We slept on the second floor of the Hut last night.   A hiker named Paul was with us, then later 4 other hikers showed up and chatted late into the night.    Didn’t matter, slept like a baby. 

I forgot to get a pic of the hut, but there are plenty online.    It is was a good stay.   

Well, today’s activities involved walking on snow, getting lost, falling on snow, getting lost some more, stepping in mud, etc.    Just about the entire day was spent on the stuff.     Here is a sampler: 

This part a nice change.   Instead of just snow or wet trail, we get lots of snow to get lost in, then get dropped off in a marsh of mud to wonder around in. 

Despite how miserable this might look, it was an interesting change on the hike.    If you look at my trace through this section, you’ll notice we are far off the trail in some cases.   That is because all the snow change the navigation.   Focus is in picking a landmark and avoiding the hazards rather than following the trail.   We just tried to intersect the trail occasionally to stay on course.    Bonus was that we got to cut a bunch of switch backs which helped make up for the slow progress. 

I’m glad I wore boots in this stuff.   Despite what the ultra-light mafia says, boot are better in my opinion.   I can kick better steps, they hold their edge on hills, and I can heel plunge on the down hills.   On that last technique, I think it is killing my knees.    I’m locking my knee on those plunges to make sure I break through to a good step.   By the end of the day I can barely bend them.   Have to change techniques tomorrow.

We ran into a dude named Sling Blade south bounding.   He said we had a couple more days of snow before it cleared up.    Yay.  

Shortly after crossing a big creek, we ascended again into 100% snow.   Soho found a dirt road that mostly paralleled the PCT for a few miles.    Or we could climb up and down a ridge in even greater misery.   Here was our choice: 

Had some lunch at a small dry spot.   Shortly after, we found this: 

I guess the body was carried off by the wolves. 

We eventually rejoined the trail, well, we were 5 feet above the trail since it was still covered.   The trail dried out on some exposed Western and Southern spots, with a few snowy sections in the covered Northern slopes.  

Soho wanted his miles, so we pushed on to Mules Ears Creek.   He went ahead as I started slowing down.   When I got there around 7 PM, we found a couple (Caveman and Hot Lips) and two other gals sitting on the good spots next to a fire…all comfy.     We got to scour the nearby hillside for a semi-level spot.   Here’s the super lux spot we found. 

Didn’t bother chatting with the other hikers after setting up.    Made some food and crashed.  18 miles today.      

topic, my knees are killing me  are 

Who is Peter Grubb, you ask? Well you are just gonna have to read on to find out.

After getting dropped by our Uber, we picked up the trail behind the rest stop and started hiking.   We are continuing from 1157, so I’ve skipped 457 miles of High Sierra.   That will be on my long-term list to hike in future years.    Given my proximity to this section, it will be easy to schedule and fun to do.  

I’m in my Asolo boots, which already feel like lead weights. It is just shocking how wet and green it is up here, compared to KM at 700. There are streams flowing everywhere.

Soho and I were chatting about the water report (pctwater.com). During our runs in the desert, we were obsessing over it. Now it just says “good flow” at every point.   With all the snow melt, it is “good flow” running down the trail and into my boots.    Some gal named Optimistic Turtle keeps sending in updates on water, creek crossings, snow, etc. She seems a little neurotic. Her obsession is my gain. Good Flow, Optimistic Turtle, Good Flow.

A mile in and we start hitting snow. At first it looks a little something like this.

Then a bunch of snow/stream combos like this

Water Everywhere

A little dry trail

Then a little snow

We are mostly in shaded South and Western facing slopes so the walking is not too bad at this phase. There are some nice views from the first peak we crossed.

On the North side, it was a different story. By now we are up to 8k and man there is a ton of snow. This stuff is all consolidated and easy to walk on, but omg it is still 10 ft deep in many areas.

Right after this sign, the trail entire mountain was snow covered. Soho started off while I was digging out my spikes. Fortunately first a dog then some dude from the Sierra club showed up. His name was Richard and was day hiking out to the Peter Grubb hut to check out damages and mark some fire wood to cut up for next year. He offered to guide us in, so I put away the chains and we followed him slip-sliding down th slope to the hut.

Richard is some kind of researcher at Stanford (radio astronomy, I think). Didn’t talk much. We made it to the hut and he showed us around. It has a solar panel and batteries, interior lighting, stove, wood storage, and an upstairs for sleeping. Wish I’d taken some pics of the place. Normally this is used as ski hut for the Winter season. You snow shoe or cross country ski there, hang out, then ski/shoe back.

Now, why is it called Peter Grubb? Well, Peter Grubb is some rich kid from San Francisco, who apparently spent some time in the back country, went to Europe, then managed to die from heat stroke in ’37 on a bicycle. He was 18.  Well grandpa dropped some coin to build the hut in his memory. If he had drank a couple more liters of water, we might not have the hut….so thanks Peter.

In the hut there is also a guitar and a big bong made out of a smart water bottle. That is a powerful combination. The creative output from these stoners was “The Peter Grubb Song”.

“He built his own skis”
“He lived his life free”
“Peter Grubb…<tap>….<tap>…<tap>…<tap>….Yeah!”

I should have photo’d the song with the chords. Can’t find it online. If you know the Peter Grubb song, send it to me !

“YEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH !!”

Before I got off the trail, I had planned to bounce up to Mammoth and do some skiing while the Sierra melted. I had shared my number with several groups of hikers offering to put them up between June 15 and July 1.  I received 5 or 6 calls/texts from these groups…..they are all bouncing North and skipping the High Sierras for now. Only guy I know of who made it most of the way through is Bam Bam.

My cousin JD (aka Soho) is back in LA after recouping from his ankle problems. He will be joining me for a while.

