From PCT mile 894.8 to 904.5+ Total: 13.4 miles 7/17
On the 25th day of my PCT Sierra Section trek I reached the halfway point, and hiked from Purple Lake to the Mammoth Pass Trail, where I left the wilderness and took a free trolley from Horseshoe Lake to downtown Mammoth Lakes, then ate some Town Food and spent the night in a motel. Civilization!
By the time I woke up, I had a new potential plan in my head. That’s why I woke up so early. I wouldn’t know if I was going to do it until I spoke with Vicki on the phone, and I figured that I’d get cell signal soon enough, as the top of Mammoth Mountain has a Verizon tower which is very powerful. Until then, my plan was to start hiking early, at 5am. So I woke at 3:30, ate my breakfast, and did the usual morning routine. Getting up early was what I normally do anyway. I just like to be sure that there is enough light to take photos. Usually.
Technically, it was “First Light” as I left camp, but it was dark enough to still require my headlamp. I tiptoed through the quiet campground and made it to the main PCT-JMT trail near Purple Lake. After that, the trail climbed up then down again as it traversed around Peak 3464 (meters, so roughly 11,360 feet). As the daylight grew, the views out over the Cascade Valley were quite stunning. I would have liked some pretty sunrise clouds, but early clouds in the Sierra usually mean rain later on, so maybe not.
The trail dropped back down and met the Duck Lake Pass Trail. As part of my quest to complete the High Sierra PCT and JMT, I hiked this access trail back in 2021, from the trailhead in Mammoth Lakes. Depending upon snow levels and road closures at the Devils Postpile National Monument, early season PCT thru-hikers often went to Mammoth for resupplies via this route.
I was hiking fast, so I ended up tiptoeing through yet another campground full of sleepy backpackers at Duck Creek. Some were just stirring, so we waved quietly at each other. And then I was gone.
After Duck Creek, the trail climbed a bit, then began a long, steady drop as it made its way to the Devils Postpile, which was 13 miles and 3000 feet below. But I would be stopping long before that, either for a burger at Reds Meadow or an exit to Mammoth Lakes, depending upon Vicki’s decision. Either way, I was getting a burger! The trail was also quite smooth and cruisey for the most part, and in the cool of the morning, with great views out over the valley to my left, it felt great to be alive. I could hike like that all day.
After four hours of hiking, at 9am or so, I checked my position on the map. It appeared that I might have a line-of-sight with Mammoth Mountain. I took my phone off Airplane Mode and there it was: Signal! I did a bit of quick internet searching and looked up a motel in Mammoth Lakes and the bus schedule to Yosemite National Park. Both options were available, but I didn’t commit to anything yet. Then I called Vicki. I asked her what she would like me to do, as our 40th Wedding Anniversary was coming up in five days. Would she like me to keep on hiking to my car in Yosemite, which would take three more days plus the long drive home, or would she like me to exit at Mammoth Lakes and get home tomorrow afternoon? Her choice. It took her a while to understand, as this seemed sudden to her (I thought about it for the last day or so), but then she came to her senses and said “Tomorrow.” That was all I needed to hear. We hung up, I booked my motel and bus tickets, and that was that. I would worry about doing the second half of my PCT trek once I got back home for a week or two.
That decision really put some spring in my steps! I was going home! And there would be hamburgers today! A soft bed! And I might even get clean. Wonder of Wonders!
The next three miles were easy, as I hiked along Deer Creek, and eventually arrived near Crater Meadow. Flowers were blooming everywhere, and the wilderness was beautiful. Life was good again.
After ten miles total on the PCT, I arrived at the Mammoth Pass trail around 10:30am. The sun was getting hot by then. I looked at the Far Out app, but it didn’t say much about mileages and elevation profiles for side trails. So I opened my CalTopo app and viewed things differently. It looked like I had to hike a bit less than four miles, but climb about 500 feet! Sigh. All that lovely downhill cruising I just did was water under the bridge. Now it was time to pay. First, however, I took a seat in the shade and ate my pop-tart lunch. I thought about it more, and realized that 500 feet was nothing to a fine-tuned Hiking Machine such as myself. The only inescapable issue was the heat, but it looked to be forested, so at least there would be shade. I would survive it, and a bit of sweat was worth it if I got home to Vicki sooner than expected. And then I hiked on. And I sweated.
On the eastern side of Mammoth Pass was McCloud Lake. I tried fishing there back in 2023, but never saw a trout. I didn’t bother fishing there today. Supposedly, there were rare Lahontan Cutthroat Trout living in this lake, and there was a strict Catch and Release policy here, set by Fish and Wildlife. My new PCT Sierra Trout Fishing Guide mentions this fact. Today, however, I simply hiked onward. “The burgers are calling” as John Muir famously didn’t say.
I descended toward Horseshoe Lake and the parking lot after that. There was a very short and easy half mile hike to the lake on this trail, and there were tons of summer tourists dayhiking it. Little kids, fat ladies, portly men, cute girls taking selfies for Instagram; this trail had it all. And I was caught completely unprepared for the sudden crush of humanity. What a shocker!
