Day 64: Into Mammoth Lakes

Date: Wed 6/20

PCT Start Mile: 903.1

PCT End Mile: 906.7

PCT Mileage for Day: 3.6

Total PCT Mileage: 906.7

The Highlights: showers

This morning my alarm went off at 4am, still dark. I lay in my sleeping bag for another 10 minutes and then used my red light to dress and pack up. I dug my last cathole for this section and we hiked out at 5am. Toilets for the next few days 🙂

We only had about 4 miles to hike today to get to Reds Meadow Resort to catch a series of shuttles into Mammoth Lakes. Due to conflicting information about the time the first shuttle left from Reds Meadow, we wanted to arrive by 7am. We gave ourselves some extra time in case of bathroom breaks, slow water crossings, or photo stops.

The 4 miles was mostly downhill, with several water crossings (that we were at least able to keep our feet dry for), and beautiful mountain views of the Minarets to our west. Eventually the trail weaved through a major downed tree area and, while some looked burned, much of the destruction was also likely due to harsh winter conditions in previous years. I’ve also since learned that some of this is due to carbon dioxide levels in the soil. Learn something new every day.

Even with the downhill, we were moving particularly quickly … funny how we seem to find that extra gear when we are heading into town… the lure of hot cooked food and showers is very strong.

As we neared the junction for Red’s Meadow Resort, the smell of horses became very strong, and – as we turned off the PCT and onto the side trail to the resort – another smell became very strong: breakfast foods. In particular, bacon.

We followed our noses … past the horse stables and up to the center of Red’s Meadow Resort, where we found the shuttle stop, General Store, and Mulehouse Cafe. It was only 6:15am when we arrived. Even the earliest possibility for the shuttle arrival was likely 7:15am. More likely closer to 7:45am, a woman who worked there said. Damn. We were very early.

While we waited, we filled out a survey about smart phone usage on the trail. The same one we had filled out in Big Bear Lake, as the grad student doing the study was traveling up the trail to a few locations throughout the hiking season and we just happened to catch her again. Unfortunately no hot dogs this time. Since this location was right next to a store and cafe she couldn’t be as generous in her food offerings so as to not detract from the resort businesses.

At 7am, the cafe opened and cold hikers piled into the building. We drank hot coffee and ate bagels while we waited. And waited. And waited. Though we were back outside by 7:30am, the shuttle didn’t arrive until 8:15am. So… we had arrived just a couple hours early. 😂

This shuttle delivered its patrons to different parts of the mountain and trailheads and we remained on until we arrived at the Adventure Center, where we caught the bike shuttle. This shuttle delivered us to the Village, where we finally caught the purple line into downtown Mammoth Lakes. All said and done, it was about 10am by the time we were in town. Six hours after I’d woken up, and we were finally heading to eat a proper breakfast.

*Delicious huevos rancheros at The Stove.*

After delicious breakfasts at The Stove, we walked back up the block to Vons, the local supermarket, where we took care of our resupply. Several other hikers agreed that resupply is probably the most stressful part of hiking. Out on the trail, we just follow the dirt path, but in town we are suddenly faced with so many choices. The grocery store is overwhelming. I pick up some trusty staples and a few new things. Enough food for about 5 days. I hope.

Bellies full and resupply taken care of, we took the local trolley up toward our hotel to check in, and after a short wait for our room to be ready, were finally able to take long showers and wash the nature off ourselves. I shave carefully around the many many nicks, cuts, and scrapes all over my legs.

We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning down all of our gear and taking care of laundry. Though we will be here a couple days, we like to take care of all the chores right away, so we can spend the rest of the time truly resting and relaxing before we hit the trail again.

In the evening, we rejoined Squishy to hit up the Latin Market, a local hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint where we had great tacos, burritos, and quesadillas. We may have also made a quick stop at the nearby Rite Aid to grab some dessert in the form of Talenti gelato. I mean, we needed the containers for our hike, what were we supposed to do? We dutifully ate the gelato while watching Jurassic World on TV in our hotel room. And now, glorious pillow time.

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