Looking over the snow coverage maps, it seems that a good entry point would be Sierra City, but the place is remote and clearly hard to get to. Instead we are heading to Truckee and starting North from the 80. 25 miles of snow, but then it should be clear sailing for a while.

I loaded up my Asolo boots together with my trail runners for this one. Micro spikes and 8 days of food. Pack weighs in at 43 with water.

JD booked Amtrak to the trail.  The train was scheduled to leave at 9pm, so Alice dropped us at the station around 8:30.   We then  find out the train is an hour late.  Get to Santa Barbara at 11,  loaded on a bus, and drive all night to Emeryville arriving at 6am.   That was a miserable ride….there are no comfortable seats in the AmTrak bus.  Waited around Emeryville for around 3 hours, then board an East bound train to Truckee.  Dropped there at 2 PM, call Uber, get dumped off at the trail head around 3.

What a harsh trip.  

At Kennedy Meadows, Alice messaged me that Eva, my Mother-In-Law was ill. Turns out it was not just an illness, it was terminal. Cancer. Stage 4 Liver. She passed away on June 21st.

She was a wonderful woman and I loved her. Selfless, good natured, considerate. A wonderful Mom and Grandma. I feel like I did not spend enough time with her, but then again I felt the same with my father before he passed earlier this year.  One of the best recent memories I have is of Stephanie and Sophia, the two grand daughters, laying side-by-side with grandma in her bed giggling and laughing.  I will miss her.

It seems this year is when a lot of personal tragedy is landing on both Alice and me.   First my Dad, then her Mom.   It opens  a big void in our lives.   Live goes on, but with a now permanent touch of sadness.   

IPlan is to return to the hike sometime early July.

Darrell will be up around 2pm, so I had time to kill in the morning. Checked out the camp area. This place is huge. There are spots between the trees for 100+ tents. I never found the end of the prepared area.

Interestingly, I’d guess there were <75 folks camped here last night. Given all the Sierra anxiety, I bet that a lot are doing the next 50 mile segment, exiting Horseshoe Meadows, and chilling in Lone Pine.

There was a helicopter flying around last night. Heard it pulling a long hover/warm landing. Found out someone had to be rescued due to a fall in the Kern river North of here. The rescue guys are going to be busy this season.

Caught a ride with a bunch of folks to Grumpy’s for breakfast. We lined up and answered the following: Coffee? How do you like your eggs? A gigantic pancake eventually arrived with eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon. Too bad I wasn’t sitting with some vegetarians for some free bacon.

There is a ridiculous pancake eating challenge. One guy tried it. If you can eat this

Then your breakfast is free. Else $20. Last report was that he was halfway through, but slowing down.

Spent the rest of the morning drinking some leftover beer, writing notes for the blog and chit-chatting with Capt Underpants.  I don’t have proof this is the REAL Capt Underpants.    He offered to show me, but I took his word for it. 

Darrell turned up early and carted my smelly ass back home. He kept offering to setup his portable shower for me. I wonder why.

THE PLAN
The Sierra is full of snow. It was nearly a record snowfall and the melt has come late. The snow line is 9k feet right now. Even lower on North facing slopes. Above the snow line it can reach depths of 20 feet or more. Had I been earlier, going in while it was all frozen was an option.  Now with the heat wave coming in, all that snow is going to get rotten. Lot of post holing, unexpected voids near trees and rocks, and unmapped hidden watershed to fall into. Couple that with very high river crossings.

My risk tolerance is pretty high, but this is just too much. I’ve talked with a couple of folks who have done the first 75 miles recently. Almost to the individual, they are now either waiting or bailing North. So it will be for me. Plan is to take a couple weeks off, then hit the trail somewhere above Truckee around July 1st. I’ll come back to the Sierra when misery and injury is a little less likely.

THOUGHTS ABOUT THE HIKERS AND THE TRAIL
700 miles of hiking. The last segment of ~150 miles was my longest single stretch.  Until now, I was hesitant to call myself a thru-hiker. I think many declare it too early only to bail out after a few hundred miles.

Our numbers have shrunk the further North we have traveled. When I stop to camp now, all I see are hardened backpackers. Some are faster (20-30 milers), some slower (12-20). For various reasons the rest have been filtered out.

Physically, most of us are stiff in the mornings. Sore feet, blisters, weak ankles, tendonitis, leg muscle strains, pulled back muscles, etc. Rising from a long break during the day sometimes takes 5 or 10 minutes for the joints and muscles to start working again. Most of us, especially my age group, walk with a stiff limp around town.

Current events seem so insignificant. Bomb going off somewhere, Trump’s latest tweet, an election in France, some piece of legislation.  This stuff seems trivial.  I have experimented stirring up folks about some political debate. They will engage in debate but frankly there is no passion. I feel weird even attempting it. The things that matter most are the hikers around you, location of the next water/town stop, rumors of trail magic, a funny story, and family and friends in the real world. Beer also seems important to most of us.

We share a some common traits now, but is it a common bond? No. I think that term is used too loosely. More like a common experience and, temporary, outlook. Everyone I have met recently….everyone…is strongly independent. Some need the small confidence boost a group offers, but all have operated alone. If one hiker encounters another in need of help, we stop and offer it. These offers are predicated on the environment we are in….food, water, bandage, or humping some of their pack weight. The rest is on you. SOS to the rescue helicopter is an option, but nobody wants to do that. I believe we are experiencing some of the most basic and positive aspects of humanity in this setting.

One of the guys I was talking to a few days back had a funny story. He asked his buddy “How you feeling?”. His buddy responded: “Well if I felt like this in the real world, I’d be in the hospital.  But out here….I’d say I feel pretty good.”

There is a reason backpacker arrive at Kennedy Meadows store to applause. They are Thru-Hikers.

I am a Thru-Hiker.