I made to the the trailhead by 12:30pm, and the sun was roasting. I set down my backpack in the shade next to the trolley schedule sign, then texted Vicki that I was back in civilization. Now, Mammoth Lakes is an excellent town. They even have free trolley-bus rides all over the place! You can rent a bicycle and take it on a big trailer behind the trolley. Many people take the bikes up to the lakes, then coast all the way downhill. Others go to the main ski lodge where they have modified lift carriers that take the bikes up to the top of Mammoth Mountain (11,053 feet elevation) and you can ride down on exciting mountain-bike trails. Fun stuff! But as for me, I just wanted a burger, a motel, and a shower, in that order. It took two trolleys to get to Carl’s Junior, but it was worth the wait. I munched out in the restaurant and spent the time sending photos of me on mountain passes, or standing by pristine lakes, to friends and family.
After getting a T-shirt at the Troutfitter store, I stopped at the grocery store and picked up some razors, plus some soda and snacks. Then I walked over to the motel and checked in. I stripped down and threw my filthy clothes into the shower, and got in along with them and a razor. After an hour of standing in the hot water I felt like a very clean prune. It was then that I realized that I had no other clothing to wear except my nighttime long johns. Hmmm. That’s when I spread the clothes out in the sunshine coming in the window, ate yet more snacks, and read my Kindle. My nylon fishing clothes dried fairly fast, but I wouldn’t have called them clean. Still, they would have to do. Later on, at dinnertime, I went back for another burger, and that one really hit the spot. Then it was time for bed.
In the morning I went down to the motel’s breakfast buffet and pigged out on eggs and fried potatoes. Then I had some more. I checked out of the motel and headed over to the main road to wait for the bus to Yosemite.
You might be wondering why I originally left my car in Yosemite but changed my mind and paused my trek in Mammoth. It was because of a misbegotten notion I had in the Spring. I thought that I could do the full 500 mile Sierra Section in three parts, one at 100 miles, and two others at 200 miles each. Also, since PCT Section H technically ends at Tuolumne Meadows, this location became stuck in my mind. It turned out that all of the bus routes in the Eastern Sierra either begin or end at Mammoth Lakes. Even if I hiked the rest of the way to my car in Yosemite, when I came back to do the final 200 miles I would still have to spend a night in Mammoth Lakes and wait for the morning bus! In other words, Mammoth is the natural Pausing Point on a PCT Sierra Section hike. But I didn’t realize it until two days ago. So now I would be able to see Vicki for our 40th Anniversary and would simply let my three parts be 100 miles, 150 miles, and 250 miles. This sounded good to me. Each part larger than the last, as if I was getting better and tougher as the Summer went on. Which I was! I was a bona-fide Hiking Machine now, and when I returned I’d really burn up those miles and passes with ease. OK, maybe not with ease. Let’s be realistic here.
So I got on the YARTS bus and we drove north to Yosemite. The driver was extra nice and asked if anyone wanted to be let off at the Lembert Dome trailhead rather than the nearby store, and he stopped to let off a few of us. This saved me a half mile walk. Thanks!
I still had a mile or so to hike in order to get to my car, but that was OK. The skies were pretty and Yosemite is always stunningly beautiful, so that was a good way to stretch my legs after the bus ride. I got to my car and opened it up. I got out a set of clean clothes and put them on right away. I felt better immediately. Yesterday’s hand-scrubbing in the bathtub wasn’t the same as fresh laundry. Then I got out some snacks and sodas from where I left them in a nearby bear box (per YNP regulations) and set them in a convenient location for eating on the road.
It was only 9am and I had about a six hour drive in front of me. With luck, I’d even beat the rush hour as I made my way through LA on the way to San Diego. I looked up at the sky as I drove. There were an awful lot of clouds in the sky already. The weather forecast was for afternoon thunderstorms in the High Sierra, but they were looking more like morning thundershowers to me! This made me even gladder that I bailed at Mammoth. I didn’t really enjoy backpacking with soggy gear, even though, paradoxically, I loved being dry inside a tent in a pounding rainstorm just fine. Go figure. But either way, I was in a dry car. With music and climate control. So off I went, heading down the hill, east from Tioga Pass.
It started raining as I arrived in Lee Vining, and continued as I drove south on US Highway 395 (the Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway) toward Mono Lake and the turnoff to Mammoth Lakes. The rain stopped when I headed down into the lower altitudes of Owens Valley and the town of Bishop. Just the same, I noticed an awful lot of clouds massing up above the Sierra Crest to the west. I felt sorry for all the poor hikers on the PCT who were undoubtedly getting utterly drenched right then.
I filled up my gas tank in Fort Independence, at the Piute Reservation. I knew from experience that this would be enough to get me home in one shot. Then I drove up the big hill to Onion Valley, where I left the extras from my resupply a week or so ago inside a big bear box. I looked around, to see if there were any hikers in need of a ride down the hill. It was noon, so I guess the early birds were gone and the late birds weren’t here yet. Oh well. So back to the highway I went. I stopped off for a photo of Whitney like I always do. It’s traditional, I have a friend who would be very sad if I drove by without sending him a picture, even if Whitney was invisible behind storm clouds like today. No excuses are allowed when it comes to Tradition. Then I blazed on down that lonely highway through the Big Empty of the Mojave Desert. And on across the traffic-ridden madness of LA.
All in all, I was rather pleased with myself. My gear had held up well, even though I was probably carrying too much of it, with a Base Weight of 25 pounds! But I no longer cared about that, as I purposefully hiked fewer miles per day in order to carry those so-called “luxury items.” And now that I was in excellent physical shape, I had no worries about carrying it all another 250 miles. Figuring out the logistics of the second half of the trek would be my task in the coming weeks. Enjoying my 40th anniversary with Vicki was the most important thing right now.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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