PCT Day 50

Bishop to Bushcamp

3 miles (off trail)

Mile 788.5

Woke up feeling like an absolute champ and thrilled to get back on trail! Spikes and I grabbed some continental breakfast before packing up our gear. Both our bags are heavy as hell, with more food crammed in than ever before. It’ll be worth its weight in gold though as we trudge up and down the multitude of snow covered passes between us and our next stop, Mammoth.

Ready to roll, we left the Days Inn that we’d called home for the last three nights to make our way over to Schat’s Bakery where we grabbed a couple sandwiches to carry out for dinner. Next, we swung by Smart & Final one last time so I could pickup some foil to roast the trout I’m hoping to catch, as well as some other miscellaneous items.

Shopping done, we walked to the edge of town to grab a hitch. It took some time, but eventually a white Nissan pulled up and a guy hopped out who introduced himself as Mike. Mike had hiked most of the PCT in 2016, and had been doing trail angel work in the area since. He was heading all the way to the Kearsarge Pass trailhead to camp for a few nights, so we totally lucked out on the 45 mile plus hitch!

When we arrived at Independence I had him make a pitstop at the post office where I grabbed the package Zpacks had mailed me. They sent me a new mesh panel for my pack, as the original one had failed some 100 miles ago.

We’d planned on swinging by the local co-op to grab lunch, but the restaurant was closed. Bummed, we headed on up the mountain towards the trailhead. When we pulled up I saw a group of hikers waiting in the parking lot. As we got closer I identified two of them as KP and Stretch! Totally stoked, I jumped out of the car to greet them with a big ole hug. It was great catching up with my two buddies.

Before long the car arrived they’d been waiting on, so we said our goodbyes and they headed down the mountain as Spikes and I headed up.

We didn’t plan on going far. It was late in the day, so the snow would be too slushy to hike in. A few miles in we found a great spot alongside Little Pothole Lake.

After pitching my tent and finishing my chores, I grabbed my fishing line and fly before heading down to the water to catch some trout.

On the way I saw this weird bird. It looked like it might be a young turkey, but I’m not sure…

Thirty minutes of fighting with the wind left me less than enthused about continuing my efforts. The thin line and feather light fly just weren’t manageable against the horrible winds coming off the mountain.

I returned to camp fishless, but was delighted to find Spikes had started a small fire, so I grabbed my food bag and joined her.

We spent the remainder of the evening munching on this and that before retiring early to our sleeping pads. We planned on an early wake up, as we needed to make it over Kearsarge Pass and Glen Pass the next day. Two passes in one day is no joke!

Cheers!