It's been so beautiful I haven't been able to blog.
The high Sierra is an amazing place. The PCT joins the John Muir Trail for 200 miles. The scenery is incredible. We climbed up massive mountains every day. It's like climbing the second tallest mountain twice a day. there were no bears to be seen so the canister that I carried doubled as a chair.
Living at high altitudes is great for crisp weather, low Mosquitos and marmots. 18-22 miles a day.
I was on my last leg of food and on my way to Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) which was still 14 miles away. The rain started pouring on me and the Mosquitos started picking up. I had a few massive rivers to ford and after crossing Evolution Creek, I checked my GPS and was no longer on trail. That was not good. I was lost in the rain by myself. I crossed rivers and walked up other trails. Finally I got back to trail and began to run the trail. Yes that's right, running. The forest moved so fast by my eyes. Flashes of green and blue as I ran on adrenaline and an empty stomach.
I found the trail head and got to VVR to find hikers drinking beer. I got dry and found a free beer and joined a group around a fire. Then the chaos began.
A JMT hiker stumbled into V V R and from exhaustion passed out face first into a pile of rocks. The rocks split his face open and he was vomiting blood. Hikers were the first on the scene and helped the man sit up. Rocks stuck into his eyes and caused his face to distort. It was horrible to watch but I had to watch in order to remind myself what can happen if things go bad. Finally some ambulance came and took him away. Hikers were covered in blood and got free beer from the resort which did nothing to help. Hikers saved the day.
A few days later I arrived to Mammoth and we piled 6 hikers into a Motel 6 room. Only cost me $15 but I slept on the floor. Oh well.
Mammoth is beautiful in the summer. Very peaceful and different from snow season.
I hiked with Dog out of mammoth who mentioned foot pain. Two days in, Dog confirmed that his foot had a minor fracture and left trail from Tuolumne Meadows. I miss Dog.
That's when I paired up with Rocky and T-Rex from Portland. They are a cool hiker couple that are very positive and friendly.
We entered mosquito hell together. When I say hell, I mean it. Hundreds of thousands flying blood suckers in clouds. We could not stop hiking without getting bitten. I have never had so many bites. Over 100!!
You wake up to make breakfast in a cloud. You make dinner in a cloud. It never ends. At night, there would be around 200 just on my tent and the buzzing noise of their flying kept me awake.
Deet and mosquito nets can only do so much when they can bite through your clothes.
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