6.28.18. 19.3 miles.

Ahhh I got to sleep in this morning! Almost to 6:30. So glorious. We needed to get going though bc dinner service was very slow last night and we needed to get back to the trail ASAP. We got down to breakfast around 6:45 and got our orders placed and food served much faster! After breakfast, we finished packing our things and walked about a mile down the road back to the highway to get a hitch back to the trail. This was my longest wait for a hitch yet, at about 45 minutes. There were 5 other hikers “in line” before us, and the rest of us semi-hid behind some rocks so that we wouldn’t look so intimidating and they could hopefully get a ride faster. They did, and we got in the next car that stopped. Our driver was so nice! Her name was Kate and she lives in Mammoth Lakes. She told us all about the fires that were going on that we just missed and how she was up here to hike and get away from the smoke! I’m so glad we missed those fires. I knew I saw smoky skies when we were leaving Mammoth, but I didn’t really have a way to figure out what was happening!

We finally started hiking around 9:45. Not too much to be excited about here, except for a change in scenery and NO MOSQUITOS! It was so amazing to have a full day of not hearing annoying buzzing right in your ear/ slapping your legs silly every time you feel something in hopes of killing the mosquitos. We had just a little bit more snow on the trail, and lots and lots of mud. We took lunch after the second climb of the day, about 11 miles in. The afternoon wasn’t too exciting, just some pretty views and a rollercoaster trail. It’s been pretty cool to see how drastically the landscape changed. I definitely feel like I’m getting into Northern California! So many corn lilies and mules ears plants.

When we got to camp, Mouse and Thumbellina were there, so it was really nice to reconnect with them and hear about their experiences in the Sierra over dinner. And guess what? No mosquitos at camp either, so it was actually enjoyable!!! Such a big deal. It’s colder tonight than it has been in a while, so I am very cozied up in my quilt, and can’t wait to go to sleep.

I also realized today I did the math wrong on getting to Donner Pass, and will actually be arriving on the 4th! So I will be joining in the holiday festivities with the whole fam!