Day 67 – Mammoth Lakes to Mile 921.1

Monday, June 29. Mid-40s and partly cloudy with a chance of rain in the late afternoon going up to mid-50s.

Up at 6:15. Worked on resupply planning. Finished packing. Chilled out while Margarita ran to the post office to ship to Yosemite. We left the hostel to catch the 9:30 bus to the Horseshoe Lake trailhead at 9:15.

Brad is getting off trail for a few days once we get to Yosemite. He is meeting some friends. Margarita is taking two days in Yosemite. We should catch back up in or after my 4 days off in Tahoe. I have not decided what I’m doing in Yosemite yet. It will depend on who else is around, what the crowds are like, and what the camping options are. I need to talk to a ranger once I get to Tuolumne Meadows to figure things out. 

On trail at 10:09. We have about 6 miles to get back to the PCT. The first .5 miles was wicked steep, but then it leveled off and then dropped downhill into Reds Meadow. We hiked all this way through the Ansel Adams Wilderness.

We passed a mule train on the way into Red’s.  Arrived at Red’s Meadow at 11:30. Grabbed a snack and chilled for half an hour. 

Hiked back to the PCT via Devil’s Postpile National Monument.

We hiked through the Ansel Adams Wilderness again in the afternoon and evening. Very striking views.

YouTube Video of Ansel Adams Wilderness

Got to camp at 6:45. It started to snow as I was settling up my tent. It was snowing pretty good by the time I finished. Then it turned to sleet, then rain with strong winds. That all finally stopped about 8:00. It’s supposed to get down to about 33 tonight with windchills around 27.

I have line of sight to the top of the ski area back in Mammoth, so I have really good cell service. I talked to Vicki, and it’s supposed to be over 100 back home with a real-feel of 108+ with the humidity. Talk about two opposite weather extremes!

I cooked dinner in my tent vestibule given the weather. Brad and Margarita are about 3 miles behind me. Somehow I passed them. They will meet me here around 7:15 tomorrow morning.

We cross over Donohue Pass and enter Yosemite tomorrow late afternoon. Very cool!

Technical Notes:

• Breaded chicken breast 220
• Coffee
• Potato Chips 900
• Root Beer 300
• Breaded chicken breast 220
• Mango (3-4p, 30gy): 100 kcal, 25g carb, 0g fat, 0g protein per 
• Mango (3-4p, 30gy): 100 kcal, 25g carb, 0g fat, 0g protein per 
• Skittles 125
• Milky Way 240
• Jerky (1 oz): 70 kcal, 6g carb, 0g fat, 11g protein 
• Cup noodles protein (8 oz water): 320 Kcal, 38g carb, 12g fat, 16g protein 
• Cup noodles protein (8 oz water): 320 Kcal, 38g carb, 12g fat, 16g protein 
• Skittles (2.17oz): 250 kcal, 56g carb, 2.5g fat, 0g protein 
• Snickers 240
• Water liters: 3
• Miles: 17.2
• Time: 8:48
• Up: 3527
• Down: 2841
• Calories consumed: 3445
• Calories burned: 3031
• iPhone battery used: 50%