Mono Creek
As I was headed down to the ferry landing, I ran into Nemo! He told me that he was getting off in Mammoth and getting an X-ray! We weren’t able to talk long but at the dock, another hiker told me he fell and that he was thinking he broke a rib! How crazy that he’s about to hike to Mammoth with a possibly broken rib! I hope he’s ok!
There were 7 other people already at the waters edge, and a bunch of hikers had just gotten off the “ferry”. It seems that the ferry is currently just a little dingy. The ferry which normally holds 20 hikers, is leaking so it’s in repair. Instead they run a small boat all day that can take 4 comfortably and 5 in a pinch, and since I was #8, I had to wait for two round trips, (about two hours), but finally it was my turn. On the approaching boat, I saw Julian! He was leaving VVR already!
Lake view from the “dock”
Bye Julian! (I’m sure I’ll see him again soon) :)
The ferry ride was quite pleasant! It’s about a 5 mile trip across the HUGE lake! Our driver was super cool. He’s the only one who does this, I assume seven days a week for hiking season! As we got closer to the other side, we started to see signs of civilization; normal looking people fishing and recreating, vehicles!! We haven’t seen vehicles for 9 days!!
Civilization!!
The beach on the other side
VVR
VVR, (Vermillion Valley Resort), was so cool!! It’s a little building and a group of cabins with bathrooms and such where PCT hikers and John Muir Trail (JMT) hikers can come and pick up packages, relax on a beautiful beach, eat great food from the restaurant, camp for free, and even shower for a fee! And top top of all off, your first beer is free!!
First things first.. FOOD! Well the free beer and then food of course.. Before getting these chicken strips I ordered and devoured the best burger I might’ve ever had. It was gone in 60 seconds. My body is definitely experiencing a calorie deficit, so now was my chance to make up for it!
I saw Keglegs there. She was about to head out to the nearby hotsprings, but I had more business to attend to. And by that of course I mean to eat more food! Aside from the restaurant food there is ice cream and other things to eat in the adjoined store, and they all you might need for the two day stretch to Mammoth or the four day stretch to Tuolumne. (At a pretty steep markup of course). But here’s where the hiker box comes in handy!
The hiker box
When people send packages to VVR, they have to send a specific size package. A big one. To fill it up, they normally throw way more food in there than they actually need, and when they pick it up at VVR, a lot of it goes into the hiker box. I’m pretty early in hiking season, so it wasn’t as stocked as the stories I’ve heard, but I did manage to get about 1.5 days of food out of there for free!
While I was there eating, a familiar face stopped in! It was Omri! So, when Shadow, Joseph, Julian and I were in Idyllwild, I met Omri and we ate breakfast with him at the Red Kettle. Ever since Idyllwild he’s been hiking with Shadow, Alright, and soon after Early Bird. They are a strong knit crew! He and Shadow are extremely close. However, Shadow now has a pretty serious injury, and it looks like he’ll be off trail for awhile. :(
Since he was helping Shadow around town/driving to the doctor etc, while Early Bird and Alright continued on, Omri has been hiking the whole Sierra alone to try and catch up and has been having a rough time of it! He told me today that this morning he decided he would quit the trail after VVR and go back to Israel; but after seeing me at VVR and catching up, it sounds like he’s going to stay on trail! Yay!
Omri
I can’t take credit for his mood turning up, it’s definitely the pie at VVR!
I met another hiker there named Feather, he was born in Kauai and now lives in Bellingham, Washington! We have a lot in common including climbing and snowboarding! He’s done a couple 40 mile days and is definitely faster than me, but he was so cool that Omri, Feather and I decided to hike out from VVR together that afternoon. We got in queue for the boat ride out, and weren’t able to get on until the 5pm trip!
Feather
Stylin’ ride
So, I was originally planning on staying a night at VVR to rest. Well, it’s been known to be a vortex of sorts, and when you arrive, they start a “tab” for you. You don’t pay for anything while you’re there, they just add everything to your tab. Ferry rides, restaurant meals, showers, store food, everything. Well I don’t know how it happened, but I was there for about 5 hours and racked up an $89 tab! I did walk out with over 4 days of food, most of which was free, and the two ferry rides came out to $23 total. So I’m all honesty, not too baaaaaaad!
Keglegs was still gone, presumably at the Hot Springs, but our little clan had planned to hike from Lone Pine to VVR together which we (almost) did, so I knew it wouldn’t be a big deal if I blasted out of there! When I was waiting to pay my tab, I saw someone’s tab (not a hiker), at $484! They must’ve been staying in a cabin but still, dang!!
The ride back across the 5 mile Lake Edison
Anyways, VVR was great! The “ferry” boat rides were fun, and we were back on trail just after 6pm! On the shore I saw Happy and Gnarwhal and Wheezer! Us boys had been hoping to be back on trail around 4, so that we could start our 8 mile approach to Silver Pass. Even though we got out much later, we still wanted to take a big chunk out of that distance! It was the most fun and beautiful afternoon/evening I’ve hiked for a while!!
We had 3 or 4 really fun stream crossings, we had all eaten a TON at VVR and felt like we had new energy to burn! Feather and I have a similar “Go for it!” style, and we got to see Omri step out of his comfort zone on a few of the crossings. Top this off with some amazing views and breathtaking climbs, and this was an evening to remember!
Can’t really tell from pic but we crossed the white log which is at a pretty steep angle!
Omri crossing a rager...
No joke guys! I made this rock hop dry across :)
Amazing waterfall pouring over the trail!
Omri (Pants wet from the creek crossing earlier)
Feather howling
Two-pack cheesin’
In 2016, Claire and I took great pictures at this waterfall as well. I remebered a specific spot that we had camped at just afterwards, and I excitedly told the boys about it. It was our second to last night on trail, and Claire and I decided to camp on a beautiful granite slab cliff, overlooking the valley below and the greatest view of the stars you can get! Omri and Feather were both down to camp in the same spot and join in my 2016 nostalgia.
View from camp (cliff side)
Da boys, so glad I got to hike with these two today!
What a crazy, awesome, beautiful place to end the day. What was sure to be a nero and overnight stay at VVR turned into a quick eat and resupply mission! The trail calls to me hard the moment I stop hiking! Why is it so hard for me to sit still and rest!?! Anyway, there’s great energy here tonight, we’re all tired (feather did a 40 mile day yesterday into VVR, arriving at 10:00pm!), but we’re planning on hitting Silver Pass together in the morning, then splitting up near the Mammoth junction since they’re going in and I’m staying out!
Thanks for reading!
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