August 28, 2016
Day 11
18.4 miles / 151.2 total
Steps: 41,195
Bear creek
Days without shower 12
I have to start this off with WOW - What a tough day!
I started waking up about 6:30 to the normal have to get up and pee. Grabbed my bear can on the way back to the tent. I sit inside on the air mattress with my sleeping bag wrapped around me and the main part open. I get ready to made coffee and do enough extra warm water to wash my face as well. Which I think should be my new morning tradition because if felt amazing. I started to get packed up and about the time I was almost done Liz came out of her tent. We talk a bit more and said our goodbyes after exchanging contact information and taking a picture. I really hope to see her again.
This morning was a pretty easy. I can tell my pack is lighter and I had a few up hills but mostly down all the way into Muir Trail Ranch (MTR). Right before getting to MTR, I ran into Brian! He asked if I saw the others (Luke, Dylan, Jaclyn and Lydia) but I must have just missed them. They got into MTR yesterday and camped down the way. I was a little bummed that I didn’t get to camp with them and hang out but I know I came out here to be on my own. They plan to make it to VVR tomorrow and wanted to know if I'd go in on a backpacker cabin with them that sleeps 4 in bunk beds. I said sure! It would be nice to have a bed and not have to set up a tent for 2 nights! But that means more miles to make it by tomorrow but that can also be my motivation. It's good to know they are only about half a day ahead of me. Getting to MTR was a VERY steep downhill past the last sign. There was one guy sitting outside, so I asked how it worked to get the resupply buckets and then rang the bell. A girl camp up and took my slip, had me sign and date a form, and got my bucket! Yay! It was the 5 gallon bucket with the lid that was air tight and it was taking forever to open it. I actually couldn’t get it all the way and had to get help. I went through the hiker buckets before I even dug into mine and laughed at some of the stuff in there. They were awesome though and were organized by categories. There was everything from clothing, first aid, toiletries, breakfast foods, peanut butters, drink mixes, packaged food, and homemade foods. I grabbed a couple packets of the Justin's chocolate hazelnut butter and lemonade mix!!! Yummy! I offered the guy who helped me open my box some of my Girl Scout cookies along with the girl he was with. I ate 3-4 of them and then put the rest in a zip lock for later and to share with my friends. Then, I opened the huge Pringles can and passed it around and emptied quickly! I knew if I didn’t share I would have eaten the whole can alone and that didn’t need to happen. I got my 5ish days of food, some junk I didn't need, and a small plastic bottle of wine and tinny bottle of Jack Daniels Honey. I shared what I didn't want to the other backpackers before adding to buckets and loaded up my bear can again. I got the wine from a guy who wanted some sausage I was giving out so it worked out for me! This pack is heavy and full again. I grabbed my battery backup, which I actually forgot to plug in for the majority of the time I was there so it didn't do much. When you leave MTR it is notorious for having the heaviest pack because most people are traveling south with 10 days of food. I was lucky because I was done with having the heavy pack and long hauls. I still wanted to weigh my bag on the hanging scale to see the difference from when I first started at 38.5 pounds! Just under 35 pounds! At least it's lighter than when I started. And I know I have extra stuff I will ditch at VVR before heading out again. One guy weighed his bag after me and it was 25 pounds with food and water. I was jealous of his weight but I know I enjoy being comfortable in my tent with a warm sleeping bag and a pillow more! The climb out of MTR was brutal. There is a lot of mule crap and it was HOT. I saw my first snake... it was harmless but still scared the crap out of me. I wish I wouldn’t have taken so long going through all the boxes and getting my stuff organize but it was hard to not get a little overwhelmed and excited about all the food options after 11 days of only having what you have. Leaving out at noon was not a good idea but I had miles to do. It was very hot with little coverage and the climb was rough with a heavy pack again. I attached my umbrella to my bag and was thankful I had it again!
Today I drank a LOT more water than my normal amount and I was starting to run a little low. I checked the map on my phone and it said I had about a mile to go. That last mile was moving SO super slow. It was very painful and I ran out of water. When I got to the creek, I drank right from the filter and had a snack. I needed something with more real energy than the crap I snacked on at MTR. I drank one liter of water pretty quickly and filtered a little over 1 more. Two guys came up to the creek that were headed the opposite direction. They had come from VVR a day ago! It was cool to hear their stories and made me more excited to get there. We talked for a minute and then went our own directions.
I left there feeling much better and the climb wasn't as steep. Sallie Keys Lake was really pretty and I was half tempted to stop for a swim but I didn't want to deal with taking off my pack and undressed. I decided to take a break at the next lake ... Heart Lake. At first it didn't look much like a heart until I started climbing more. I had a snack here, trail mix I got from the hiker bucket, and some starbursts. They were both really good! Found a good pee spot and took a minute to enjoy the area. I could see the pass and knew it was going to be rough. I took my time with lots of breaks. I was so happy when I got to the top. This day was very rough with a heavy pack. No one else was up there but I celebrated, did a little dance, and took a few pictures.
As I was about to head down one guy made it and I said congratulations on making it to another pass and he looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I am. I headed down and Marie Lake was so pretty. There were a lot of people camped there and I was tempted to stop as well but that would have made for a really long day tomorrow so I continued on. I thought it would just be another 3 miles but once I got there the water didn't look great and camping was very close to the trail. I looked at my map again and it said 1 more mile until the next water. It was already past 6 so I walked quickly. Once almost to the creek there still wasn't camping. So I crossed and saw 1 guy camped. He seemed to be in the ONLY spot. There was one that was a little too close to the water so I filtered and went to find something else. I am not in an ideal spot because it is super rocky but it works. I got my tent up and started dinner. As my dehydrated dinner was cooking (rehydrating), I got my bed ready and then it was time to eat! Mac & cheese with veggies and tuna! Perfect. It got dark quickly so I crawled my bag and am now ready for bed! It looks like I still have a longish day to make it to VVR tomorrow but at least it's shorter than today!! I feel quite accomplished today and am feeling strong.
Time to get some sleep.
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