IN THESE WOODS: DAY 67: ONWARD TO MAMMOTH LAKES!

We made it to Red's Meadow!

miles: 21

Our plan had been to do 21 miles yesterday and only 10 miles into Red's Meadow (and subsequently - Mammoth Lakes) today, however, due to the hypothermia scare yesterday, we did the whole thing backwards. Long day for us today...

Rocky and I like to plan our sections so that we arrive in towns in the morning, so typically we leave under 14 miles for the day we plan to get into town. I like to hit up a greasy spoon (love love love breakfast over here) first thing. Pancakes, hashbrowns, toast, eggs, coffee.... all before checking into a hotel, even.

This would be an atypical town arrival day and we would be rolling into Mammoth in the evening.

Oh well! It was a great day of hiking, surprisingly. Woke up to Sour Cream letting us know he saw some blue sky patches, which helped me get out of bed. Could it be true? Would today be dry??

I slept well, for some reason, and was up and ready to go earlier than the others. I just wanted to get hiking.

Drizzle stuck with us for a good part of the morning but by the time 10:00am rolled around, we were seeing glimpses of the sun! There were some tough hills, but nothing unmanageable. We powered through the 21 miles without much of a lunch break, eager to get to town.

A lot of the hiking today reminded me of Oregon, of home. The tall fir trees, towering above. The soft pine needle carpet of duff, a gift to walk on after all of the sand and sharp rock situations we've dealt with. The silence of the forest. It was pleasant. Just as we were wandering through the Red's Meadow area, dark puffy clouds appeared from where we had just come from. Thunderstorms were brewing behind us and it gave me a little kick in my step. Another incentive to pick up the pace.

Sour Cream, Rocky and I cruised into Red's Meadow Pack Station just as the thunder was beginning - what an amazing feeling! What luck! It had been a hot day, so thunderstorms were not a surprise. I guess Mammoth Lakes (and elsewhere in Central California) was experiencing a sort of heat wave and it was only due to get worse over the next few days. EEESH!

Red's Meadow was filled with tourists, horses, real and fake cowboys, and quaint historical points of interest. This is also the site of the famous Devil's Postpile and Rainbow Falls. Mammoth Lakes tourists and outdoor enthusiasts flock up to Red's Meadow and take photos. There is a bus that shuttles people between Red's Meadow and Mammoth Lakes and it is QUITE convenient. We arrived, checked out the General Store (of course! cold drinks!) and promptly boarded the first bus we could squeeze on to and headed for Mammoth.

Culture Shock. The complete culture shock of being bombarded by tourists and packed tightly with them on a hot bus was overwhelming. The questions, the chatter, the children, the upset babies, the music, the winding roads - all a shock to the system for someone how has been silently making their way through the woods. Feeling over-stimulated, I put my head down and nearly fell asleep on the ride down the hill. Sour Cream took one for the team and fielded all questions thrown our way regarding who we were, why we smelled so bad, and where we were headed. He dealt with all inquiries with delight and candid sincerity. I am glad he was able to process all of the stimuli and do the talking, I was beat. I felt like I had been transplanted onto another planet, one in which I could not process or understand, so I just checked out. Ben did the same thing - head on bear canister.

"WHAT'S THAT???" a woman yelled, in Ben's general direction. When Ben did not answer (he was dozing) she proceeded to knock wildly on his bear canister in an attempt to wake him. "WHAT'S THIS FOR?!!?"

"Bear Canister." Ben said.

"WHAT!??!?!?!?!!"

"Bear Canister." Ben said, again.

She turned around, satisfied with the answer, yet I don't think she really understood what he had said or what a bear canister was. Later Ben admitted that he had been very close to replying, "Toilet".

This was our first real encounter with people who were openly offended by our stench. This was also, I think, the first time we had smelled thoroughly pungent. We had been out for about 8 days (a long stretch) AND we had gotten our feet wet almost every day and never allowed them to dry, which caused them to smell more than usual.

I don't have particularly smelly feet, but I must say, this section offered the opportunity for new smells, dirty sensations, and peculiar discomforts. I don't ever want to go more than 6 days in a row without washing my clothes, body or feet. Ever. This is entirely possible to do on the trail, it just requires a little more attention and fastidious-ness. In northern California, towns are not quite so far apart and we will have the ability to go into town if we REALLY wanted to, more often.

A note on feet and foot odor: I cannot express how disgusting feet can get and how quickly it happens out here. It is completely possible to keep your feet relatively clean, but when you have perpetually damp feet (from stream crossings) it is impossible not to develop a stench. This is not your normal foot odor - we all know that odor - that stereotypical foot smell that is (pretty) offensive? This is a smell that I have never smelled before. It is indescribable. Some people have it worse than others. Some people, you can smell their feet from about half a mile behind them as it wafts in their path. I'm blown away.

This section was the first time we have had significant water on the trail, so we are just beginning to get comfortable with streams and rivers (and crossing them). My method has been to simply walk right on through any and all water with my shoes ON rather than taking them off to preserve their "dry-ness". I feel it is safer and more comfortable to cross rivers with your shoes on, because some people slip or cut their feet on sharp rocks when they take their shoes off. SO, long story short, since I keep my shoes on, my feet build up a smell due to the never-ending moisture in my shoes (*borderline trench foot). I might rethink this shoe policy, but for now, it's what I am most comfortable with.

ANYWAYS - The two women in front of Ben and I on the bus were obviously offended by our body odor and were whispering to one another, and mouthing things with scowls on their faces. Holding their noses, applying chapstick to their upper lips...

"THEY STINK"

"I KNOW...."

I could see them saying these things, I'm right there! It really didn't bother me, since they had been nice enough earlier and were at least fascinated by our journey enough to talk with Sour Cream. I can understand. I guess.

Getting to Mammoth was beautiful. We went straight to the Travelodge and booked a room for the three of us.

Next stop - Whiskey Creek Happy Hour!!!!!!!!! HeeEEEEEeeeEEEEeeEYYY, ya'll know how much I love a happy hour...

Lunchbox was in town so we agreed to meet him at Whiskey Creek at 5:00 and when we got there, it was just the 4 of us, but soon after, about 20 other thru-hikers rolled in. All of us un-showered, fresh off the trail, packing into an upstairs bar area. Hiker after hiker showed up and we all had our hiker reunion of hugs while recounting our adventures from the last section. Catching up on the drama. We literally took over Whiskey Creek and all came their with our separate groups, but all had the same idea: beers immediately. Beers before showers. All of us, every. single. one.

Priorities!