June 22, 891 - Mammoth

That Guy and I hiked to Mammoth via the Duck Lake Trail.  It was a beautiful easy trail with lots of lakes.  Consequently, we saw a lot of day and weekend hikers with fishing poles.  It would be fun to fish in these lakes if I had time.  Fresh fish cooked over a fire is delicious.  We met a hiker named Bob who was hiking the loop trail around Duck Lake.  Bob is 80 years old.  He has hiked the John Muir trail many times over the years as well as other trails.  His advice was to hike fast when you need to but know when its time to slow down.  He said he still loves the mountains.  Very cool.  I took his picture.  On the way down we got stuck behind a horse train.  They were slow and we were sucking Thor dust.  So That Guy takes off to run around them and I follow.  Our packs are bouncing, we're leaping over branches and rocks, we pass the lead horse, get back on trail, and I trip.  It was like a dive for home plate right in front of all the horseback riders.  I jumped up and kept going till I was a safe distance ahead of the horses.  So I'm fine but my pants now have matching holes in both legs.  The trail ends at Lake Mary and we took a taxi into town.  I needed some gear replacements.  The Mammoth mountaineering shop is a nice outfitter.  I found an icebreaker shirt that was 40% off, convertible pants, and most importantly a new hip belt for my backpack.  Tomorrow will be a zero day.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.6