7/11/2023
Section: Milepost 789.7 to 789.7
Distance: Miles
Moving Time: hrs
Elevation Gain: ft
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We woke around 5 and tried to go back to sleep - this only partially worked because of the wonderfully soft mattress we woke up on. At 7, we stepped outside to the picnic area, where breakfast was being served. We sat with two guys from Japan, Wildfire, Karen and a guy, Alex, from Puyallup, Wa. We had orange juice, bacon, eggs and a fruit cup - a wonderful simple breakfast - as we talked with the folks at the table. All had jumped off either the PCT or JMT because of conditions. After breakfast, Amanda and I made a pro’s and con’s list regarding our options. Our main considerations were
Jump to Quincy, just north of Sonora Pass where the snow was likely better and hike north until conditions improved in the Sierra before coming back
Jump to the California/Oregon border and hike south towards the Sierra, hope things got better by August
Jump to Oregon/Washington border and hike south and come back in September when things would get much better.
We decided on the Oregon/Washington border. My family is in Oregon to facilitate the change, and it would allow us a long stretch of uninterrupted hiking with high likelihood that the Sierra would be in much better condition when we got there.
I was just going to ask the host for one more night, so we could catch the bus to Reno the next morning, when Amanda yelled for me to stop. Evidently, Alex was driving back to Puyallup and was willing to give us a ride to Reno and the Japanese guys a ride to Mammoth. This worked out perfect because the morning shuttle was going to be expensive, and we needed to retrieve the box we had sent from Kennedy Meadows to Mammoth. We thanked Jeff and Karen for all that they had helped with, including the copious amounts of fruits and veggies they had given us for the trip, and they offered for us to stay in their condo in Mammoth on our way back through. Amanda checked out of our room, and then we loaded up 5 backpacks and 5 people into Alex’s early 2000’s Honda Accord before setting off.
The ride to Mammoth took a little over an hour. Once there, we dropped the Japanese guys off in front of Vons and went to the post office. Here, I mailed all our snow gear and boots back to the family and picked up the Kennedy Meadow’s box, while Alex and Amanda returned to Von’s to give back one of the Japanese guy’s passports that he had left in the car. From Mammoth, Alex drove us to the Reno airport, all of us commenting on how green the Owen’s valley was for this time of year. Alex was a CPA for a firm in Seattle and had taken time off to do the JMT but was now trying to figure out what he would do with the JMT off the table. We brainstormed until we arrived at the airport. I gave him 30 bucks and we said goodbye.
We caught a 6:30 pm flight direct from Reno to Portland, where my sister, Katie, picked us up with 3 large Yumm! Bowls and an IPA for me. We told her all about or adventures on the way back to her house and she caught us up on current events. Once at her place, we ate one of our favorite meals and talked with her and her roommates into the evening before passing out, happy to have made a quick decision and be getting a move on with the change of plans.
