Day 76 Bishop Pass & 77-79 (3 zeros)

DAY 76 Bishop Pass 

Total: 10 miles 

We had an early morning, waking up at 4. We didn’t know what lie ahead and wanted to be sure the snow would be hard and we wouldn’t be postholing. We had done half the mileage and elevation the day before so had only 3 miles and 1000 feet of climbing until the pass. The trail was pretty patchy with snow but it had hardened enough to where we could walk on it. 

The trail was so nice and relatively easy to follow even though it was covered in snow at times. About a mile from the pass it was entirely covered in snow and required a bit more navigation but that was still pretty straight forward. It suddenly got so windy and so cold but I started to see the pass and it looked pretty straightforward. 

I stopped to put on my microspikes and we kept hiking at a very reasonable angle until we reached the top of the pass. We then started a pretty steep descent, but thankfully the snow was still hard and the steepness didn’t last too long. It might’ve been around 7/8 am but the sun still hadn’t shone over the giant mountains that surrounded the pass. 

We made our way down, the trail was spotty with snow but there were really good footprints whenever there was snow. We made it to the 2nd to last lake and took a coffee and art break before heading down. We passed a lot of day hikers coming up but it was still so early so we wondered if we’d be able to get a hitch. 

We made it down to the parking lot and waited a while, being turned down by a couple cars with no space. Eventually I asked a couple for a ride but they weren’t going to bishop but to a different lake to fish. They offered to give us a ride halfway down though where there would be more traffic and we accepted. They dropped us off at the intersection that led into Bishop. Once again we were in the middle of nowhere trying to hitch. After a handful of cars passed a car Nick recognized was approaching. He said he had made eye contact with the guy earlier. 

They slowed down and we asked for a ride. They said their car was pretty crowded, they had a camping pad and a cat in the back. I told them we didn’t mind if they didn’t. The woman and man looked at each other and said let’s make it work. The woman sat in the back with me, we were crunched up on their camping mat, she had the cat in her lap I had my pack in mine. Nick sat in the front with the man who was driving with his pack on his lap. 

They were a nice young couple from La moving to Santa Fe NM and doing a road trip beforehand. They dropped us off at a diner in town and we got some food before going to the hostel for showers and to relax. We went to the grocery store and got some food for dinner and breakfast, did laundry and had a couple beers to celebrate our trip together. 

Day 77/78/79 Zeros

The next day we hung around the hostel for awhile doing chores and relaxing. We made the breakfast of my trail dreams and stuffed outselves. In the evening we headed to mammoth area where we dipped in some hot springs and camped nearby. 

The next day we met up with my friend Courtney and did some climbing in Mammoth , got burritos, went to a cold spring, then to disc golf then went back to the hot springs. 

The next day I did some chores and hung out in the coffee shop for awhile, then got new socks, then we got some lunch food from the grocery store and went to the park for a picnic. We then drove back down to bishop and I got a chocolate croissant to pack out and we got burgers at the bowling alley because two of our hitches recommended it. We then went back to the bishop trailhead and hiked up 3 miles towards the pct and camped by the lake.