Day 64-65: Kearsarge Pass to Bishop

June 7-8; Mile 788 + 8

Day 64

Finja convinced me that morning to take the Bullfrog Lakes route on our way to Kearsarge Pass. We walked past glittering lakes with fish lapping at the surface before climbing steeply to the pass. I ran into Four Million Pounds and we both cheered as folks from our groups reached the high point. It was a long way down to the parking lot, and near the end of the hike we could smell the wild onions that had likely given the area its name.

I went to use the bathroom and saw a car disgorging hikers. I jogged over to see if the driver was headed back down the mountain, and we were in luck. The three of us crammed inside and had a pleasant ride. Our driver was afraid of heights and hadn’t realized how high up the trailhead was when she’d picked up the other group. Even though she was only headed to Big Pine, she drove us the extra 15 miles to our motel in Bishop. And then it turned out that her daughter had been involved in containing the fire that had been close to Los Alamos, NM.

After checking into our room, we went to find food. And across the street I saw Sprinkles (Kelsey) from the group I’d been hiking with at the very beginning! I’d finally caught up to them.

I saw Evan and Lauren – now Handy and Grandpa – that evening when we went to see Top Gun. We chatted excitedly outside the motel afterward, trying to cram two months’ worth of stories into ten minutes: Kelsey had faced off with a cougar, someone we all knew had been airlifted out of the Sierras due to altitude sickness, Freda had sped ahead by over 100 miles. I took a picture of their plans for the next week and estimated that I’d catch up again after my zero sometime around Muir Pass.

Day 65

The zero day passed as they often do: a whirlwind of groceries, buying gear, eating, and trying to find time to relax. After 500 miles the gas canister I’d found in a hiker box in Big Bear Lake had finally run out, and so I visited the gear shops to find a replacement. I forgot to buy permethrin while I was there: big mistake. But that’s a story for another day.