It was a town day, so naturally, I was on trail before six and motivated to mash some miles. It was cold and kind of windy, which helped me to hike fast. Not to mention my pack felt really light. All I have left for food is some peanut butter, two sleeves of Ritz crackers and about a pound of trail mix. I can’t believe I ate all that food from Bishop/Kearsarge. It felt great! I can’t wait to drop my tent, micro-spikes, and some other stuff. I think once I get rid of this bear canister, I will really be loving it.

Honestly, this has been a very hard week. If a few days ago the trail had crossed a road where I could hitch to town, I would have left the trail for sure. Quit? I don’t know. Advice from past thru-hikers is “Don’t quit on a bad day.” Fortunately, I had no choice. But today was a good day. Pack felt good. Body felt good (mostly). Weather was good. I was happy to be hiking.

I hiked the 13 miles to Reds Meadow by 10:30. The shuttle isn’t running yet so I headed toward Devils Postpile National Monument to try to get a ride from some tourists. I was on the pavement about 60 seconds when a car came by and picked me up! Truly, I have had great luck hitching. He was a biologist and finally told me who that bird-call I’ve been hearing for 900 miles belongs to (chickadees). He took me right to a nice hotel in Mammoth Lakes and I checked in before noon!

I went to the outfitter for food and new sun glasses, patched my pad, took a bath and then went in the Jacuzzi and swimming pool, which was wonderful. I had a large pizza and salad delivered to my room which was also wonderful. I still have a lot of chores to do tomorrow, but at least I got something done.

On Tuesday I guess I am going here: