2018.06.24 - Day #45 - Into the fire (or at least smoke)

To PCT mile 906.6 (stats here).

I slept very well. Last evenings effort played a huge part, as did the soft ground. I had the intention to get up already 4am to do the remaining 25 miles to Mammoth Lakes in good time, but only got up 5:05am. To save time, for the very first time, I did not filter the water for my breakfast. Water in the creeks here at High Sierras should be totally fine, though.

A mandatory pass picture, this time from Silver Pass.

It seemed possible to reach Reds Meadow today, which is the access point to Mammoth,  so I decided to keep myself forcefully motivated when ascending, and try to fly when descending. Silver Pass was only 2.5 miles away from camp site and it was easy enough. Only few patches of snow and only one that you could not avoid. In the morning it was slippery and I was about to slide down the mountain few times.

After the pass, I met with a group of hikers. They told me that yesterday there was a forest fire in the vicinity of Mammoth. They did not have further information. It was not long until you could see the smoke, and soon also smell it. The sun was colored orange and there were also tiny bits of ash. This was not good. One hiker coming to the opposite direction said that it should be fine, that the fire is under control and there are currently no trail closures.

The smoke starts to be visible.

There was still two major climbs left before a long descend. Especially the first one was hard, and I needed to keep few mini breaks to catch my breath. Usually I just slow down the pace to a crawl, but now sitting down to my ass was a necessity. The downhill parts were really nice as the trail was mostly even and with a pleasant grade. I developed a good pace from time to time. It became apparent that I would hit my goal in good time. Keeping my breaks really short also helped.

When coming closer to Reds Meadow, the smoke was thicker and the atmosphere earie. The trail went through an old burn area, where you had these huge charred red tree trunks. The whole thing gave you a postapocalyptic feeling. I arrived to Reds Meadow a bit before 5pm, and barely had time to buy a can of coke before the bus towards Mammoth Lakes departed. For some reason I have developed a craving to drink sodas here. I could just drink a can after another.

Not a nice view. Hope not to see lots of these.

The bus to Mammoth took an hour. It stopped at many places and waited for possible customers. The mountain roads were curvy. Mammoth is a town for ski tourism, and during summer there are lots of mountain biking and hiking activity. I investigated what accomodation I should take, and discussing with some tourists from San Diego, decided that the hotels would be too expensive. I settled for a hiker friendly hostel, Moderne Hostel, 38 bucks per night.

It was quite late when I got there, and a trip to the super market took rest of the evening. I had no time to write foe the blog, just eat too much pizza and realise that I could not fit the ice cream that I bought also into my stomach.

With Internet connection after a weeks break, I was sad to hear that Mikko actually had been in Mammoth already few days resting. He has probably gotten pneumonia, and needs to quit the trail for now for further examinations. Susanna is coming to get him home by car tomorrow. I hope to see them in the morning and wish them well.