Opositive’s PCT Hike – Day 19 ( July 22 )

Wednesday July 22

Unknown campsite to Tuolumne Meadows.
Today’s miles – 12.7.
Total trip miles – 194.8.

This was the day I’ve been training my whole life for.
Okay, for the last 12 years, anyway.
Well, for a while.

Most of the  reason I was driven to do that last mile uphill in the rain yesterday was that I didn’t want to do it in the morning.
And that’s because I was really driven to get to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park and catch a 1pm bus to Mammoth Lakes (one of my favorite trail towns), and get a head start on 2 zero days.

Which meant doing 12+ miles by 1pm with little margin for error. And setting my alarm for 5am (earliest ever on trail). And actually not sleeping through it…which I didn’t!
And getting on trail at 622am…a new record!

I was fortunate to have pretty flat terrain, and was powering through it from the get-go. Distractions included crazy beautiful scenery, waterfalls, rivers, and snow-speckled mountains.

Also distracting was Park Ranger Eric who popped out of the woods at 745am, and asked to see my permit and check it and sign it. He was a very nice fellow and chatty, but in my head I was “Chop, chop Eric, I got a bus to catch”. Then he saw my name was Jerry….” Ah, just like Jerry Garcia”. A big Grateful Dead fan, he really wanted to chat about the Dead. I dissuaded him as much as possible, and he saw me off with a Keep on (Truckin’) farewell. “I like to use at least one Dead reference daily!”
Yup, bye now!

The good news is I crushed the 1pm deadline, arriving at 1220pm….12.7 miles in 6 hours in time for a ginger ale and M&M’s from the camp store, and to chat with Kerry and Christine,  2 hikers also waiting for the bus.

And then the bus was an hour late.🙄
But I made it…on to Mammoth Lakes!

Opositivehikes.com