Vermillion Resort

6/19-
Day 70 - Ugh... I hauled a freshly filled backpack over Kearsarge Pass today with a hangover. I learned that hangovers and elevation don't mix well. But boy did we have a hoedown yesterday in town for my 29th birthday. The Menacing Vegetables threw a motel party complete with enough Margaritas to get 17 thru-hikers good and rowdy. - Ben

Day 70 - Last night was Ben's birthday - we partied in Independence with about 15 other thru-hikers - went through an entire bottle of Tequilla. Today, after a desperate hitchhike and a hung over trudge back over Kearsarge Pass, we are camped with many of the same people. Dinner was a confusing 11 person potluck: 4 of us plus Roma, Team Bluefoot (Bluefoot, Swiss Miss, Tripot, Dawn, and Woog), and Joe. Glad to be out of town. -Ez-

6/20-
Day 71 - Up and over Glen pass today - It's going to be a pass a day for a while: Kearsarge, Glen, Pinchot, Mather, Bishop, Muir - all of them over 11,000 feet, the highest points along the PCT. The ever eloquent Mr. John Muir has this to say about the high passes:

"True, there are innumerable places where the careless step will be the last step; and a rock falling from the cliffs may crush without warning like lightning from the sky, but what then? These mountain mansions are decent, delightful, even divine places to die in, compared with the doleful chambers of civilization. Few places in this world are more dangerous than home. Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain passes. They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action. Even the sick should try these so-called dangerous passes, because for every unfortunate they kill, they cure a thousand."

6/21-
Day 72 - It's the summer solstice today, and that means National Naked Hiking Day. Roma, Ezra, and I put in a few miles in the buff to honor the longest day of the year, as did a number of other backpackers on the trail. - Ben

Day 72 - SUMMER SOLSTICE! It's light until 9:00 these days, nice looong evenings. Today was also Naked Hiking Day, a holiday which we all observed at some time during the day, when the sun and mosquitos weren't too intense. It's also our last night with Roma, who has been the fifth Vegetable for the last 12 days. Farewell and good luck, Roma! -Ez-

6/22-
Day 73 - Roma decided to pull ahead of the Menacing Vegetables today, as all hikers eventually must. It takes a certain kind of stamina and discipline to make your way up the trail as slowly as we do. And Roma, more than any previous hikers, had it. He joined us for nearly two weeks of potlucks, side trips, & thermasledding. I knew I liked him from the first moment we met. We were standing on the shoulder of Olancha Mountain preparing for a side trip to the summit when he arrived. We extended and invitation to join us, assuming he would decline like most others. But he surprised us and came along, ultimately vegetating for quite a few days. We'll miss him. - Ben

Day 73 - We're finally starting to see lots of non-thru-hikers now that we're in the High Sierra. It's easy to see why folks would want to hike here for a few days or even a week - It's absolutely spectaculando out here! You can always tell the other thru-hikers, though; they're dirty, they smell bad, and they're moving about twice the speed of the Menacing Vegetables. -Ez-

6/23-
Day 74 - Jonny is feeding us mind control pills. I know he is. Every night he gives us little yellow pills and insists that they're one-a-day vitamins. But I know they're for mind control. The thing is, he lets us drink his grape drink with the pill. We can't resist. - Ben

Day 74 - Although we only covered about 4 trail miles today - through beautiful Leconte Canyon - it wasn't exactly a rest day. I took a side trip up 6 miles and 4,000 feet, through Dusy basin, to Bishop pass. The rest of the Vegetables stopped at a lake about halfway up. I took a picture of myself at the pass, and one of the sign, to prove that I actually made it to the top. -Ez-

Day 74 - I saw my first bear! It was big, brown and so very cute. Squirrelfight and I were at Laconte Ranger station stashing our packs so we could do a pack-free day hike up to Dusy Basin. Jonny spotted him first. The bear didn't want anything to do with us. He quickly headed down slope to the river. We ran down to check him out (from a distance). The bear walked into the water and with no hesitation walked right across this raging river, then booked it straight up the hill on the other side. His huge body hardly seemed to notice the force of the water, the slippery rocks, or the steep ascent. I wished I had the strength and agility of this beautiful creature, but alas, I am a mere 115 lb. woman with bipedal motion, and a backpack that makes me feel like a lumbering oaf. - Pickle : )

Day 74 - Every day out here, I'm sinking to some new low. Today, as I was approaching Bishop Pass, I saw an obviously half-sucked hard candy - A Jolly Rancher I think - laying in the dirt, presumably where it had been spit out. I passed it by. On the way back, I saw the same candy laying there & was unable to resist. I picked it up, wiped off the grit, and finished it off. And it was good! -Ez-

