Goal for the day: Reds Meadow

After a nice night near Duck Lake Pass, I woke up and headed North without delay. Knowing you can a taste of civilization after 16 days on a long trail tended to motivate you.

I saw some nice light as I hiked along the ridge.

I was a little miffed when I saw the campsite down the ridge from the trail that I had seen in 2020 and decided not to continue to this year.

Despite it being marked on my GPS map, it ended being closer than I had thought it was. Must just seem closer since I had fresh legs that morning. Ah well…

The Red Cones were two volcanic cones that were… red.

Imagine that?

I had heard about hikers using mules, other animals, and even dogs carrying little backpacks to carry their own food.

And I had heard about Lamas being used, but had never seen one on the trail… until this trip. After passing a hiker sorting through his gear, I passed a pair of Lamas munching on tall grass nearby. I guess that’s one way of saving the weight you had to carry yourself.

Occasionally, I saw young children on the JMT and PCT, but they almost NEVER had backpacks. Spoiled brats. 😀

As I neared Reds Meadow, I passed through a large burned out area with remnants of a ones large forest. While some small trees had regrown, the still showed a lot of scars of fire past.

I reached the first trail that connected to Reds Meadow, but decided to continue to the next junction. It was less than a quarter mile and would make returning to the trail a little shorter.

After leaving the JMT/PCT, it was just a short hike up a gentle incline before I saw my first evidence of the Reds Meadow Resort: The signpost.

It was a good reminder of the extent of the JMT and PCT from this point.

Then I saw a real startling sight. It was something I vaguely remembered seeing elsewhere, but it had been so long, I couldn’t recall what it was used for.

I pulled out my iPhone and did a search and discovered it was something called a…

Pay Phone. 😀

Cell service at the resort was pretty good, so didn’t really need it any more. But I’m sure that it is useful for emergencies or when cell coverage gets spotty.

Then I reached the goal for the day: The Reds Meadow Store and a Diet Coke to drink.

Ah…

I checked to see if they had any hiker cabins or motel rooms available that evening, but they didn’t. They DID have a full cabin available. But it was expensive.

I also could take a thing called a BUS up to Mammoth Mountain area and reach my Jeep that was parked up there.

That would give me a easy way to get into the Town of Mammoth Lakes and slightly less expensive hotel rooms. That might tempt me to end my hike there and head home, so I resisted the temptation to use that option.

But the resort had all I needed: Diet Coke, a new gas canister for my stove, M&Ms, some backpacking food I could use to continue, a laundry to wash some clothes, and a small restaurant where I could get a real hamburger, fries, and a milkshake!

What more could you ask for?

Well, a real bed, comfy chair to sit on, and a private hot shower. I decided it was only money, so I rented the cabin for the night to rest and recover.

The hike from Muir Trail Ranch wasn’t that bad and I doubt I’d extend the stop at Reds to a Zero Day, but it was still a nice break from the trail.

And I still had 26 miles left in PCT Section H, including 17.5 miles of PCT that I had never hiked before!

The section of trail that diverted east from the JMT, up along Agnew Meadows, and over the High Trail until rejoining the JMT at Thousand Island Lake.

There was no way I was going to abort with that small part still left to finish and I could claim that I had hiked the entire PCT Section H.

But having an nice night of rest in a real bed was always welcome.

Goal for the day: Success

Day 17 – 11.7 miles – 7 hours 10 minutes
PCT section H – 139.7 trail miles out of 175.5 total miles

(mileage and time approximate and based on GPS tracks which may not be exact and include diversions from the trail)