June 21, 2016 - Up and early so I could get to Reds Meadow as soon as possible so I could catch the bus into Mammoth. I wanted to get to town quickly as I ate the last of my food last night and was still starving afterwards so I clearly didn’t pack enough food from Bishop.
Salty and I made great time and ended up hiking in together into Red’s Meadow right around 9am right as the first bus of the day arrived so we ended up having to wait 45 minutes for the next one. While we waited we went to the general store to get some food to hold us over before getting into town.
The bus from Reds Meadow took us to the main lodge where from there we took another bus to get to the village in town. Then once in town we took the local bus that takes you from free all over. At first we thought we got on the wrong bus as it started heading out of town but soon realized it made a weird turn around to head to the main part of town. Our first stop was the post office to pick up my mail drop then walked down the street to a pizza place for lunch.
After a lot of good pizza we picked up the bus to head to the grocery store to buy enough supplies to get me to Yosemite. After that we went to the library where I uploaded 1500 pictures I’ve taken so far from my camera, that took awhile but had a problem uploading some of them. Salty left before I did and went to check on the campground and hostel to see the best place to camp for the night. He ended up running into Wrecker and Batman at the hostel. I figured I would join them but it was late and across town with bus service over for the day so I decided just to stay at the campground. I figured it would be better to stay at the campground to allow my gear to dry out as it was still wet from this morning, not to mention cheaper. While trying to find a spot to camp I ran into a couple that had already set up their camp and they let me split the cost of the tent site.
Once I got everything set up I went to the RV park to possible take a shower but they only allow non guests during the middle of the day so I was out of luck and thought that maybe I could take a shower when I get back to Reds Meadow tomorrow.
After the shower fail it was time to get in a nice warm meal. Since I don’t have a stove and can’t get a hot meal on trail I always look forward to get to have town food. At first I went to McDonalds since it was right next door so walked in and saw the service was taking forever so I walked out. Also, another reason to leave was to find a local food joint as I can get McDonald’s anytime so looked for a local favorite. I came across the Good Time Cafe, where I got a good burger.
After dinner I went over to do laundry and lucky for me I got there just in time to get it done before it closed for the evening. While I waited I went next day and got dessert. So in the parking lot I sat there in just my rainsuit and ate ice cream while waiting for my clothes to dry.
After that was done it was bed time so walked back over to the campground to get a good night’s sleep. I’ve enjoyed my time in Mammoth as it a cool town. I wish I could stay longer but there are miles to be hiked. Maybe in the future I can make my way back to Mammoth as it’s a nice sky town in the winter as well.
