 18
Total miles: 925

Beardoh headed out of Mammoth at 7:15 this morning so he could be on the first bus headed up to Red’s Meadow, where he and our friends would return to the trail. Sweetpea headed to a different bus stop so that she could head up to Tuolumne Meadows and take an extra couple of zeroes to give her hip a rest.

Our time in Mammoth was pretty good. We had some tacos at a legit Mexican grocery, got some work errands done at the library, ate fruit, and had some time to sit in the hot tub at the condo as well. Getting the condo worked out great. It was more economical than a motel room and far more comfortable. Also, we ran into John Zahorian (at the grocery store) , who we had done a Hiker Q & A with earlier this year (we learned about doing video on the trail with John – Do a search for him on YouTube). It was great to meet him in person.

Up at Red’s, a few in our group got coffee, and we finished some snacks leftover from our time in Mammoth. By 9am, we were back on the trail.

We decided to go by the Devils Postpile National Monument, which was a slight detour off the trail. It was cool to see the interesting natural hexagonal stone that was created naturally against the face of the mountain. Also, we took the JMT for this section rather than the PCT. The JMT has a bit more up and down, but it goes by some beautiful lakes that made the extra effort worth it. This part of the trail is non-coincident with the PCT for about 14 miles. Oddly this was Beardoh’s 3rd time on this section and he has never taken the PCT…he is a suckered for mountain lakes.. Oh well, someday the PCT section, or Sierra High Route.. Or…

The day was pretty warm despite being near 10k feet for most of it. We saw a lot of JMT hikers and other backpackers out camping since it is Saturday today. Only saw a few PCT hikers.

Tonight we are camped at a great spot that is a couple hundred vertical feet above a lake. Beardoh has a great view from his hammock.