3rd July
Last night we stayed at Idyllwild at Strawberry Creek Bunkhouse..........not at all what I was expecting a beautiful room with a small kitchen and bathroom. A small verandah off the back of the room made it perfect.
This morning we ran up a trail towards the PCT we get nowhere near it but we had a good workout. We drive up to Kennedy Meadows via a Maccas which is very close to the PCT (we met some thru-hikers there last year) the Maccas is very busy and no thru-hikers this year as it's too late in the season they are all way further up the trail.
When we arrive at the campgound at Kennedy Meadows we find the camp host weho gives us a California fire permit and tells us the law of the land ie where we can camp and how much and gives us a fee envelope. $17.00/night pretty pricey when there are no showers!! We set up camp right near the PCT trailhead and then drive back to the General Store/Post office (it was in the movie) I am disappointed that it looks nothing like it did in the movie but get over that pretty quickly LOL we buy a beer and chat to the store owner and then realise that there are some thru-hikers there so we go outside and talk to Josh from Florida who only decided a month ago to hike the trail so that's why he's still here. He gives us a few helpful tips and then we look around the store (thru-hikers can camp there for free and there are shower and postal facilities). We went to have a look where the trail comes out near the store and then drove back to the campground (which is 3 miles from the store) and on the way pick up Ethan and Jessica another two thru-hikers. Ethan has had an injury so his group went on ahead so he could rest and Jessica started the trail on horseback and her group also went on ahead. They sign the trail register and off they go. We get our dinner ready eat and then retire early as we have a big hike planned in the morning.
4th July
We pack our backpacks with water, lunch and snacks ready to hike as far as we can on the PCT. We start out the day fresh and enthusiastic. There are some interesting flora and fauna along the way. About 5 or 6 kms down the trail we run into Ethan and Jessica who have camped on the trail overnight and are just waking up ready to go. Jessica seems a bit distant and I thought it might be the look of all our brand new gear maybe she was thinking "who are they kidding!!" anyway we leave them behind and keep hiking. About two hours later we stop for a break and while we are sitting there along come Ethan and Jessica, we were sitting a little way off the trail on some rocks and they stopped on the trail and sat there. We finished our break and got started again, another two hours later we stopped for a lunch break and took bets to see how long it would be before we saw Ethan & Jessica (they were walking very slowly) and I got it right it was a full 20 mins after we stopped before we saw them. We had decided that we would turn back after lunch and hike back to our camp so we had hiked 8 miles. We said good bye to Ethan and Jessica and wished them well. We hiked back towards our camp and stopped at the river to soak our feet as they were hot and dirty. It felt great because the water was really cold. The last 3 miles back to camp was definitely the hardest but at least we know we can do 16 miles/25kms with moderate effort. After a short rest we quickly prepared our dinner as there was a big storm coming. I was fighting sleep from about 6:30pm and by 7pm I was sound asleep.
July 5th
We drove up to Carson City via Tioga Pass, Tolumne Meadows (PCT) and Sonora Pass (PCT). You might think we are becoming a little obsessed with this PCT thing .........OK yes we are !! we are committed to a thru-hike and planning for 2018 will start when we get home (forward notice no grandbabies that year please). We arrive in Carson City quite late and find the hotel easily. It's very comfortable and after a recommendation from the staff at the hotel we head to REDS for dinner it's an amazing place with memorabilia from bygone days all through the place the bar is stocked with 101 beers 52 on tap!!! The food is one of the best meals I have had in the USA I couldn't finish my main, maybe shouldn't have had the crab cake appetizer!!? I also had an espresso martini, now in Australia they just have the coffee crema on the top and put a coffee bean on top of that but over here they put cream and chocolate sauce on top of course!! Sleeping in a bed after camping for two nights was just divine.
6th July
Our laundry was our first priority today so we put that on and go for a short run through town. We get back and put the clothes in the dryer while we go for breakfast. It is one of the best hotel breakfasts we have had.
We head out into the Nevada desert to camp at Spencer Hot Springs on the way we stop in a small town called Austin for tea and pie. Eating out here is very cheap and it costs $13 for two teas and two pie with ice cream. The waitress is very shy and sweet so give her a big tip!
When we arrive at the hot springs there is a man ther sitting on the back of his ute smoking a cigarette. I was a tad wary but once we got talking to him he was a lovely fellow. He was surprised that there weren't more people out at the springs. It's the sort of place that if you didn't know it was there you would never find it. (Dave says he googled it but I still don't know how he knew it was there) Anyway Alan left and we had the place to ourselves. It was very easy to see when anyone was coming because the approach road was dirt and the cars left a huge dust plume. A short while later we were sitting soaking our legs as we had very sore calves when a local man with some young boys in his car pulled up. He was very respectful of our space and left the kids in the car while he came to chat to us he told us that there were 2 more pools in the local vicinity. So we left him and the boys to enjoy the bottom pool and drove up to the middle pool when we got there a family with two young children were there so we continued on up to the top pool and there was noone there. We set up our tent and got dinner sorted before we stripped off and jumped in the pool as the sun started to set I was increasingly hearing the braying of donkeys. Soon enough a herd of a about 12 were around the pool. It must have been mating season as there was quite a bit of fighting going on, males jockeying for position. We soaked in the hot spring for a couple of hours and then went to our tent. The fighting donkeys continued until about 2am and sometimes sounded like they might come through the tent!!!!
7th July
We had a short run through the desert and another soak in the hot springs after packing up our gear (who needs a shower?!)
Today we visit a place called Garnet Hill. We are supposed to be camping here for the night but after fossicking around for garnets a storm starts brewing with lightning, rain and wind. David found a couple of garnets some a good size (looks like I might get a ring). So we drive to the next town Ely and have lunch and look at some maps to try to decide where to camp. We had been given some tips by the man with the young boys at the springs last night so we go take a look but by the time we get there it's REALLY cold and raining. So we decide to try to drive out of the rain and settle on a spot a bit further up the highway. Unfortunately we miss the signs for the place and end up in a Casino toewn (West Wendover near the Utah border) and stay in a Best Western instead. It turns out to be a good decision. We went to Pizza Hut for dinner there were few restaurants in town except for fast food and Casinos. Pizza Hut in America seems to mostly be for takeaway and our experience has always been there is one person running the show trying to do EVERYTHING! makes for a fairly slow dining experience.
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