Solo Day - Tuesday, June 24

Today the unexpected happened. For the past two months Sally and I have met legions of people while on the trail. People have passed us, we have caught them, we have leapfrogged the same people multiple times during the day. Today, I hiked for hours with not a single encounter. No one passed me. I did not pass anyone. Tie Dye, Billy, Silvia, Dogger, Fun Fact, Good Time, Vessel - all the people I have been sharing the trail with over the past few days just evaporated. An experience totally new to me on this trip.

I camped last night at the confluence of Paiute Creek and the San Joaquin River. When Sally and I camped here 7 or so years ago there were quite a few hikers so I expected the same again this time. There are lots of campsites. Oddly, I had the entire place to myself.

I awoke at 5:30 and as I was completing breakfast and packing I noticed Dogger on the bridge over the Paiute heading north. I did not see him again all day. I knew Tie Dye was ahead of me, choosing to go on to the Muir Trail Ranch (MTR) 3.6 miles further up a spur trail last night as he was hoping to buy bug spray when they opened in the morning as the mosquitoes are hatching and becoming a nuisance.

MTR is a mule packing station that also caters to hiker resupply needs. The only way to get to MTR is via the PCT/JMT or by pack mule from west side of the range. There is no road to the station. Consequently they charge $65 to handle your resupply bucket, the reason we did not utilize their services. But it is a very popular resupply point because it is only a 2 mile detour off the PCT and is perfectly distanced from Reds Meadow, the previous resupply point. For reasons of pure curiosity we had planned to hike to it, so I packed up and headed that way, trying to time my arrival with their 8 am opening.

I arrived at 7:30 and was prepared to sit outside the corral gate until they opened when a kindly lady named Margarite invited me in and showed me to a bench where I could wait for opening.

MTR is famous for their hiker boxes of food, and I was HUNGRY. At 8 the young girl managing the food resupplies set out the hiker buckets full of food left by previous hikers that had jettisoned excess food they did not need to carry. MTR does not want it, because at the end of the season they have to pack it all out by mule, so they are happy to have hikers take what they can use. The buckets are organized into commercially packaged food, home made bagged foods, oatmeal, fuel and powdered drink mixes. I grabbed some pemmican like energy bars, cliff bars, Ritz crackers and a Mountain House meal. Billy and Silvia arrived and were thrilled to find so much food as they had been short for days and were starving. They soon were eating anything that did not need cooking and stuffing foods into their bear cans for the days ahead. I left shortly after they arrived, expecting to leapfrog them all day up the trail. I never saw them again. Tie Dye never appeared to get his insect repellent, but I was sure he would pass me on the 3800' climb up Selden Pass. I never saw him all day.

In my hunger I downed one of the pemmican bars and was halfway through the next when I noticed my stomach was beginning to hurt. I stopped halfway through the second, but the damage was done. This very rich food was overpowering my stomach which was accustomed to a bland diet. For the next 5 hours I labored and suffered up the hill to the pass with a queazy stomach, expecting Tie Dye, Billy and Silvia to overtake me. They never did. No one did. I met oncoming traffic in the form of JMT hikers, but no PCT hikers.

I think the 23.5 miles of the day before coupled with my 72 miles over the 4 previous days were really taking a toll because I was listless and without energy. Once I cleared the pass it was downhill for the next 9 miles so the pain of moving lessened, but was still a chore. I stopped for a skinny dip in mosquito infested Marie Lake and it's refreshing coolness revived me a little.

One of the big obstacles in the Sierra is Bear Creek. In normal and heavy snow years it can be a waist deep torrent of a ford through very rapid water. Hikers team up to cross it, linking arms in groups of four to support and steady each other as they cross. Today it was knee deep and refreshing rather than terrifying.

A PCT hiker, someone I had not met, passed me at the ford. That was the only PCT hiker I saw all day.

I stopped at the last camping spot on Bear Creek before the trail began climbing Bear Ridge. I cannot remember ever being so exhausted in my life. I set up camp and cooked dinner - chicken, broccoli and mashed potatoes, then with my entire body aching as if run over by a bus I slept. I woke 2 hours later still aching and began to wonder if I would recover. I woke again at 3 am still in agony and began to contemplate having to take a zero day right where I lay because I was still too exhausted to move. When I woke again at 5:30 I finally felt much refreshed and knew I would be able to hike to my next destination, Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) on the shores of Thomas Edison Lake where my resupply box was waiting for me.

Where was everyone? I don't know. With my churning stomach I certainly did not hike fast up to Seldon Pass, nor down the other side. I took quite a few breaks, including my swim and yet no one passed. Tomorrow I take an 8 mile long side trail off the PCT to VVR. Tie Dye, Billy and Silvia have resupply boxes there. I suspect I will cross paths with them there.