Day 64, Something in the Way

Part 2, The Sierra Nevada, Day 64

Something in the Way

Miles: 22.21

PCT Mile: 952.69

I read in my tent for 2 hours this morning waiting for the sun to come over the ridge so I could take pictures. I knew the hike this morning would be sweet, and the iPhone camera is useless in low light. So at 7:30, I started hiking down Lyell Canyon.

It was pretty impressive, and for ten miles I followed green meadows with serpentine Lyell Creek winding its way through. 

It was a bit over 10 miles to Tuolumne Meadows where I'd pick up a resupply box. The hike was very easy; straight the whole way, but I was pretty sluggish. My legs hurt. My feet and ankles were aching, and for the first time, my knees hurt. I felt like lying down and taking a nap, but I knew that wouldn't get me anywhere, so I marched on. 

The surroundings made up big time for any pain I felt. This was truly a special place. 

The closer I got to Tuolumne Meadows (TM) the more people I saw. Lots of JMT hikers, day hikers, and even fisherman I could smell them long before I saw them. 

 Even surrounded by all this, I was a bit off. I was dwelling on an annoying encounter I had last night as the group I hiked with last week passed my camp site. I think they took offense to me ditching them in Mammoth. Obviously they don't know me. Disappearing is sort of my thing. I refused to let it bother me. This hike is far too important to dwell on anything. So I let it go. 

This was a very wet trail. Every 50 yards or so I'd have to maneuver over a stream that crossed the trail. 

After miles of green meadow, I knew I was close when I hit an immaculate and well maintained forest trail. 

There were many bridges, I'm assuming to accommodate our nation's larger tourists. There were tourists everywhere, and I saw several of them gasping for air after walking uphill for 5 feet. 

An older lady walked by me and I nearly started gagging from the pungent smell of her perfume. I'm sure I smelled awful to her too. That would be the first of two times I almost puked from smells today; stay tuned. 

I finally hit a road and there were cars and people everywhere. Some kid in an SUV, who was probably smoking the dope, almost hit me. Damn kids... I saw the store and set down my pack. 

The thru hikers had taken over the picnic table area in front. 

I went inside and bought an ice cream thingy and picked up my box. There was a snack bar that served incredibly overpriced and mediocre food, but I wasn't too hungry. 

I went through my resupply box and organized my food. I have twice as much food as I need, but I guess I just enjoy the masochistic pointlessness of having a needlessly heavy pack. I sat with Houdini for awhile and talked with Brawny and Chris, the very first two hikers I came across way back at the El Cajon Transit Station. 

The group I had hiked with showed up and they asked me to sit and eat lunch with them and I was happy to. They were going to Yosemite Valley for a few days so it was good to leave on a positive note. I'll miss some of them, and the way the trail works, I'm sure I'll see them. Shepherd got new shoes and he put his old insoles on the table and the smell was so heinous I almost puked again. I gagged. We had a good laugh. I said goodbye and hoisted my stupidly heavy pack at 2:45 pm and walked away. 

I started to feel better the further I got from TM. 

In fact, I hadn't felt this good in a long while. I felt totally free, like I could do anything I wanted. 

I forgot about my pain, my pack, people, and just walked freely with the Tuolumne River by my side. I remember thinking that there's a reason thru hikers are generally always happy, and it's because they exercise all day, everyday. I'm rambling. 

I followed the river downhill and it was raging. I knew something amazing was coming up.

This was my favorite waterfall so far. I sat and watched it for some time. 

It wasn't the only waterfall today...

At the bottom of the trail was Tuolumne Falls. 

I was tempted to swim, but it was getting late. 

This was just epic. 

I was hurting from my pack weight and I started to climb. I needed to climb 1,000 feet to a stream so I could camp with water. I put in my headphones and cranked out the miles.

I filtered water from this stream:

I had my headnet on because of the mosquitoes. I spit a lot out here, and out of habit, I spit three times with my head net on. You can imagine what happened each time. After a lengthy time looking for a decent camp spot, I settled on a space near the meadow. 

Making dinner was torture because of these mosquitoes. I was swarmed. I hate them. I'm not into killing anything, but these mozzies turn me into a raging homicidal maniac. Even with my headnet on, the constant buzzing made me want to bash my head against a rock. I retreated to my tent. I have a feeling this section will be mosquito hell. I'm extremely excited for all the hiking that's coming up. I hope to return to big miles soon. Big things are coming, I can feel it.