Rosalie Lake to Red’s Meadow Resort
Peeking my head outside the tent at 5:00am, I saw exactly what I was hoping for. Sun! Blue skies! As soon as we were both up and packing, I made sure to enthusiastically point this out to Omar. He seemed grateful for the sun as well.
He asked how far we were going today. I told him we had two options. Get to Red’s Meadow Resort, about 8 miles, mostly downhill, and rest for the remainder of the day, admit we were now going to be a full day behind. Or, stop at Red’s for a couple of hours (we were resupplying here, and would clearly want to get real food at the cafe, so it would be longer than our normal hour break), and keep going as far as we could and keep trying to play catch up. We didn’t make a decision, but hit the trail.
After a short climb, we reached Gladys Lake, our original destination yesterday until we were warned against it. While we didn’t see any bears, looking out at the very stagnant, fairly small lake, it looked like a pixilated photograph. Why? Because there was a BLANKET of mosquitoes in the sky. Yuck. Definitely a good thing we hadn’t stayed there the night before. After climbing up and away from that lake, we stopped for a moment when the mosquitoes were no longer stalking us. Omar suggested we stay at Red’s for the day – our bodies could probably use the relative short day to rest and recuperate. So we moved forward. Inside, I did a little happy dance. I think he made the right decision, but I wanted him to make it since the timing of our trip was so important to him. The descent into the valley was pretty uneventful. Lots of forest and dusty trail. Eventually, we came to an X junction at the entrance to Devil’s Postpile National Monument, where the Pacific Crest Trail once again meets the JMT, and you can also take another offshoot and detour to Devil’s Postpile. I had driven out to see the post pile on a different trip to Yosemite a couple of years previously, but Omar hadn’t seen it, so I suggested waiting for him to go and check it out, about a 3 mile detour. He passed on the opportunity. He was ready to call it an early day too. From one of the points along the trail on a sandy slab, you can kind of see the post pile, so, like a good tour guide, pointed it out for him.
Saw another horse train coming the opposite direction. I love that all the men riding horseback are true gentlemen. So ladies, if you are ever wondering where they’ve all gone, they’re likely cowboys working on various ranches across the US. At least there are a few here in California, not all in Texas. Anyways, after a ‘Howdy Miss’ and a tip of his cowboy hat, he asked where we were headed. When I answered Red’s Meadow he said ‘well they’ll be a’waitin to serve you the best dern milkshake and burger you ever ate!’. I knew they had burgers and shakes but DAMN that sounded delicious. I made the mistake of packing my hat in my bag, and it was a hot day already, especially at the lower elevation. So I was feeling the heat, and a milkshake sounded divine. We both picked up the pace a little bit.
It was strange to see people with small day packs, or no backpacks as we got closer to the valley floor. And I’m sure the day visitors thought we looked (and smelled) a little strange too! All the junctions were not always clearly marked, but we did make it to Red’s Meadow around 11:15. We now had the WHOLE DAY ahead of us to relax! We threw down our stuff and I went inside the store to stand in line and pick up our resupply bucket. I had email confirmations that our 2nd resupply, at Muir Trail Ranch, had arrived, but no confirmation here. I was confident it had arrived, but every minute the woman working there spent looking I think I skipped a couple of heart beats. But she found it! I then, on a whim, asked if they had any cabins available. I assumed the answer was no, but it couldn’t hurt to ask, right? So she checked with the gentleman there, and he went to look. There are two types of rome they have. Motel Rooms, which are designed for 2 people, and are just like a hotel with a bed and shower ($85/night). Then the cabins fit up to 6 people and also feature a kitchen with sink, stove top, fridge, etc ($160/night). He had a cabin available! Thankfully for them, I was so excited about the prospect of a nice bed and a real SHOWER, I was willing to pay. But it was about to get even better. He said that, since it was the day of, it was highly unlikely that he would be able to rent the room. So, he gave it to me for the price of a Motel Room! I just about leapt across the counter to hug him. But then thought better of it – clearly I was a backpacker, but if he got a good whiff of me, he would likely immediately reconsider, imagining the HAZMAT team they would need to clean the room after we left. So I settled for a beaming smile and a profuse trail of ‘thank yous’ as I paid and skipped out the door.
