July 4, 2017
Mile 889 (?) to just past Reds Meadow on a stealth camp spot
Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hike: Day 61
Walked 3 miles straight downhill after Purple Lake, had to turn around and walk straight back up. Beautiful hike today. Lake Virginia inlet crossing was fun: lots of footsteps going around on the snow, we just went straight through it, thus going for a swim in the chest-deep, half-frozen lake. Whee!
Plowed up a switchback of 1200 feet today/this morning. Met a Swiss couple who worried about snow and streams, but didn’t know much about either. Got to Reds Meadow after everything had closed, decided to road walk towards Mammoth (the bus is not running and the road from Mammoth to Reds is still closed because it’s severely damaged).
Camping in an undesignated spot after 3 miles of road walking, and we’re having a lovely campfire, Bibimbap, and two Sierra Nevada Torpedo beers. Yes, Reds Meadow was closed for the evening but they had enough pity on us to let us buy two beers off the clock. Planning on camping at Agnew Meadows tomorrow to save money if we can help it. Walked through a huge burn area this evening before Reds Meadow. Found lots of trash in our stealth camp spot; we’ll need to pack out what we can carry.
Watching the stars on the 4th of July listening to Ray Charles sing America the Beautiful. Alex got service for half a second and remembered me wishing I could hear it on the fourth, so he used his internet blip a few days ago to download it to his phone. Happy happy happy.
Looking south from McGee pass at Evolution Valley
Lake Virginia