Day: July 9, 2016

The town center was having a Jazz festival and wine walk today.

I did end up taking a zero day today.  I did not sleep that well last night and don’t feel great and still have a bunch of errands to run today, so instead of rushing to get them done and get out of town, I’ll just stay here again tonight since this is a pretty good hostel.

I got my gear related chores done before lunch.  One of those was fixing my regular prescription glasses.  I brought my old pair that were pretty worn out because I thought they might get scratched up and it turns out that sometime in the last 300 miles they broke in half right across the bridge.  Another hiker had some super glue so I glued them with that and then reinforced the joint with a section from a plastic spoon.  This would be the second repair with a black plastic spoon for these glasses.  They are holding so far, but I expect they will get broken again before too long.

I ran into the village for lunch because I was craving a salad.  I had a mixed green salad with salmon on it and it was great.  I spent the rest of the afternoon running the full bus route to see the other side of town and going back to the grocery to get breakfast.  I have a bagel, orange, banana, and cinnamon roll for breakfast and a kale and chicken salad for lunch.  The shuttle from town to the adventure center does not leave until 9:00 so I don’t expect to get to Reds Meadow until at least 10:30, so I might as well have an early lunch there before I head out.

I grabbed dinner on the way back into town and then headed to the jazz festival before coming back to the hostel.  They were also having a wine walk with about a dozen wineries.  I didn’t stay long at the jazz festival because the sun had gone down and it got downright chilly there and I did not had a jacket.

The band playing at the Jazz Festival in Mammoth Lakes, CA

Nearly everything is packed and ready to go.  I want to catch that first bus to the adventure center so I’ll head out from the hostel about 8:30 and walk to the village.  It’s less tan a mile and all downhill.  I want to be able to make as many miles from Reds as possible so I can get to Tuolumne Meadows quickly.

I don’t think the trees like growing on mountains this steep.

Where I camped last night was pretty high and right near a snow bank.  As I was cooking dinner and going to bed, it was quite cold.  I was afraid I was going to have a very cold night but I think that it was just that at that time of day the wind was blowing towards me from the snow, and then several hours after sundown it warmed up quite a bit.  Around midnight or so it was quite comfy.

I set out at 6 am and I was in good spirits.  I had just vapors of food and carried no water for the first five miles.  My pack was light as a feather and it was a nice morning and mostly downhill.  I crossed paths with many hikers coming uphill who were not in such great spirits.  Their loss.

I passed the 900 mile point today.

The forest leading into Red’s Meadow burned several years ago and is a mere shadow of it’s former glory.

I reached Reds Meadow about 11:30 and immediately headed for the store for a plum and an orange soda. I rested a bit then got on the next bus heading into town.  The roads in Inyo National Park are so small and narrow they encourage everyone to ride the bus in the park.  It works for me.  Once at the main ski lodge, you have to take a different bus to the main hub in town.  Then you can get on a third bus to get all around town for free.  Works well for hikers.  I headed straight for the hostel to shower and get all my clothes ready for the laundromat.  It took me a while to get the hang of the buses, but I eventually got there and did food shopping at the grocery while waiting on the laundry.  Hop on another bus and I’m back at the hostel.

No shortage of directions at Red’s Meadow.

The hostel setup is nice.  They have fixings to make your own pizzas and watch movies all night.  It was nice and relaxing for a change.  I still have not decided if I am leaving tomorrow or if I will stay here for a zero tomorrow.