Days 60-61, Remember Me as a Time of Day

Part 2, The Sierra Nevada, Days 60-61

Remember Me as a Time of Day

Miles: 5.57

PCT Mile: 906.7

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading. I just uploaded 8 new posts this past day, days 53-61. Go to day 53 to continue where I left off.

Day 54 is high up on the menu if you can't find it. 

I needed a zero! The last week was so amazing and challenging. The high passes, the weather, and the altitude really wore me down, but traveling with a cool group of people kept things fresh. 

I woke up early and packed up by 6am, but I ended up hanging out with the others while they cooked breakfast. By 7am I was gone.

I only had to go nearly 6 miles to Reds Meadow, but there's always a spring in my step on resupply days. The sky looked so great! Not a cloud to be seen. Is Summer finally here?

What a great morning to hike. There wasn't even any uphill, it was a straight shot. I went through Rainbow Valley, which was strewn with thousands of downed trees. 

In 2011, a storm called "The Devil's Windstorm" tore through the area with gusts up to 200 mph and downed thousands and thousands of trees. This was such a cool sight and was interesting to hike through. 

I came upon a dirt road and it felt like civilization was near. I saw a horse stable and some riders, and it felt weird to see all this after spending the last 8 days in such a magnificently wild area. 

Every time I get near town, I'm thinking of all the things I can do when I get there, but all that usually happens is I end up eating too much crap and feel sick. I was hungry, but more than that I was tired. 

The group planned to get a room and and squeeze 7 people into it, but that didn't appeal to me. I planned to zero and relax, then return to the trail solo, and perhaps find a different group of people down the trail to hike with. This group was great, but I felt like I lost something by being with others. I missed hiking and being out there alone, I guess. 

It was exciting to see the sign for Reds Meadow. It's crazy when I think how far I've come.

There was a store, a cafe, and some other stuff, but I just wanted younger to Mammoth. I waited for the bus for 20 minutes and hopped on. 

The bus took me to the Mammoth Mountain ski resort where I got on another bus that took me to town. Everything happened so fast that I didn't get many pictures. 

Mammoth Lakes is such a cool town, definitely a resort type town. At the quaint village area, I got an a trolley and got off at the Motel 6, which had a decent hiker rate. 

First thing's first! I walked down the street to The Breakfast Club. 

I sat at the bar and ordered the recommended cream cheese croissant: it tasted pretty good.

Then I ordered every hikers dream; pancakes!

These were huge and nearly put me to sleep. Just what I needed. After this I walked to Vons and bought my resupply food. Something I noticed about Mammoth is how whenever I walked inside a building, it was loaded with people. Vons was like Disney Land! I hurried next door to the book store. I bought 2 books for some reason,but I have been reading a lot. I need my Kindle. I got another Steinbeck, which I read long ago:

I also got this suspense novel:

I read a Michael Connelly book in a crime fiction class at UCLA and enjoyed it. These police procedurals are fun reads. Unfortunately I have to carry these books now. 

I walked back to my room, which was small but comfy, though hot. The fans don't work so well. 

I organized my food, did my laundry, sewed my shirt and base layer, soaked my feet in the tub, which was amazing, and washed my tent in the shower, along with myself. With my chores done, I watched the Giants on TV and relaxed.

The next day I zeroed HARD. I have few pictures since I barely left the room. I blogged all day from my bed. I watched the Lord of the Rings marathon on tv, which was really all I wanted to do. I ordered this beautiful pizza that served as my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

I relaxed all day then watched the Warriors win in the evening. It was a great zero day. I'm excited to hit the trail tomorrow, but I'm in no rush, so I'm gonna lay in my bed here until around 11am. It's finally sunny and I'm so looking forward to everything that's ahead on the trail.