Wednesday, July 1. Mid-30s and clear going up to 60.
Up at 6:00. It was very cold again today with frost on our tents. My rain fly and ground sheet are very wet from condensation due to being so close to the river. We got moving at 7:00. My fingers were hurting from the damp cold.
We power hiked to Tuolumne Meadow and arrived at 11:00. We checked in with the rangers around 11:30. I confirmed that the backpacker’s campground opened today and that I can stay here instead of hiking 10 more miles to get outside the no camping zone. Yes! The others made arrangements to get down into the valley in preparation for Half Dome tomorrow.
I went and set up my tent and left things to dry from this morning. Met the others at the store/grill around 1:00. Had a double cheeseburger and fries and a few beers for lunch. Also charged all my electronics at the store.
I said goodbye to Brad and Margarita as they caught the 2:15 bus down into Yosemite Valley. They scored Half Dome passes tomorrow. After that, Brad is taking 4 days off with friends and Margarita is taking one or two days off. We will catch up around Tahoe.
I picked up my resupply box at the post office and had a few beers while hanging out with hikers at the store. I worked on route planning. Since I’m solo the next 8 days, I planned shorter days but still aimed to get to the road crossing late on July 8 or early on July 9 where Pitcrew will pick me up.
My Bear can is very full with enough food for the four days to Kennedy Meadows North plus some hard-to-find snacks and breakfasts to get me to Tahoe. I picked up a six-pack and headed back to the campground around 2:30 and relaxed with some downloaded movies. Nice to have some downtime for a change.
I have too much food, so I made dinner from some of the snacks and extras that I don’t want to carry for the next six days. I may grab breakfast at the grill in the morning. They open at 8:00. I need to do 17.6 miles tomorrow, but the terrain is mostly flat with only 3000 feet of elevation gain all day. I will see how I’m feeling in the morning on the breakfast vs hiking topic.
Good news on the weather. This cold snap ends tomorrow with morning temps in the 40s as opposed to the 30s. The only downside is some late afternoon showers.
Overall a good day. Looking forward to hiking at my own pace and schedule for a few days. Really looking forward to seeing Pitcrew in 7 or 8 days.
Technical Notes:
- Quest bar – 210
- Banana Chips (18p, 30g): 150 kcal, 20g carb, 8g fat, 1g protein
- Banana Chips (18p, 30g): 150 kcal, 20g carb, 8g fat, 1g Milky Way 240
- Milky Way 240
- Town food!
- Water liters: 1
- Miles: 11.5
- Time: 5:15
- Up: 495
- Down: 853
- Calories consumed: lots
- Calories burned: 1579
- iPhone battery used: 25%
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