Days 79 - 80 (July 10 - 11): Two zeros!

So we met a guy on the trail called Eric. He offered to drive us around Tahoe to do our chores. PO, resupply etc. done! I made a new frame for my backpack thanks to some advice from Carpenter. I've been having trouble with my Golite Pinnacle (hanging too much on my shoulders) so hopefully the custom frame will do the trick.

Eric is a very cool guy who loves his fishing. He showed us some awesome photos of his catches in and around Lake Tahoe.

On Wednesday we spent our afternoon at Camp Richardson beach on lake Tahoe. It's great taking some time off from hiking! Glad to get some time to rest my ankle. I ordered some new Brooks Cascadias which will hopefully arrive here on Thursday.

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Days 75 - 78 (July 6 - 9): Miles 1018 - 1093

So we arrived at Sonora pass on Thursday and Rian's parents took us down to Kennedy Meadows resort where we showered and did our laundry. We shared a dorm style room with Mad Dog and Smiles (this should actually be part of the previous post)

The Friday through to Monday was another tough few days to get to South Lake Tahoe. I guess the Sierras were catching up with us. This section wasn't as tough as the one to Senora pass and the mozzies were not as bad but the last few weeks were taking it's toll on our bodies I guess.

We reached Echo summit on Monday and after 10 mins of hitching a cool young guy from Tahoe, who was dropping off a south bound hiker, took us in to Tahoe Valley. We got another ride to the village from a dude who section hiked last year. There we hit one of the motels for some R & R. Brian was in the motel next door so he came over and we had beer, pizza, burgers and ice cream!

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Days 75 - 78 (July 6 - 9): Miles 1018 - 1093

So we arrived at Sonora pass on Thursday and Rian's parents took us down to Kennedy Meadows resort where we showered and did our laundry. We shared a dorm style room with Mad Dog and Smiles (this should actually be part of the previous post)

The Friday through to Monday was another tough few days to get to South Lake Tahoe. I guess the Sierras were catching up with us. This section wasn't as tough as the one to Senora pass and the mozzies were not as bad but the last few weeks were taking it's toll on our bodies I guess.

We reached Echo summit on Monday and after 10 mins of hitching a cool young guy from Tahoe, who was dropping off a south bound hiker, took us in to Tahoe Valley. We got another ride to the village from a dude who section hiked last year. There we hit one of the motels for some R & R. Brian was in the motel next door so he came over and we had beer, pizza, burgers and ice cream!

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Days 71 - 74 (July 1 - 5): Miles 942 - 1018

On Sunday Rian's parents dropped us at the trailhead and we walked the short distance down to the store and camp grounds at Tuolumne. We each had a coffee and and ice cream. I went off to the camp ground to find Gnu after hearing he is camping there. Rian joined up with us later and we decided to stay the night. I phoned Brian and it turned out he had just arrived back in Tuolumne after spending a few days with his girlfriend. So the team was back together again!

We drank some beers and headed up along the creek with a young english couple from Liverpool to try some bouldering on the rocks nearby before heading back to the camp site for some sleep.

Monday through to Wednesday had some tough hiking at times but we also chilled a lot and swam in quite a few of the creeks and lakes. There were some awesome views of the granite landscapes surrounding us.

On Wednesday we reached the 1000 mile mark! I carried a can of Budweiser with me, that I found in a trail angel bear box in Tuolumne, and we drank it at the mark.

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Days 68 - 70 (June 28 - 30): Miles 903 - 942

On Thursday morning I took the shuttle back up to the trail head and found Rian and his dad there. I was glad to see he didn't leave the day before and that we could hike out together. His dad joined us for a few miles before saying goodbye and turning back.

We hiked the few miles to Red's Meadow where we had a meal and some beers. We were dissapointed to see the hot springs were all locked up as the resort was getting ready to open for the public. We hiked on past Devil's Postpile and did only a few miles before camping.

On Friday we hiked up and camped on Donohue pass. The mosquitoes were out in full force again through this section. We saw a lot of south bound JMT hikers. Rian picked up a cool cowboy duster that he sported around in and decided to carry it out with him.

In Saturday we descended into the beautiful meadows before Tuolomne and took to breaks to jump into the creek. Rian's mom had hiked up a few miles to meet us. We hiked out to Tuolomne Meadows and I drove out with them to a nice camp site just outside the park where we stayed the night.

We had a barbeque that night and met a friendly local and fellow camper called Jim who ended up chatting the night away with us while bringing us food and drink as well as playing some songs on his custom Martin guitar. He said he used to play and write songs with Hoyt Axton.

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Days 67 - 68 (June 26 - 27): Miles 893 - 903 and a zero

I got to Horse Shoe lake at around 11 on Tuesday morning. I didn't have any cash for the shuttle into town but I decided to walk down instead of trying to hitch. The walk was pretty nice and - I took a bike/pedestrian tarmac lane going pretty much all the way down to town.

I met Gnu and Paul (Easy Miles) at the motel 6 and then went in search of Rian at the camp grounds. I found him there and we spent some time there and at the library. I left him to organise his supplies and headed off to get some dinner. Me and Gnu went to John's pizza place where we found Paul. It was Paul's birthday so we celebrated with a few beers and had some good pizza.

On Wednesday I spent most of my time buying and organising supplies as well as eating lots of town food. I enjoyed my time in Mammoth. It's a nice town with good facilities.

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Days 64 - 66 (May 23 - 25) : Miles 841 - 893

On Saturday we did about 24 miles. Brian left earlier after lunch to try and make Seldon pass in order to catch the ferry to Vermillion Valley resort on Sunday morning. Gnu and myself decided to skip VVR and go straight to Red's Meadow to get into Mammoth.

It was another beautiful day of hiking. The views just jump from all sides, non stop! I understand why many hikers across the world view the John Muir Trail (section of the PCT we are now on) as the best long distance trail in the world.

On Sunday we reached the Bear Ridge trail junction and I realised I wouldn't have enough food to make it to Mammoth. So I left Gnu, with the intent to meet him in Mammoth, and headed to the junction that would take me to the VVR ferry at Edison lake. I got there about 90 minutes too early for the ferry and decided to walk the 4 or so miles into VVR along the lake. I caught up with Brian there and had a few beers and a great shrimp burrito for dinner and peach berry pie for desert! Willin and Duck were also there with Duck's mom, who brought their dogs to them. They plan to hike a section off the trail with the dogs. I also caught up with a few other hikers including Clarke Kent, Lost and Speechless.

Monday Brian and I headed out early. Our plan was to take the Goodale pass trail which cuts back onto the PCT after Silver pass. It was a nice hike but we managed to lose the trail when crossing a creek to early. After bush wacking for about 20 mins we found a trail and walked about 1.5 miles on it while ascending steeply most of the way. It was the wrong trail and we ended up at the upper Graveyard lake! So we had to backtrack and lost about 2 hours. The climb up to Goodale was pretty tough and the day in whole was a hard one but the scenery was great and we still made good mileage. There were quite a few fallen trees on trail.

We are camping at beautiful Purple lake tonight. Tomorrow I head into Mammoth to meet Gnu and hopefully also Rian who is camping there with he's parents. Brian is continuing on to Tuolumne Meadows where we will hopefully catch up with him in a few days.

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