Sat. August 27         Miles today: 24.7         Total so far: 1,819.8            Sierras H

It ws very cold when we got up to continue our climb to Silver Pass.  The air was so still that we could see a perfect reflection in one of the lakes we passed.  Finally we stopped for breakfast, but it was still so cold that there was ice on the puddles.  So we tried a new idea.  Instead of having our hot mochas at noon when we usually stop to cook, we decided to have them at BREAKFAST.  We knew that it would be hard to light the alcohol stove in the cold morning, so Bill had been carrying the fuel bottle under his jacket to prewarm it.  Even with the “prewarming”, the stove was still hard to light,  but we were determined, and the end result were two tasty HOT drinks!  We sipped them and warmed our cold hands with the cups, and watched the beautiful morning light growing on the mountains. 

Now for the final push to the top of Silver Pass.  The trail was VERY rocky, but by 7:45, we had made it to the 10,900 foot crest.  The views were really spectacular, and the trail down the other side also had beautiful mountain views and more pretty lakes.  Funny–the High Sierra PCT/JMT is just loaded with lakes, but everybody tends to camp at the same few.  Why??  Along the way, we met more southbound JMTers, but not as many.  I think their “season” is starting to wane.  However, many of the fellows we met today were VERY happy fishermen! They said they’d had great catches and were having trout for dinner every night. 

Eventually we reached pretty Tully Hole and then another big climb up to Lake Virginia at 10,300 feet.  By lunch time, we were at Purple Lake, where we had a great seafood chowder lunch, and just as we were packing up (drum roll, please…..) a RANGER arrived.  He saw our bear cans and was very pleased.  We told him we wre PCT thruhikers, and he didn’t even ask to see our permit.  He was very nice, but i wonder what would have happened if we had no bear cans????

The rest of the afternoon was bascially uphill and contouring above deep valleys, through evergreen forest.  Sometimes it was miles before we got any views.  The trail was often deep sand and pumice–it was like walking on a beach; slow going!  Twice we were passed by loaded mule trains.  Coming in to Deer Creek, I saw what I think was a fox, running down the trail ahead of me.  We stopped at the creek for water, and met a really nice guy who was with a group of JMTers.  He was so enhusiastic about what we were doing, that he wanted a picture of himself with us.  Hope he gets to be a PCT thruker someday!  We sat on a log and talked to him for a little while.

Finally we got to the point where the trail heads down 4 miles to Red’s Meadow.  We didn’t have much time till sundown, but figured we’d find a flat place to sleep somewhere.  But then, we overtook a very odd group of three people–a GUY with a hunting bow (arrow on string, yikes!), a GIRL with a huge camera, and a GUY with a little tiny dog.  They said they were following a BEAR, but let us go by.  We went on another half mile and moved off the trail to camp in a forest fire-blackened zone.  We don’t like camping where there has been a fire–the black soot gets on our stuff–but we had no choice, with the sun already below the horizon.  Awhile later, the “Odd 3” came by, warning us that a large mama bear and cub were nearby.  Well, ALL our food was in the bear cans, so there was no way any bear could get it.  We prayed for God’s protection on our camp, and went to sleep, wondering where the threesome were from.  None of them had packs.  Red’s Meadow, maybe?

Fri. August 26      Miles today: 4            Total so far: 1,795.1            Sierras Section H

Ahh, how nice to sleep on a mattress!  We lazed around on our bunks till just before 7:00 am, when the VVR cafe is ‘SPOSED to open.  There was a whole posse of hungry hikers lurking outside the cafe door when we got there.  Seven o’clock came and went, but the “closed’ sign stayed up.  We could HEAR the generator which provides VVR electricity, and it was not sounding very healthy.  Some hikers started getting antsy and grumpy about the delay.  (Obviously they are not “Amtrak Alumni”–those of us who have ridden Amtrak have learned to be very paaaaaaatient with delays!)  The rest of us got into a fun discussion of JMT vs. PCT.  More and more hungry hikers arrived.  Yikes, a serious situation!  Some of the grumpy folks were upset because they needed to do laundry AND eat breakfast BEFORE the ferry left at 9:00.  I hate to say it, but those of us who had arrived early and were therefore at the head of the line did not budge from our places.  We were HUNGRY!

Finally the generator settled down instead of sputtering and fussing, the lights in the cafe came on, the door opened, and in we charged!  Bill and I had a rerun of yesterday’s breakfast, but ate as fast as we could; we knew lots of others were waiting.  Then I took my journal writing down to the beach to sit in the warm sun and enjoy blue Lake Edison.  The “Edison Queen” ferry was VERY late leaving, because they made sure that every hiker who wanted to be aboard had been able to eat first.  I don’t think it was necessarily because the folks at VVR are just being helpful–I think they wanted to be able to make every last dollar they could possibly make off every hiker.  And I don’t say that as a criticism.  The folks here at VVR are extremely nice, and they have only a few short months in which to earn their living for the year.  I don’t begrudge them a single dollar.

Let me give a “word of wisdom” to future thruhikers who may read this.  If you resupply at VVR (and you should!) go IN on the MORNING ferry and OUT on the afternoon ferry.  That way you don’t have to compete with thundering herds of other hikers for access to the showers, laundry, etc.  Bill and I could have gone out on the ferry this morning, but we decided to wait till afternoon so we could eat and rest some more.  We really needed a break!

At around lunchtime, I went back to Tent #4 to reconnect with Bill, just in time to watch a whole string of very good-looking horses go by.  They were beautiful, and their coats shone with all sorts of warm brown colors.  We strolled down to the cafe, and this time it was open; we were able to get big juicy “VVR Burgers”.  After waddling back to Tent #4, with our stomachs stuffed, we stuffed our PACKS with all our supplies, lashed the straps, and then took naps.  We feel as if we need rest almost as much as food!

Just before 4:00, we were at the beach, ready to board the ferry, but the “captain” didn’t show up till 4:20ish.  He looked rather piratical, and was very proud of the “Jolly Rodger” that flies from the stern of the “Queen.”  Bill teased him about it:  “I thought you flew the Joly Rodger as a warning that you were going to take all our money with your high prices!”  The captain just laughed.  Well, it is true that prices are a bit high at VVR, but again, I don’t think that’s wrong.  They are way out in the middle of nowhere, they have only a short season, and they need to earn a living.  If your budget is limited, then don’t take the ferry–just WALK to VVR, then take the free beer and the free night’s lodging, do your “shower” by swimming in Lake Edison, and launder your socks in the bathroom sink.  For meals, raid the wonderful, huge, FREE hiker barrels… AND STOP WHINING ABOUT VVR PRICES! 

At the far end of the lake, a crowd of hikers were waiting on the shore.  Bill and i hopped off the Queen, and headed back to the PCT (1 1/2 miles away), ready to tackle the climb to Silver Pass.  The trail was “the usual”–steep and rocky, but VERY pretty.  In many places, there were nice, normal-human-size stone stairs.  Hooray!  We also had several creek fords on rocks and logs, but none of them were too bad.   Late in the day, when we were starting to think about maybe watching for a campsite, we passed some hikers setting up camp and (sigh) COOKING dinner.  That’s like ASKING bears to visit you in the night!  So we pushed on as far from them as we could before it got too dark, reached a nice meadow and camped offtrail in a grove of lodgepole pines.  We were glad to be done with some of the worst “steep stuff”, and feeling MUCH better because of our rest and food at VVR.