Author: memoriesaheadmilesbehind

Mile 931-951

Well, after we all tucked into our tents, I struggled to get to sleep. As tired as I was all I wanted was sleep but with my stuffy nose I was fighting to breathe. Eventually the Advil and Afrin kicked in and I was out like a light. I slept so good, I didn’t even feel bad sleeping in until 645am. Yeah, I should have gotten up earlier because of the snowy trail but I needed rest! And I know Justin is a late sleeper so I knew it would be just fine. By the time I got out of my tent (around 7) Phoenix was already gone. Didn’t even hear a peep out of him leaving.

It all worked out for us tho. Since Laura and Andrew had camped a few miles back they made sure they were up and hiking by 430am to make it over Donahue Pass. They said it was beautiful at sunrise as they had taken a break up there. By the time I was gathering water and Justin was just packing up his last few things they met us where we camped. We were able to hike the next 10 miles together through Lyell Canyon.

We had lunch at the Visitor Center. Laura and Andrew were about to get a wilderness permit to camp at Tuolumne Meadows, where they will stay for a few days until Laura’s brother, Dan, will meet them. Dan will hike at least 7 days with her. I’m not sure how things will work from here but I’m confident I will hike more with Laura as the trail goes on. We gave hugs good-bye and told them we’d send updates from the Trail.

Now mind you, prior to our parting moment I had my own personal moment. I took my pack off and just felt over whelmed by being physically tired and not 100% healthy. My sinus issues got the best of me and I shed a few tears of “I don’t want to be miserable out here… (and) if I just get better this would be an awesome day.” So I explained my tears to Justin, Andrew gave me a hug, and Laura told me about all her moments from 2 days prior–which I didn’t really know about. So then I get better and everyone lifted my spirits.

I told Justin I could maybe do another 5 miles but no more than 10. We had already done 10 to our lunch spot. The sun was out, the birds were chirping and we were back on (mostly) dry trail. I think the highlight (and ultimate mood lifter) was standing in front of Tuolumne Falls. I love a good water fall and when you can get close enough to feel the spray, it’s flat out impressive.

From the falls it was just under 5 miles to camp. I felt good enough that I knew I’d be okay making the 20 mile day. And so we pushed on. We had a tough little climb to the campsite which is always a brutal way to end the day, but the views for the day we worth it.

We did cross some decent rivers today. I did give way to crossing most of the streams by just walking through with my shoes and socks on. The water hasn’t been near as cold these past few days. Also, I’m getting slightly more confident with the log crossings. I think we crossed two today. There is still at least one more river north of us that will haunt me until I cross it but we will talk about that one in a few more days.

We also had our permits checked for the first time. I had fallen back on a potty break and the group had been chatting with a NP Ranger when I came up. She was nice, I apologize but I didn’t get her name.

Anywho, there’s one more that we must climb named Benson Pass. Depending on the snow, right now we will hike to the approach tomorrow. Which is about 14 miles from here then do the Pass early morning on Thursday.

For now, good night. I’m feeling somewhat better. I still have a little cough but I’m not AS stuffy as I have been, so hopefully it’s working its way out. Goodnight.

5.28.2018

923-931

This snow stuff is kicking my butt. Another day that I am reminded how thankful we didn’t push on that snowy Monday (outside of Independence). Yesterday was tough. Today was just down right brutal.

Now I say that because I think I had a teary moment this morning before leaving camp. I think having this sinus crap while I’m out here is really breaking my spirit. Yes, I thought about staying in town when it was creeping up on me, but that would have gotten me nowhere. So again, I didn’t sleep cause I was all congested. I didn’t budget enough TP for blowing my nose all day long!!! 😝 So anyway, I tried to will the sinus crap away all day but it still got the better half of me. Not to mention being thirsty while trying to climb a mountain with grossness in your throat. The good thing is, I feel it making its rounds in my head so hopefully I’ve gone through the worst of it and it’ll be over in a few more days.

And back to the trail. Laura and Andrew broke camp pretty early. I think they were out before 6. I know they had hoped to make it over Donahue Pass (11074ft) and take break at mile 933. Unfortunately I think the warm sunny day wreaked havoc on their plans.

Justin and I left the campsite right around 7am. I had been up pretty early (545am) and felt a bit out of sorts trying to pack all my stuff up so I didn’t worry about a Justin sleeping in. What I did know was that the later we started hiking the more postholing we’d have to contend with.

Which brings me back to Laura and Andrew, as they had hiked in front of us, we were able to follow their footprints through the snow most of the morning. The snow was warming quickly today and was slushy in most spots by 11am. We were in and out of our snowshoes most of the morning. There was a long snow field that led to Donahue Pass that was the shining moment of our snowshoe purchase. We were able to walk most of the snow field without postholing. It was still slow but it helped a great deal. Little did we know the snow was too slushy for Andrew and Laura and they hollered at us from their campsite around 130pm. They are in a prime spot to attack the ascent in the wee hours of the morning.

Justin and I pushed on as our traction was good. It felt really awesome going up and over Donahue Pass. Tons of snow but not super technical like Forester Pass was. After slogging our way to the top we followed the few footsteps in the snow that led us to a steep decent. I watched from up top as Justin started his way down. It was slow going but it looked like we’d make it just fine. Well, just seconds later I see what looks like Justin skiing down the hillside and then a tumble. He was fine but it all happened in slow motion I didn’t know wether to laugh or cry. When he gathered himself and found his trekking poles and water bottle, I decided it was worth the trek and made my own glissade down. Super slushy snow works great to slide on! I popped my snowshoes off and held one in each hand and made it down the hill an easy 20-30 feet. It was so much fun!!! It really was my highlight of the “low moral” kind of day that it was. Justin followed suit as he saw it was a way easier way down.

