Day 58, 19.38 miles

I still can’t believe I camped in such an epic place last night! The wind wasn’t too bad, and I had no condensation since I went without a rainfly. It was a great night! I’m doing this new thing where instead of setting my alarm, I turn my phone completely off at night and see what time I naturally wake up. Here in the Sierra it’s been around 5:45am consistently!

5:46am

6:41am; crazy what an hour’s difference looks like!

I was only 1.5 miles from Island Pass, which isn’t a super big pass. It is however super beautiful, and the small ponds near the top reflected the nearby snowy peaks. There was very little snow on the pass itself and I actually didn’t even realize I had gone up and over it! The 4 unmarked passes I did yesterday on the JMT alternate were all bigger than this one. About 4 miles later however, was Donahue Pass. This one actually have me a workout today! 

Islamd Pass

Beautiful river on the way to Donahue

It was on the approach to Donahue that a familiar face caught up with me. It was Nemo! He had taken a day in Mammoth to get his rib checked out. He had fallen from a standing position onto some rocks on Mather Pass. He wasn’t sure if his ribs were broken or just bruised. The person he got advice from said the best way for a broken or bruised rib to heal is to:

1. Stay in an upright position.
2. Stay active
3. Breathe deeply

Well, it looks like he is already doing what the doctor ordered! He is going a lot slower and listening to his body, since even he admits he won’t be able to withstand another fall like that. This guy is as tough as nails!

Nemo

Speaking of taking it slow, Donahue Pass has quite a bit of snow, and it was all dramatically sun-cupped! Crunchy flat snow is easy to walk on, but sun-cupped snow, crunchy OR soft, makes for quite the challenge..

Annoying sun cups

Like stalagmites in a cave!

When I made it to the top, I realized that I was officially entering Yosemite! What a great feeling it is to WALK into an area that you’ve been thinking about for awhile! Especially since last time I was here in 2016 we drove up here with dad, and now I’m walking in! At the tippy top I saw Vortex and Tumbleweed again, they were having a nice and slow morning. They offered me some whisky in celebration of making it to Yosemite!

Yosemite!!

The way down was beautiful, and I’m VERY impressed by the condition of the trail I’ve seen so far here. The steps are well cut and meticulously placed. The trail is a lot more forgiving on the knees for how steep the grade is!

Donahue Pass feeding the Lyell River

Nice bridges 

Amazing stair-work!!

After all thatbdown, the last 8 or so miles were all pretty flat, following the beautiful Lyell River, and ending up in Tuolumne Meadows!

Beautiful waterfalls across the valley

Down on the river I ran into three super rad dudes! They all work in the park all year round, winter and summer. Two of them work in the gear shop in the summer and as ski instructors in the winter. Usually as the thru-hiker, I receive all the questions during conversation, but I had a lot to ask them! They have very cheap room and board $7-$42 a week (depending on the room situation). They get 50% off most places to eat (excluding the fancy restaurants), and this group of three happened to all work the same 4 days for 10 hours a day and then have three days in a row off!! Living the life!

I didn’t get their names, but they are rad dudes!

It was really crazy for me to gradually get closer to Tioga Pass Road and Tuolumne Meadows, and to see more and more day hikers of weekend backpackers. Everyone is so clean and smells good and has nice clothes on, and then here I come hurdling down the trail, with the blood of 1000 mosquitos in my hands and clothes, (and probably face), having not showered for 2 weeks, and wearing pants that look like I haven’t taken them off for 40 years!

Since I took the JMT where it split from the PCT yesterday, and I did the side trip to Whitney, only a 23 mile stretch remains that I haven’t walked. This section splits off Southwest at Tuolumne Meadows where the PCT continues North. Since I have two days until I meet Claire, I decided I’d try and hike into the valley to complete the 210 mile trail. Two birds with one stone!

I went to the ranger/information center where permits were given out, and a very helpful ranger helped me figure out a way to do this legally. Basically, I can day hike the 32 miles, but I’m not allowed to have my sleeping gear/tent with me, even if I don’t spend the night out there! The solution was to get a free overnight permit for tomorrow, starting at a nearby lake that I’ll just walk past anyway, and ending in Yosemite Valley. This means I can camp anywhere along the JMT within that 23 miles. On top of that, I added $10 to my permit for the ability to climb Half-Dome! I didn’t know it was that easy!! I’m stoked! 

After all this, I continued on west down Highway 120, to the Tuolumne Meadows Store and restaurant. There store actually has GREAT food and drink prices, I’m talking like a large grocery store status. I’m VERY impressed! The next door restaurant was a little spendier, but they had $6.50 fish and chips plates, of which I had two :) Of course I had to get a soft serve swirl as well as a brownie in addition! I later went into the store for more ice cream and to resupply for my next 1.5 days of food.

The small restaurant was poppin’!!

Scoping Stache and Solo’s box in the store, I’m surprised they haven’t picked these up yet as I thought they were definitely ahead of me!

I ran into Vortex and Tumbleweed again, and hung out with them and a few other hikers for quite some time. We were all so stoked on the great store prices, and kept going back to buy more things. They also sold individual beers ranging from $1.19-$1.59. Even the nice, fancy, strong microbrews! We also met these two rad rock climbers who’ve been living out here for a few weeks, staying wherever they can and living the dream. The younger climber was named Dillon and it was his 24th birthday. He’s very smart and super humble, he thru-hiked the Appalachian trial in 2016, and he was great to talk too.

I also saw ANOTHER familiar face I hadn’t seen for a very long time...

Candyman!!

I think I last saw Candyman coming out of Cajon Pass and headed into Wrightwood. He is totally crushing it out here. He’s lost even more weight and is growing a sweet beard. It was fun to catch up and talk story for awhile. I love how the people you meet early on in the trial keep popping back up from time to time!

I decided that 4 hours outside of the store was long enough, and as the sun was setting, I headed down the campground spur trail behind the store to the specialmbackpackers camping area. It’s a nice large area of the normal campground set aside for PCT hikers and walk-in backpackers that don’t need space for a car/ water hookups, etc.

It’s been a fun and beautiful day! Tomorrow I get to eat breakfast at the restaurant, then slowly meander down the John Muir Trail towards Yosemite Valley! It seems crazy to me that so much has happened in the last two weeks, and you guys still can’t read my blog yet! There is no service/WiFi up here, but maybe I’ll find some WiFi down in the valley on the 18th!

Thanks for reading!!