June 22, 2016 - Slept all through the night, kinda rare for me out in the woods. Got up at 6am trying hard not to wake up the neighbors as I was trying to make the first bus out to Reds Meadow. Like yesterday I was going to have to take several bus or so I thought.
There was a bus stop near the campground. The info I had said the bus pick up is 7am so I get there a little earlier. After waiting for awhile and no bus had arrived yet I took a look at the sign at the bus stop and it said summer hours are 9am start. The info I grabbed yesterday was winter hours. So I ended up walking the mile to the village where the next bus will take me to the main lodge then another bus to Reds Meadow. While walking to the village I ran into the group I had hiked with for a week. Chatted a few minutes and said goodbye and was back trying to get back on trail. I didn’t see Salty as he was still asleep but they said he might try and leave today this afternoon as the rest of them would be taking a zero in Mammoth after getting in yesterday evening.
Finally got on the right bus and it took me straight to Reds Meadow where I could get back on trail. On the way back we come across 2 baby bear cubs and momma bear, they were so tiny. Those where the first bears I’ve seen.
Back on the trail I took a quick detour to go see Devils Postpile National Monument. It was a cool looking rock formation, something I’ve never seen like before.
The rest of the morning hike was very easy, flat and level. Then I started a nice easy gradual climb out of the valley.
After a few miles of hiking I noticed I was still in cell phone range so I decided to call a person that might be able to stay with in Tahoe. My mom had contacted me awhile ago about a possible trail angel to help me out in the Lake Tahoe area. She was contacted by a friend who has a friend that lives there and would be happy to help. At first I felt a little weird calling this friend of a friend of my mom’s but decided just go with it. After a few texts back and forth I had place to stay once I got to Tahoe so I had that to look forward to.
At my first stop for the day I had planned to get water at the trailhead before making the climb up but the water faucet was turned off and all the natural water sources was surrounding with horse crap. The horse crap was everywhere so I was being picky about where to get my water. Finally found a water source that I was sure that wasn’t contaminated and filled up. Then found a nice shady spot for lunch.
After lunch I had 8 miles of climbing which was easier than I thought. Throughout the day I came across several lakes and very little snow to deal with so it appeared I was close to leaving the Sierras. I had one pass to finish the day with, Island Pass. The guidebook didn’t mention anything about it so I assumed it wasn’t going to be hard, I was right. It was another 2 miles to camp following Rush Creek. My guidebook said I would have to ford it but there ended up being a big log to cross so I was glad I got to keep my shoes dry all day.
Once I set up camp I went over to the many flowing creeks to take in a nice cold soak to help with the never ending soreness. Then after that I got in a nice sunset before heading off to bed for the night.
Tomorrow I’ve got Donahue Pass so I hope not much snow to deal with. The good thing is I’ll be going over it in the morning so if there is snow it should be nice and hard.