After that fun, we decide to cut the trail a little bit because of the snow. Good idea but kinda sketchy. But we survived. At one point we lost the trail and I just happen to look up and some crazy hiker is following us–we hadn’t seen anyone other than Laura and Andrew since yesterday. That guy just bombed down the hill like it was nothing, no crampons no snowshoes. He was practically running!!! We both just shook our heads.

So with that defeating moment over, we dropped down to the tree line of Yosemite National Park (I guess I should say that we entered the park when we summited Donahue Pass). This is where the day went sour. What we should have done was camp at the bottom when we hit the tree line but we both knew it was too early to end the day. So we put ourselves through some terrible postholing. Postholing so bad I had to dig myself out a few times, once including when I fell directly between two rocks so deep that my snowshoe got lodged underneath. It sucked to say the least. The trail is still covered mostly by snow so route finding in the trees was mostly impossible. There was a lot of cursing today. But again, we survived.

We were both exhausted and agreed that the next spot we saw we’d make camp. Of course I had to cross another log to get there. Log crossed and we were setting up tents by 6pm. We were joined by a guy named Phoenix, he’s from Switzerland. Nice guy, super fast tho, he started April 14 and made it through the Sierras.

I’m so tired. And sore. My body definitely took a beating today. I had some severe doubts today about “finishing” the trail. And then I reminded myself of “Never quit on a bad day” and so I won’t. I know there is more snow ahead but we are done with the high passes. We did cross a total of two logs today that frightened me so no, I still haven’t gotten over that complex. I had to explain to Justin that I was the kid who NEVER jumped off the diving board in swim school. Nope, never. Just don’t like it.

Anywho…. I’m going to hope for some great sleep tonight and a waaaaaay better day tomorrow. Oh yeah, the scenery and weather were a bonus today so I can’t complain about that at all. Goodnight.

914-923

Well, as yucky as the weather was yesterday in Mammoth today the clouds parted. Although let’s not get too carried away, they were certainly dark and lingering as we finally made it back to the trail. Woooo hooo back to writing about things that matter.

I will start with the “tickle” in my throat. I hardly slept a wink last night. Thankfully I was within walking distance to a RiteAid, so I was promptly there at 7am when they opened. I purchased an artillery of meds to combat and ease the misery of a possible sinus problem. They are pretty common for me so I went straight for some Mucinex, lozenges and nasal spray. Adding more weight to the backpack but this was truly necessary.

Back to the hotel I went. Final packing commenced and we all showered one last time and headed over for breakfast at Good Day Cafe. Their freaking Hawaiian Bread French Toast is just awesome! I had to have one more serving before heading back to the trail.

Ben picked us up promptly at 10am. Ben is Heidi’s husband who surprised her with a visit from Georgia. He was nice enough to offer up his rental car as a shuttle for us this morning. So nice of him. He got us as close to trail as he could, which coincidentally was at the Mammoth Mountain Ski lodge. Crazy to see mountain bikers and skiers in the same parking lot, then only to have us stomping through the bunny hill. From the drop point it was a little over 3 miles of a road walk back to the trail. This particular road was closed as it’s still winter time in Mammoth.

Once on the trail we were snow free for quite some time, probably just before 9000ft. As it was nearing midday we expected to posthole and boy, did we. Postholing isn’t any fun. It makes for slow movement and unsafe steps. You never know what’s exactly underneath you when your step in the snow falls beneath the weight of your body.

In anticipation of the postholing, I purchased a pair of snowshoes late last night. I was kicking myself for not sending my pair from home earlier. Justin had purchased a pair as well so we tried them out for a short stint today and they help! But because the snow coverage isn’t 100% it was a bit of a hassle taking them on and off. Ah well, it gave me peace of mind to have them with. And yes, they added 4 more pounds to my pack but I figured I have at least 4 less pounds of food this time so it’s kinda a wash, right?

The scenery today was amazing. Maybe because I was truly ready to get back out here. Maybe it was because the sun was out. Either way, I can’t explain to you how gorgeous it is and the pictures will never do justice. While it looks cold, I wore 2 layers on top, one on bottom and was perfectly comfortable. Except for the wet feet. I still can’t manage that, it seems almost impossible in these Altras and it’s a little late to turn back to boots. I’m gonna try a little harder tomorrow to keep them dry so we shall how that works.

I did have an outing last night with some other hikers tho. The family (Laura, Andrew and Justin) went for a movie and I opted for a nap. When I woke up Seeker told me they were headed over to the brewery so I went to listen to all the stories. Seeker had made it to town with Heidi on Friday and Pacecar, Groover and Nutz had made it to town yesterday morning (Saturday). From their stories–which were all similar to Justin’s-the timing of when they went through the Sierras was not optimal. As Pacecar said, “It never felt like there would be any reprieve.” The weather, lack of sun, difficult mountain passes, self-arrests on high slopes, and even 2 guys falling into an edge of a frozen lake. I gave Pacecar a big hug. So proud of all of them, but so scary to hear their stories. I know of at least 4 other hikers still pushing through so hopefully with the weather finally changing for the better their hike is looking up!

It feels good to be back out. We have 2 passes to cross tomorrow so we should be up early to tackle those. And we are 20 miles from Tuolumne Meadows. Maybe with the early wake up we can make that but I’m not going to hold my breath if the terrain is similar to today.

For now I must sleep. Gotta beat this sinus thing ASAP!