Friday, 7 September 2018
Lake Tahoe – Yosemite Valley: 0 miles hiked
Mark showed up exactly at 9 am and we got in his car to start our road trip. Due to the fire and the resulting road closures, we had to take a detour, which was just as scenic.
Mark is always a laugh and so much fun to hang out with, time flew by.
On a short stop in Bridgeport we got some crazy delicious sandwiches from the meat market. Yum.
Just before the final miles towards Tuolumne Meadows, we spot a hitchhiker on the side of the road. And who is it? Sunshine! So of course we picked him up.
Mark dropped us off at the Tuolumne Meadows store, where we bumped into Golden (last seen at the cabin in Washington).
We hung around and talked with people for a while, until the idea came up to go to the valley.
Why?
Well, the John Muir Trail (JMT) and the PCT are almost identical until the summit of Mt. Whitney, 190 odd miles to the south. The only thing missing to complete the JMT would be the 23 mile stretch of trail climbing up out of Yosemite Valley, coming to Tuolumne.
So of course, we decided to pick up those miles, including the 6000ft ascent, because really…..who wouldn’t? 😂
We hitched a ride with a very nice couple, the guy of which had just been out on the Sierra High Route and told us a lot about the valley. He had been coming here for over 40 years, climbing and hiking, and knew most of the people featured in the documentary ‘Valley Uprising’. (If you haven’t seen it, go watch it right now!) The world really is a small place.
They dropped us off in the village and we hung out by the cafeteria for a while. I downloaded Guthooks app for the JMT and looked at what was to come.
Late afternoon had us walking to the Majestic Hotel, formerly the Ahwahnee, to take a look at this historic landmark, and to charge electronics.
Just as it was getting dark we took the trolley to the backpackers campground and found a relatively quiet spot. Setting up the tarp in the dark worked well and I made some food before going to sleep in the balmy air. Early rise tomorrow morning.
Keeping you posted…