Day 81 Miles 844.6-864.9

Total: 20.3 miles

Martin had said the day before they planned on waking up at 6, leaving around 7. I couldn’t see their tents and wanted to hike with them for a bit. I thought they might be shooting for another big day and I didn’t really want to do that so I would probably part ways at lunch with them. 

I caught them as they were packing up and we left together while Beast was still sleeping in his tent. There was a bit of snow before it cleared up and we had a nice easy downhill section for about 12 miles before starting the ascent up the next pass. We moved quickly and didn’t take many breaks. Sparks and Martin have not been filtering their water and do not drink very much of it.

We had a few stream crossings then took an alternative route for the Evolution Creek which led us through a swamp and a very mellow section of the river that was hip deep. We stopped for a lunch, they were trying to figure out their logistics for the trip so I worked on my blog a bit. They agreed they too didn’t want a day like the one before and that they could make it work without doing the next pass that day. It started to look like I would go into Mammoth with them. Even if that meant doing it in half the time I had allotted food for. 

After lunch we went down a little more before starting the 6 miles of uphill to the campsite we had in mind. The mosquitoes were out in full force and you could not stop without being swarmed. We started the steep switchbacks. 6 miles and 2000 feet of elevation. I moved a bit quicker on this one than Sparks and Martin , I usually try to just get to the top without taking any breaks. I wanted to wait for them but didn’t want to be attacked by the mosquitos. I figured I would wait for them 4 miles up at a creek when I got there and I would filter some water. 

I got to the creek and briefly looked for a way across without getting my feet wet but was swarmed my mosquitos instantly. I just walked right through the stream eager to get away from the bugs, hoping they’d catch me soon as that was no place to wait. A deep thunder started rolling in the skies above but the clouds didn’t really look threatening. The thunder got more and more frequent as I went up but the garmin said it wasn’t supposed to rain. Although that’s been wrong before. 

I got to a smaller less mosquito stricken stream and filtered some water hoping I’d see Sparks and Martin. After filtering 2 L they didn’t appear and I was being impatient. Worried it might actually start raining I wanted to get to the campsite. I went a litttle further before getting to the spot, it was a lake that had an outlet into a stream. I walked through the stream to the other side since my feet and shoes were already soaked. I found a couple nice campsites and dropped my bag and moments later I saw Sparks and Martin emerge from the woods. They had kept their feet dry with both crossings and I was very regretful as the sun was not out so I would definitely have another day of wet shoes and socks. 

It was a hot sweaty climb so after I got my tent set up I went for a dip in the lake and then had dinner with my friends. We would wake up at 4am tomorrow to do the next pass.