Dynamic Day

Oh the bliss of sleeping in an actual bed. I felt very rested this morning. Ready to get back on trail for sure! But first things first. Breakfast! We went to a popular breakfast joint, where yesterday we had been unable to get seted. The food was excellent, and double orders were no problem as usual.Before..

And after…

With a full belly we got ready to get several chores done. Post-office, sorting out of all our food and packing up from the motel-room. At the post-office Jukebox picked up a couple packages, all of us got rid of our bear-canister, relieved to free up space in our packs, no longer lugging around the extra 2 pounds. The only bummer about no longer carrying bear-cans is they function perfectly as a stool to sit on. I’d packed up a resupply-box to send to Sierra City. When I met John (who got injured in the beginning of the trail, got off and is now hiking the JMT) again in Mammoth, he told me that I could mail my bear-can to him, and that he would either try to sell it or keep it in his family. Today I contacted him about this, and all is okay. In return he will prepare one of my future resupply boxes with food, I just have to tell him what, where and when to send the box. Good deal!
After a final cup of coffee at Starbucks we hitched out, and after about 15 minutes got a ride back to the trail-head.

It was later than we all had liked (around 1500) but getting out of town always takes more time than expected… Anyway, we were back on trail and ready to get some miles in before dark. Just three miles further however, we reached Echo Lake, where we met Peach-Man, Free-wheel, BooBoo and Sundance. Hiker we’d last seen at Hiker-Heaven. They are a fast hiking group, but had taken a whole bunch of zero’s during their time in the Sierras, so we caught up with them. It was good fun seeing them again. We took a little break (and ice-cream) and decided to push on, because a dark front was rolling in and we could already hear the rolling sound of thunder in the distance.

We were unable to dodge the rain, so out came the rain-gear. It was quite a heavy shower and I waited for 40 minutes, sheltered underneath a broad pine-tree until the worst was over. I’d gotten pretty wet, but fortunately it was a warm day.When the heavy poor diminished to only a light drizzle, I quickly hiked out, wanting to make up for lost time. The trail however had filled with water, and since a lot of this section over wound over slippery granite slabs, I was making slow progress. When it finally stopped raining, I took a small break and enjoyed the beautiful view.

The air now damp from the fresh rain made for sweaty hiking, and in the bits of forest I hiked through the mosquito’s were a menace. I knew that I’d soon reach Aloha Lake, the designated camp-spot, which wasn’t far away now. As I hiked down to the shore of the lake, a woman camped nearby spoke up to me; “Your buddy in the brown shirt has asked me to tell you, you should hike a little further. That’s where he’ll be”. Apparently Pops had asked the woman to send ‘the guy in the blue shirt’ further along the trail, to find him and Jukebox. I cruised on, but after a while thought I must have passed them, because where I was standing, were no campsites according to my maps. I hiked back. Still no trace of them. Time for a less-civilised-search-method. I made a sound-horn of my hands and bellowed: Poooooooooops? My shouts echoed over the lake. After a couple attempts I heard a reply! Following the sound (we were now continuously calling each others names) I found him and Jukebox at a lovely campsite along the water.This place is absolutely gorgeous. Aloha-lake is magnificent, with many beautiful camp-spots. We agreed that it definitely made the list of favorite campsites so far. Unfortunately there was no satisfying site near Jukebox and Pops for me to pitch my tent, but the whole of the area was amazing, so I went out to scout for a nice site of my own. After 20 minutes of scouring the lake-side I found a great spot on top of a nice flat granite slab, close to the water and all to myself. What a place!

I grabbed my food-bag and headed back to Jukebox and Pops who were getting their dinners ready. We watched as the sky turned every shade of orange and red and were in awe of the mesmerizing beauty of the falling evening. What struck me was how ‘fast’ we had gone from the hectic chaos of town, to this mysterious, pristine and gorgeous wonderland. Quite an intense transition to the senses. We laid down on the slightly sloping granite and watched the day turn into night. After enjoying the spectacle of colors, the bright moon and stars gave the lake a final serene appearance. What an evening! With nights like this it’s just great to be back on trail.
I am the stranger in the shadows
I am the sleeper at the wheel
Am I the choice & the anonymous voice
That says none of it’s real