As I walked over to Omar, I couldn’t wait to tell him. I set the bucket on the table and said ‘I have a surprise’. Thinking I was talking about the bucket, he asked what special food I had packed in there. ‘Take a look behind you. See that gold truck parked by that building?’ I get a blank stare encouraging me to make a point instead of incessantly ramble. ‘THAT is our CABIN for the night after they leave. We can take a shower. Charge all our electronics. Sleep on a real bed!’ I got the same beaming grin I had a moment ago in the store as a response, as well as one of those very well known ‘Omar hugs’ that basically crushes your spine. Job well done Ally.
In addition to the lack of sun yesterday, Omar was starting to have problems with his solar charger. The cable wasn’t working properly, and he had attempted to splice it with another cable, or something, to get it to work. So now he was without one of the cords he needed. Well! Thankfully, when I sent home my charger, I hadn’t sent home the little baggie with all the connectors. I was too lazy to get them out of my first aid kit. So I pulled them out and handed it over. Another look of amazement. I had the connector for his GPS and his GoPro! Another win for Ally. I was redeeming myself after yesterday, even though I knew he wasn’t actually mad at me, it made me feel like I was contributing again.
Lunch. Our waitress went through the milkshake flavors. “Vanilla, strawberry, chocolate.” Then, in a hushed tone “we also have Mint Chip ice cream, but we’re not supposed to make shakes with it…but I can….” My eyes glazed over and I probably started drooling like one of Pavlov’s dogs. MY FAVORITE IN THE WORLD IS MINT CHIP ICE CREAM PEOPLE!! I quickly ordered that, and a cheeseburger with bacon. Omar also ordered a shake (no idea what flavor, it wasn’t mint so it was no longer important to me) and a cheeseburger with bacon. It was absolutely amazing. I love food. I have gone to a few Michilin Star restaurants and love trying new foods. But after backpacking, no matter how good your dehydrated food is, nothing can stand up next to a burger and milkshake. It was divine.
It was also funny watching people come off the bus coming from Mammoth. We called them fresh meat. Some were backpackers that had gone into town to resupply, but most were fresh faced folks ready for backpacking! They had no idea what they were in for. An amazing time, but they were very naive about it. They didn’t know about the dry, dusty climb out of the valley regardless of their direction. Or the walls of mosquitoes. They’d have a great time, but we had to wonder…did we look that excited and foolish before we started? Probably was the answer we came up with.
After lunch we were able to check into our cabin. It was great. I immediately commandeered the kitchen sink to do some laundry. I wanted to shower, but not until I had something clean to change into! While waiting for stuff to dry, electronics to charge, Omar showered and I just laid on the bed. Wow. That was also pretty spectacular. Called home and talked to my mom for a bit. Remember – the one who is horrified by the outdoors? When she asked the question how often I’d washed my clothes and cleaned up, I responded with ‘I just washed them today, they’re drying before I take a shower’. Then she repeated the question like I hadn’t heard it. “Ok, but how often have you had the opportunity to do that?” I repeated again, like she hadn’t heard the answer. “well, like I said. I’m doing it today….” silence. “Gross. Okay, I understand what you’re saying”. You’re welcome everyone. Although I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t want to go out into the wilderness, some are probably better off not going into it! My mom is one of those people. Not being able to change clothes daily or shower just slammed that last nail into the coffin of my mom possibly leaving pavement for dirt for more than 15 seconds.
I went to the store and bought a travel sized shampoo for about $7.00. But it was Pantene, so I mean, at least it was a brand I recognized. Gotta love supply and demand. I had mailed myself a razor in my resupply bucket, knowing if we didn’t have a cabin, they do sell access to showers for backpackers, so I’d get my shower regardless. It was so great to wash off 6 days of funk. I learned a lot about myself during this trip. One of the less…pleasant…things I learned about myself is that I’m not one of those lucky people that can skip deodorant in day to day life. I hadn’t packed any because it supposedly attracts bears, and I didn’t think another scented item would fit in my bear can at night. But oh lord, did I miss it. I’d only been out 6 days, but I probably smelled similar to the PCTers we were passing that had already been on the trail for a month or more! Oh well, not much to be done at this point. At least people, and, more importantly, Omar, were still speaking to me and willing to be within speaking distance, so it couldn’t be that unbearable.
One of the strangest things was to see my reflection. I was already losing weight, but had no idea how much. I could clearly see it in my face. I was also really tan (for me, the perpetual white girl), but it also didn’t quite look like me looking back in the mirror. I looked tougher somehow, tested. Tough to describe, but there you have it.
