Day 16 - A Country For Old Men

Sunday, Aug 1, 2010
Stats for the day: started at Izaak Walton Lake (10,300') at 7:15 - ended at Reds Meadow (7,700') at 7:10 Total ascent 3702'. Total Descent 6,262'. Total Distance 22.0 miles. 8 hrs 11 mins walking.

Totals to date: 16 days, 139 miles, 42,574 feet of ascent, 39,959 feet of descent.

I don't consider myself old, neither physically or mentally, but I do know mother nature is creeping up on me. It is this ticking time bomb of the biological clock that prompted me to do the SHR this year rather than in a year or two, because you never know what will happen, be it disease, infirmity or ??

I have strong memories of my days as a hiking and climbing guide when I was 15-23, and those memories are the bench marks by which I measure my current abilities. I don't expect to be able to duplicate what I did back then, but I do strive to achieve a measure of that level of activity.

To play it safe, I formed the milages per day when planning the SHR around modest numbers, 8-10 miles per day if on trail and 5-8 if cross-country. These low numbers were also influenced by not knowing who would join in on the trip and my desire to make the trip accessible to any that might consider participating.

So far the plan has worked well, although those days when we traveled cross-country my predicted milages are about 30% less than the actual due to route finding and zig zagging to avoid obstacles. But today we threw out my plan in lust for cherry turnovers.

It was supposed to be a mostly trail day, two miles of cross country to get us from Izaak Walton Lake (10,300) to the JMT in Tully Hole, then 6 miles of the JMT to the Duck Lake trail junction. We have met many, many people when on the JMT, so we made wagers on how many people we would see during our six miles. The winner would get a cherry turnover purchased by the two losers. Andy guessed 50 people, I low balled at 38 and Gary took the middle ground at 45. We hit the JMT at about 8:30 and were to the Duck Lake intersection at 12:15. In those 3 hours and 45 minutes we passed 58 people, earning Andy the win.

We stopped at Duck Lake, our scheduled camp spot, for lunch and as we ate began to discuss the wonders of a full free day in Mammoth Lakes to wash clothes at the laundromat, eat a chopped salad at the Base Camp Cafe, eat a Subway sandwich, have a smoothie or a milk shake and most importantly, savor a couple of the world's best cherry turnovers at Schat's Bakery. To create this free day in Mammoth we would have to hike Monday's distance after we finished our lunch. By one o'clock our minds were so bent on cherry turnovers that a 22 mile day didn't seem that bad, after all we had hiked those distances back in our youthful days. So, with visions of unlimited food and a day off we set out about 1:00pm to cover the final 11 miles, 2 of which were cross country. The route had 1000' of vertical gain and 3500' feet of descent. Powered by Cliff Bars, Power Bars and gorp we crested Mammoth ridge then began the long descent to Red's Meadow, our campsite for the night, and the end of the bus run that would take us to Mammoth.

By 5:14 we were still 5.5 miles out when we got cell service, a key component to our plan, because Schat's does not bake cherry turnovers unless by special order, so we stopped to phone in our order for 7 cherry turnovers. Calls to wives also occupied a few minutes, then on the route again. With a few navigational difficulties along the way, we arrived at Red' Meadow at 7:10, just missing the store's closing at 7:00. 22 miles, 3700' up, 6,900 down. Just like old times. We aren't as old as our years might suggest. 56 is the new 23.

Wearily, with a glowing feeling of accomplishment, we followed the trail from the store to the hot springs fed shower house and after a brief wait in line for an empty compartment took a very long, scalding hot shower, the first in 10 days. Then, with dusk turning to darkness, off to the back packers campsite only to find it full. Three nice women offered to share their site with us, which we gladly accepted. An engaging conversation and a quickly cooked dinner followed. We bid our benefactors a good night and thanks and retired to our tent.

Although the muscles in legs and backs were sore and tired, it was a great day. We still have it.