Day 68

Lake Virginia to mammoth - 15 miles (3.5 off trail miles)

Total - 904.4

Woke up and took our time in the morning before heading out. People were excited to get into town so they booked it early in the morning. We were probably in the middle of the crowd though. The elevation wasn’t too bad but still got me breathing especially with town in my eyes. There was this one girl who was on our tails for awhile and then we let her pass and then she didn’t go fast enough so we were trailing her for awhile and when we finally passed us she low-key snarled. I think I’ve said this before but one of my biggest pet peeves is when people let you pass and immediately start right behind you. LET ME BREATHE GODDAMIT. Anyways, she did that after the snarl. So I sped up because GODDAMIT I don’t want you breathing down my neck for the next three miles. We did take a much needed coffee break for dad but the mosquitos were so bad that we had to keep moving. Stopped for water a couple of times as well as usual. Dad also did his first 10 before 10 so that was super exciting while also hitting over 200 trail miles. What a day for him. We then hit the trail to go into mammoth and we were cruising before we got stopped by this local hiker. We got to talking (nothing too special) and then he offered us carrots. Two baby carrots later and I was flying up the pass. Mind you the pass wasn’t too bad. Easiest pass we’ve done. It was more like a gradual hill with the name mammoth pass. Once we got closer to the trailhead though it was jarring to see so many day hikers as we had been the deep dark wilderness for so long. Ngl I felt like a superhero compared to the muggles. We got down to the trailhead and luckily there is a bus that’s comes every half hour on the hour but we got there with 30 minutes to spare. I said fuck it and stuck my thumb out to see if we could get a hitch. I mean why not? I had nothing else better to do and there was a good amount of traffic. Dad doubted my efforts and boy did I prove him wrong. 10 minutes before the scheduled bus and woman in a Subaru pulls up and says get in. Two other guy hikers had joined us on the curb and I turn to them with the biggest grin on my face and wave them over. Crammed, and stinky, she drove us to downtown mammoth. It was glorious. We got dropped off at schats bakery where Caleb and Marc met us as they juiced in the morning to get there early and take the bus. Actually I think they were trying to get Louisa and Klara to pick them up as they rented a car for a lil side quest but they weren’t planning on getting there until early afternoon. I loaded up on sweets: churro, baguette, and donuts. We sat outside and ate. I was eating the baggers as all people do straight from the bag, no cutting, just smacking bites off the top. I kept complaining that I didn’t have cheese so after awhile I mosied on over to the closest thing to a grocery store…a gas station. Sadly no cheese, but ice cream sandwiches sufficed. After, the girls pulled up with uncivilized and we got an early check in to the Airbnb. It was a great place and dad and I got the big bedroom with the big bed and a bathroom. Beauty. Porch too. The girls and Caleb went shopping and bought a whole bunch of alcohol before making three types of pasta to muck on. We started a 1000 piece puzzle as well. The the drinking began. Klara has this game which you answer a question similar to “who is the most…blank” like one of the questions was “who is the snobbiest?” Or who is the most unique. It’s fun. Dad joined halfway which was a lil traumatizing with some of the questions that were asked but still a lot of fun. Caleb got blasted. Everyone was wine drunk. And I will leave it at that as I don’t want to spill anyone’s business. Ask me personally though and I’ll spill. It was a juicy night. After, fell asleep like normal.