Woke up about 5 again and rested until about 6 when we got ready for breakfast. Went to Jack's, a local breakfast place where I had a wonderful orange-cranberry muffin and a spinach, mushroom, and cheese omelette. After breakfast, Desert Flower left to try to hitch to LA. We went back to the hostel and began packing. We have sooo much food to carry. We went to a gear shop to get a few more things for the week. Came back and weighed out packs. Results are as follows: Jedi: 35lb, Thin Mint: 36lb, AB: 40lb, Me: 42lb, and Frank: 45lb. Interestingly, the weight goes perfectly from oldest to youngest (i.e. the oldest is carrying the least weight, the youngest, the most weight). Yesterday, Thin Mint had arranged a ride for her and us with Papa Bear, a trail angel who is in the area (but lives in Nevada). He took us to the trail head (we also picked up an older hiker named Slash on the way) and then we began the ascent that we had been dreading.
It actually wasn't as bad as we expected. We took it slow and made it up to the top relatively easily. Got to the top of Kearsarge Pass and then went down the other side.
Started back up the PCT and Frank and I were the first to make it to a campsite where we planned to stay the night.
Jedi showed up with a camera he had found. He then decided to run it down to the ranger station 2 miles back (meaning 4 additional miles). We ate dinner and Jedi eventually returned. The ranger had just happened to offer him a reward of what may be his two favorite things in the world: a beer and a Snickers bar. The mosquitoes are out tonight, but are tolerable, so we're still cowboy camping.
John Muir Trail! Still gorgeous mountain scenes! Jedi is a good person and deserves his rewards! Are you using the bug net?
ReplyDeleteKearsarge Pass sounds rough, but I'm glad it wasn't as bad as you expected. What a good reward for Jedi!
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