Bushcamp to Bishop
12.5 miles (9 off trail miles)
Mile 788.5
I woke to Spikes stirring next to me in the dark around 5am as the stars twinkled in the early morning sky. Cowboy camping has become the new norm. The convenience of not needing to pitch my tent at the end of a long day simply outweighs the additional comfort it provides.
After defrosting my frozen shoes by sitting on them while eating breakfast, I packed up before setting out a few minutes after Spikes, leaving Mike still sleeping in his tent.
The plan was to hike 3ish miles to the Bullfrog Lake trail junction, which would take us 9 miles up and over Kearsarge Pass down to the trailhead parking lot where we’d try our luck at hitching into town with some day hikers. Easy peasy!
The sun was up just enough to hike without my head torch, but not enough to shake the frigid morning air. I walked quickly, trying to keep warm while looking for the barely visible trail. The mountains surrounding the valley we were in were interfering with my GPS, so I was careful not to get lost.
Less than an hour on trail I ran into Spikes, who I was glad to see. We hiked together for a bit before we split off again when I stopped to grab some water. While snacking Mike walked up, and we pushed on together towards the junction. We had to navigate a pretty gnarly creek infested marsh area before reaching the junction to Kearsarge Pass.
From there it was all uphill. We ran into Spikes and made our way up to the pass together. We passed the frozen Bullfrog Lake on the way. It was dope.
We stopped for a brief munch break before cranking out the final miles to the top.
The trail up to the pass was surprisingly snowless and easy. At the top we took a short breather before heading down towards the trailhead.
The trail down wasn’t bad. We made good time thanks to the crunchy shallow snow.
I reached the trailhead parking lot first, and immediately made friends with a couple preparing to day hike the pass. Danny and Becky were cool as hell. Danny, who hooked me up with a delicious pale ale, had hiked the JMT a few years previous. His wife, Becky, hopes to hike the PCT in 2020! It was a pleasure meeting both of them!
Before long Mike and Spikes joined me. We made friends with another day hiking couple who generously gave us an apple, grapes and some chocolate mints! Yum!
As it was early in the day, most hikers were on their way up, so scoring a hitch took some time. I found a nice shaded spot near a creek to get some journaling in while waiting. Within an hour a car pulled up with Spikes and Mike inside! They’d scored us a ride down the mountain!
The neat couple drove us down the mountain to the small community of a Independence. From here we hit up the local food co-op for some grub! I ordered the wild egg scramble with extra veggies and bacon with a beer. As Spikes would put it, the food was “hella good”.
Food consumed, we settled our bill before heading down the street to try our luck at hitching to the larger neighboring town of Bishop, some 40ish miles away. Before long a rad chick picked us up and we were chugging along. She was on her way home to Riverside after a successful weekend of mountaineering Morrison Pass. She pointed out prominent mountains along the way while providing a wealth of information on mountaineering. I may have found a new hobby…
She dropped us off in front of the Days Inn Spikes had booked for us. We thanked her and then she was off. After checking in, I did a load of laundry for the group before we all headed over to Holy Smokes BBQ for some good ole Texas cuisine.
I ordered the half chicken with a side salad, coleslaw and a Fresh Squeezed IPA. 
It was incredible! On the way back to our hotel we swung by a few gas stations in search of some Ben & Jerrys, but had zero luck, so we settled for a pint of Carmel Cone Haagen Daz. It was shockingly delicious!
We crashed hard after that. We’re all a bit banged up from the week we’d spent in the Sierras, so some R&R is badly needed.
Cheers!