Ok, it’s Sunday June 8, and, 9th. June 9th. And I’m cocooned in my sleeping bag. This time to escape the mosquitos. They’re swarming outside, we just ate dinner out in em. And even after covering ourselves in bug goop I think ah, I’ve got a few hundred bites, here and there. And it was just kind of, pretty unpleasant. But we’ll see how I can survive for a while cocooned in the bag. It’s still light outside. So I’d to be able to still do some activities here, if I can, inside. And it’s ah, today was supposed to be a relaxing day, and ah, it actually turned out to be but, with some very unrelaxing moments.

Like ah, getting up and starting off and uh… we kinda thought about looking more for hot springs or clearing off the hot springs that were there, but we just decided it was too big of a project. And took off up the creek again, actually down the creek, that the hot springs was by. And ah, let’s see, I’m trying to get comfortable here. Um, we, our main concern was we didn’t want to have to cross Fish Creek again. And ah, after almost dying in it twice. And ah, our prayers were answered and after a few miles we were given a bridge across Fish Creek. And to celebrate we sat down on it and had breakfast while the sun came out.

And ah, we didn’t really have a map at that point of the trail we were on, it being an alternate route. And ah, we just knew we were going north to Red’s Meadow. And ah, we would get there soon after we arrived at Rainbow Falls. So we walk north, and climbed up a hill. And then walked along the mesa, or the top of the ridge. And ah, traversed into another canyon. It was all pretty nice, and spectacular views. By and by, we pass a big waterfall. And it’s pretty spectacular, I just assume it’s Rainbow Falls. And so ah, we start north and ah, Pete stops by a creek and asks if I want to get a drink. Well I’m thirsty, but ah, I figure we’re almost at Red’s Meadow. There should be water there. Ah, we think, you know, we’re looking forward to a store and a cafe there is what the guide says. And ah, so I say why bother filtering when we’re almost there? Let’s just go.

Well we walk and walk and walk and I’m getting really frustrated cause it’s not there. And ah, I’m getting extremely thirsty too. And ah, we stop passing creeks, and I’m getting really thirsy, and Pete is also. We’re getting irritable and crabby. And finally we hit Rainbow Falls with a sign, “Rainbow Falls.” And ah, we kinda stumbled around trying to decide where to get some water and finally made it down to the top of the falls and filtered off a drink and felt much better. And made the last mile to ah, to Red’ Meadow pretty easily.

And when we got there we immediately noticed that the cafe was closed and the store was closed. And our hearts kind of sank. And we, the doors were open and there was people, some carpenters there doing work. And ah, we got the guy in the store, and ah, he told us they were ah closed off season and didn’t open untile June 20. And we were like, oh jeez, what are we going to do? We had eaten our food down, because we were expecting a store, we had eaten our food down to the point where we really needed a store. And ah, in addition I needed to buy a pair of sunglasses. And so we sat down and had what meager lunch we could piece together.

Meanwhile there’s this little drama going on with the people who are there. There’s a kid sittin on a log, and he’s got a fish hook stuck in his finger. And the carpenter and this guy who’s with the kid are trying various means of getting it out. And, you know, the radio the whole time is playing Steve Miller, and he’s, this kid is biting on a stick while these guys rank on a fishhook in his finger. (laugh) We felt sorry for him but it was kind of a comical scene. And ah, meanwhile, Pete & I are considering how we’re going to get out to Mammoth Lakes for ah some food and sunglasses.

Well, it turns out that this guy that is with the kid is with the kid is with a whole group of kids. And he’s responsible for this one, and he decides to take him to the hospital. Well we jumped right in on that ride. And so got into Mammoth Lakes. And he said he’d also… the road that went into Red’s Meadow was closed. And he knew the combination to the gate. And ah, so there was no way we could hitchhike back. So he said that we could get a ride back with him if we were ready when he came back to the spot where he dropped us off and honked the horn. So we went rushing around trying to get some groceries. Went to a Liquor store to get some candy bars and some ah minor groceries. And ah went to a bakery to get some breads, and got some food to eat. And rushed back out and sat down at the spot where he dropped us off and waited. And ah, meanwhile, Pete went off another errand to get some more drinks and they still hadn’t showed up. So I went off to get ah, some more food, and ah, cause Pete had had a burrito on his last trip and that sounded good to me, so I went off and ah, the place where Pete got a burrito has a note on the door, “be back soon.” And the door was locked. And like his burrito sounded really good, so I waited for a few minutes. I’m getting nervous the ride might be there. So I go next door to the Mobile and they have a bean and cheese burrito so I get that and put it in the microwave, but it’s frozen and it takes forever. I finally get out of there and I hear the horn go off way down the road. And I just start truckin down the road and I know I’m not ready cause I left my backpack stuff spread all over. But ah, he was nice and he waited for me while I crammed all my shit in my pack. And ah, we zipped right on back to Red’s Meadow. Just like that, lickety split. It was just kind of strange, a brief flash of civilization.

And ah, when we got back there we kind of repacked our packs and got things organized. And ah, there was also rumor of some hot springs nearby that you could bathe in. So we went over the hill and found these hot springs and they were super super hot, but we ah went ahead and got used to em. And slowly got in and soaked. Washed, and there’s a cold creek running next to it. And you could dip a bucket in and kind of make a warm mix and rinse off. And it felt absolutely heavenly. We hung around for quite awhile doing that.

And then slowly kind of got our shit together and wandered ah, not on the Pacific Crest Trail but on a, a kind of tourist trail through the Devil’s Postpile monument, which was pretty interesting. Big ah, lava spires. And ah, then we just continued on up the trail, just kind of wandering at a leisurely pace. And ah ended up covereing probably five or six, or maybe even a couple more, well let’s see… I guess it would be 6.5 miles from Red’s Meadow. And that bumps our day up to almost 19 miles, probably about 19. So with a trip to town included and a soak in a hot springs that’s pretty good!

And ah, it’s still light out, and here we are. And if I can only figure out what to do about these mosquitos, maybe I’ll write a letter or something. Who knows?