It was nice to be back on Facebook and have cell signal for the afternoon. Although going through my ‘news feed’, it seemed like i hadn’t missed much. I mean, I’d hiked nearly 60 miles (probably closer to 75 according to Omar’s GPS) through rugged terrain, and all I’d *really* missed were a few status updates from friends, some Happy 4th of July posts, and some check-ins. Obviously I missed my friends and family, but with this fresh perspective, I really hadn’t missed anything monumental. Huh. Maybe I don’t need to be attached to the internet 24/7 after all (yeah, right. As I write an internet blog).
We really just spent the afternoon relaxing and going through our resupply buckets. Before I left, I asked my parents, Amy and a few other friends, to write notes or letters of encouragement. Something small I could keep with me, or give me a little morale booster. Everything I got I split between the two resupply locations. So in this bucket I got a great note from my mom, Amy, and my wonderful Boss Pam had gotten most of the folks at work to sign a card for me. It brought a smile to my face and was definitely a nice little boost. A great activity I recommend to anyone who is leaving everything they know and find comfortable…this was a great way to have a little piece of home with me. Omar hadn’t had anyone write to him, but he didn’t know I wrote him a note in each bucket, so he could get some mail too!
In the evening, around 7, we decided to go get dinner. Omar went to find out if they took credit card, since we’d used up our cash earlier in the day. When he came back he looked like an excited kid in a candy store. “I found Joey! And Nina and Grace! They’re all here! This is amazing!!!!!”
Ridiculous! Every day, at some point, we would ask or wonder where Joey was. Turned out he put in a hell of a day to get here. Came from Thousand Island Lakes all the way to Red’s and had JUST gotten there. About a 17 or 18 mile day, a distance we had split into two days. We sat inside the cafe and talked with the girls for a while – we had missed dinner, as the cafe closed at 7, and the bell we had heard at 6 apparently signaled dinner for cabin guests. So we missed that too. Whoops. After catching up with the girls, I popped into the store to look for something for dinner. Then I was struck by inspiration. I saw a box of pancake mix. Yes! Breakfast for dinner! So I made pancakes with syrup and bacon. Delicious, and completely guilt free. When we talked with Joey, we offered for him to stay with us. After all, our cabin accommodated 6 people, so we had an extra bed. I love building up my good karma points, and it felt right to share it with someone.
We made a campfire outside the cabin, and swapped stories of where we had camped, how our days had been, etc. The next day would be long and boring – climbing out of the valley, a lot of which would be through an area destroyed by the Rainbow Fire (Rainbow Falls is nearby), which mean dusty and exposed. That’s exactly why we like to start early. Move on from that part of the hike before the heat kicks in. Then Joey said one of the funniest things that I think Omar and I will chuckle about for a looong time. Every time we talk about getting up early, he always says that he ‘plans to get up early, but it just doesn’t work out’. The funny thing is, we saw him up early at Sunrise Creek on Day 2! So clearly his motivation for early rising went out the window early. Anyways, he plans on getting up early. Then he goes ‘yeah, I thought it was pretty early, maybe around 8. And I look outside my fly, and the sun is like, directly overhead!’ Umm…that’s definitely the OPPOSITE of getting up early! Anyways, I’m sure it’s not as funny reading this as being there, but you’ll just have to trust me on this.
We also came up with a trail name for Joey that he really earned at the campfire that night. Smokey Joe. Our fire had almost gone out and he was determined to bring it back. Went and gathered a fair amount of kindling and small firewood. I don’t know what he grabbed, but all it did was create a wall of smoke, directed right at me. Great, I wash all my clothes and take a shower, only to smell like smoke! If you looked off to the left, into the trees, it looked like a creepy layer of fog drifting through the forest. That’s how bad this smoke was. But he got an A for effort at least.
All in all, it was a great day. An afternoon of relaxation, and two big meals to fill us up. We had a reunion with our makeshift trail family, and had real beds to sleep in. We’d showered and charged our electronics, and spoken to friends and family back home. It was like a little vacation within our vacation. But it would be back to our ‘reality’ tomorrow morning back on the trail! I still felt sick, but could tell I was starting to get better. That was a great feeling too, starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was great to have Omar back to himself too. Always with that big grin on his face! We’d now walked through Yosemite National Park, Ansel Adams Wilderness, Devil’s Postpile National Monument and entered Inyo National Forest. Crazy!!!
