Days 7-10

Day 8 – June 14

We skipped writing yesterday and I don’t love that, but we killed from Deer Creek to Fish Creek and it was beautiful. It rained, it hailed, and it even snowed on us a little, but never anything too bad. My wrist started killing me and we diagnosed it as tendonitis and wrapped it in an ace bandage. That and not using trekking poles are helping a lot.

Today we set an alarm for the first time at 5:30 and got out of the tent by 5:45. We left around 7:40 and climbed over & through Silver Pass by 10, then took our time the rest of the day- stopping for sunscreen, snacks, water, lunch, and not just rushing our pace on the trail, either. In the afternoon, we decided to go ahead and extend today to 16.2 miles to go around Lake Edison to get to Vermillion Valley Resort, our second resupply point, because the ferry is only running in the morning. It was a tough hike around the lake but we made it by 5:45, got out free drinks, and set up camp- here there is a large area of free hiking for thru hikers. Oh- we also forded our first river today, although it was more like a creek and there were rocks we could’ve hopped across about 50 ft upstream- but it was more fun to take off my shoes and walk through it.

Anyway, I am tired and ready for our zero day tomorrow.

Day 9 – June 15

Rest day. From writing as well as hiking.

Day 10 – June 16

Today was a struggle. Blake Shelton woke everybody at VVR up at 6:00. It was a cold night and John’s air mattress had a hole. After packing everything up we felt how heavy our packs really were after an eleven-day resupply that would last us until the end of the trip. We ate Snickers and a Ritter’s bar for breakfast and made some instant coffee. While we were waiting outside in the cold, the owner asked if we were waiting for the ferry (tiny aluminum boat) and if we were ready to go early. Meanwhile, an angry old French guy and his hairy-armpit wife who were hiking the PCT got their panties in a wad because they were “promised” that they would be on the first shuttle out. So, we shared a ride with the annoying beret-wearers while they uploaded pictures to Facebook. Way to go, France.

Thomas Edison Lake is so dried up we had to hike about a mile to the trailhead that connected to the trail that connected us to the JMT. We started climbing right away and didn’t stop for 4.5 miles. Emily counted at least 50 switchbacks. Needless to say our backs, especially Em’s, were killing us- so we stopped for an 800-calorie, hour-long lunch.

The afternoon was pretty flat, but we ran into swarms of mosquitos between Bear Creek Jct and Bear Lakes Basin, where we ended up camping on a large granite slab in hopes of avoiding some buggies. It kind of worked. We ate a tasty orzo & meatballs meal, and had our signature 2^nd Snickers for dessert.