Day 80: Mile 908.7 - 911.0
There's a term in thru-hiking: vortex. I can be used as a noun: I got caught in the vortex of Mammoth Lakes, didn't get back on trail until pretty late. Or, more commonly, it can be used as a verb: we got vortexed at Mammoth.
We got a little vortexed at Mammoth.
So today was the Fourth of July, and Mammoth has a parade to celebrate. So folks wanted to see the parade. Sure, why not. Only as I was packing my bag this morning, I found I was missing my second ditty bag. I carry two ditty bags (both of which came with my backpack): a bigger one for holding my medkit, toolkit, glasses, and contacts, and a smaller one for holding my sunglasses, wallet, and mask. The smaller is thus for more immediate things that I might need in town, for example. (Without snow, I find I only need my sunglasses in town, where the concrete is unnaturally bright in the sunlight.) Only I couldn't find the smaller. Went through my backpack again as we were rushing to make checkout: couldn't find it. So instead of watching the parade, I instead used the time to revisit the places I'd been to yesterday--the common room downstairs, the Rite-Aid, the restaurant, even the laundromat--and ask if they've seen it. They hadn't, so that was a disappointing start to the day. (When you don't have that much, losing something is actually quite consternating: there isn't that much to keep track of, how in the world did I lose this?) So I missed the parade and, actually, often walked in the opposite direction of the parade. (And, yes, that's a Mitch Hedberg reference.) But that was ok: from all accounts of the others (who *did* watch the parade), the parade was also a bit disappointing: lots of "floats" from local businesses which weren't floats, just them driving by, advertising. And there wasn't even candy! (Evidently they throw out candy at parades? Is this really a thing? Why don't I know this?)
After the parade, we started the commute up to Red's Meadow. Which is first the bike bus from the Village up to the Ski (now Bike) Area, then another bus from the Ski (now Bike) Area up to Red's. And the first bus was fine, but the second bus was crowded. Very crowded. As in backpacks on laps (or in my case, on the back and sitting on the edge of the seat--when putting the pack on my back that reach back for the second arm is really painful, so I avoid the whole process as much as possible), every seat filled, standing room only, crowded. As in crying child in the seat next to you--literally--crowded. And the road is long and winds back and forth. It was a hot, stuffy ride, and while I was used to such close quarters--I've commuted on the MRT in Taipei after all--not everyone else was, so when we finally got to Red's Meadow, a lot of folks just sat at a picnic table to recover. Which took about two hours. So when we finally got on the trail, it was pretty late--about 5:30pm--and the miles were consequently pretty short--about 4 miles.
To be fair, I was feeling pretty slow and sluggish even for those 4 miles, so my original ambition of 10 miles might have been a case of my eyes being wider than my legs. I hadn't slept well the first night in Mammoth, on the too-soft bed, so the second night I had slept on the balcony in my sleeping bag on my sleeping pad, but I had also gone to bed pretty late and so hadn't slept well. Spent part of the night actually sleeping while sitting in a chair on the balcony, the sleeping bag wrapped around me, literally replicating sleeping-on-a-plane. So maybe that was the reason. (Or maybe I'm not as immune to crowded busses as I think, and the bus ride had gotten to me after all.)
For the hike, Dylan and me actually split from the rest of the group: we headed back to the PCT proper, while the rest would end up taking a route that would take them by the Devil's Postpile. Mostly I think this was a case of me wanting to stick to the PCT, and Dylan being worried about me so going with me. Dylan is actually--and I say this in only a good way--a tremendous sweetie. When I first met them on the trail after the fall, he immediately said I'll walk you to the urgent care in Mammoth when we get there. When after that I surged ahead of the group because they were going slower and there was no way I was getting caught in the rain again, he's the only who chased me down. And he's the one who insisted on AC/DC giving me a cognitive check on trail. I don't think he'll admit it--it's not a manly thing--but, yeah, deep down, he's a sweetie. So I suspect him accompanying me on this stretch was more in this vein than anything.
But as I mentioned, the rest of the group took a route by Devil's Postpile, whereas we missed it. But here's the thing: I don't mind that at all. As I see it, not seeing Devil's Postpile is just a reason to come back some day. To design some ridiculous backpacking trip--maybe start at Mammoth, hike out this lake then that lake then that other lake, slowly working my way down, until--after about 5 days on the trail--I finally do the half mile or so to Devil's Postpile. No, really, I needed to setup a 10 day backpacking trip in the Sierras (I mean, after getting to Devil's Postpile I have to get *out* right?, and that'll take comparable time--I'll just resupply at Red's), just to get that half mile. And while I'm being a bit facetious here, in reality, that *is* how I design my day hikes. I'm perfectly willing to hike 10 miles in, and 10 miles out, just to get a mile of yet-untrodden trail. In fact, my shakedown backpacking trip back in 2020 was a 3-day, 2-night trip, just to hike a maybe 4 mile stretch of trail I'd perpetually seen on the map, but that was too far away to get to on a day hike. So, yeah, I missed the Postpile? Not a problem--I'll get it later, and spin that Get into a much larger, proper Wander.
But that's in the future. As for today: we hiked the roughly 4 miles, crossed a bridge, then what looked like a big official campground off to the right. And I wandered over--Dylan was behind, taking a powder--and it seems the rest of the group had managed to get a campground here, far at the end. The camp host let us in even without a reservation: I've never had problems with PCT hikers, he said. So we got to setup in a nice campground, with flat, cleared spots, with a picnic table, with a bear box, with a fire ring, with clean bathrooms (actual, honest-to-goodness *clean*) just down the way: all the amenities! Quite a posh campsite! So for all my possible misgivings about the short mileage, I really can't complain about where we ended up because of it!
And that was the, well, day! A parade I missed, some bus rides that took a lot out of folks, and even a bit of hiking. Maybe not the start that I wanted for this section, but when you're hiking with a group you don't always get to do exactly what you want, and that's ok: the benefits of the group, being around friendly folks especially in the tough Sierras, I think nonetheless outweigh the "extra" miles I might have gained on my own.
-- Mammoth Lakes > Red's Meadow > San Jaoquin River
-- The crowds this weekend were huge. At Red's Meadow, there was a huge line to get on the bus back to Mammoth, and it took I think 3--if not 4--busloads to clear it! Lots and lots of day-hikers, lots and lots of tourists. And add to that a spate of thru-hikers with their huge bags--makes for very little room on the bus!
-- Guess who was at Red's Meadow when we got off the bus? Jane and Jean! They had caught up! And I caught up with them but the thing that kept going through my mind: why am I busting my butt, kicking it into high gear, getting myself hurt for goodness sake, when they're taking it nice and easy and are basically in the same place as me? In fact, they're ahead: we got vortexed at Red's Meadow, but they got their chores done quick and efficient, and then headed out before we did! And I know logically how they do it--they don't go into town but stay on trail, they don't get vortexed--but still, it's a bit flummoxing to push and push, and still be behind folks who you know are just taking it easy! Makes you wonder: am I doing this wrong? (And the answer to that, honestly?, is, yes, you *are* doing it wrong.)
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