6/24-
Day 75 - We just had about the most satisfying mountain climbing experience. Upon reaching Muir Pass (after several miles of slogging through snow) we decided to take a side trip up nearby 13,000 ft. Mt. Solomons. So I strapped on the crampons and we switchbacked up a steep snow pitch, did a fun rock scramble, and rolled to the top where we found a register dating back to 1983. Ezra and I even found an entry from a guy we met at the pass in 1996. We snapped a summit photo and at that very moment a foreboding crack of thunder echoed around us. Well we packed up real fast and considered our descent. Squirrelfight - "I'm going to glissade down that chute on the north face." The rest of us - "That's insane, it's too steep." Well, typical Jonny, he went bombin' down and when the rest of us saw he didn't break anything, we followed suit. What glorious fun! Sliding down a mountainside on my butt. An hour of climbing and within 10 minutes we were back at the bottom and heading for tree cover. - Ben

Day 75 - The High Sierra has been as wet as the desert was dry. Great patches of snow above and on the trail, streams and springs running across or along the trail every tenth of a mile, and today was the wettest of all. Muir Pass stands at nearly 12,000 feet, and we crossed 3 miles of snow to get up, and 2 miles on the way down. Add to that a thousand foot snow climb up Mt. Solomons, and a crazy glissade down, and I was feeling pretty waterlogged. We have been having rain/hail storms nearly every day up here, and this afternoon's was the most intense yet. Accompanied by awesome lighting and thunderclaps that echoed through the high basins, the storm drenched and chilled my already soaked body - for miles every step of the trail was snow covered, underwater, or squishy mud. Quite exciting - although I wouldn't want several days in a row like that! -Ez-

Day 75 - Started today off with an early morning ascent up to Muir Pass (11,955'). It was only 3 1/2 miles but most of that was covered in snow. We knew where we were going on the map, so basically cross-countried up to the pass. There is a hut up there that is made of stone. It has a dome roof and a fancy chimney. Just over 1000' up from the hut is the towering summit of Mt. Solomons. With lots of snow chutes, it was the perfect peak for the Menacing Vegetables. Krumholz led the group up a particularly steep chute in his crampons. We all followed in his steps as he gradually zig-zagged up the show wall.
All of these high peaks have iron register boxes at the summits, placed there back in the 1930's. This one had entries back to the 1980s. In person even quoted Ronald Regan "If you've seen one Redwood, you've seen them all." Only two other groups had signed in this year, one earlier today. Of all the people hiking the PCT and the John Muir trail, very few take the time to bag peaks.
From the summit we saw our afternoon storm clouds rolling in. We took a group photo with Willie's self-timed camera and as soon as the shutter clicked, we all bolted to descend. I had my eye on a snow chute to glisade down that was an uninterrupted slide 1000' down to the hut. Everyone else thought I was out of my mind, but when I dropped down and they saw how fast and fun it looked, they all quickly followed. An amazing run and a mountaineering highlight for everyone.

Back at the hut, we packed up with haste to leave the pass before the storm hit. We made our way down through the snow fields a mile of two before the rain, hail, and lightning began. The closest bolt was within a 1/2 mile but we could soon see the storm was passing by us in a higher bowl to our right. Then it cut us off and dropped right into Evolution basin where we were headed. We were 1 1/2 miles behind the lightning and just walked slowly behind it, trying to stay warm, following the dark clouds. Interesting weather experience.
By Evolution Lake, Pickle and I were ready to hop in our sleeping bags in the dry tent. Krumholz and Willie had camped here when they did the Muir Trail in '96 and had great things to say about the sunset. In the rain, however, they decided to push on.
The rain was letting up as Pickle and I set up camp, and by the time I got in the tent, the sun was shining. Before we knew it, Willie and Krumholz were back. We made our standard huge potluck and did enjoy a gorgeous sunset, one of our best so far. - Squirrelfight

Day 75 - Willie has been carrying two lemons this week. We never really carry fresh fruit because of weight, but he has been expecting to catch some fish this week and thought it would be a nice touch. By the time we got to the hut on Muir pass he decided to relieve half the burden so he ate one (yes, Willie eats lemons). He peeled the lemon in a spiral fashion that keeps the peel in one piece. Then he put the peel in the food bag of a pack that was left in the hut so someone else could carry out his trash.
The three guys who belonged to the packs were the group who summited Mt. Solomons before us. When they got down we talked for a bit and then they left a note for a friend behind them on the trail. We did our climb on Mt. Solomons and from above, we saw them continue hiking south. When we returned, the lemon peel was on the mantle in the hut. As we descended north, separate from one another, we each soon met the friend that was chasing those three guys. He was not happy. In fact, despite the surroundings, he was downright pissed when he heard that his friends had moved on. He swore loudly to pickle and I despite our optimistic feeling that he could still catch them. He was also short tempered with Krumholz. When he saw Willie, Willie was in an annoyingly playful mood so just said, "you're almost there!" to which the guy muttered, "Thanks" and kept walking. After a moment, Willie turned back and yelled, "Don't thank me, thank your legs!" We all hurried down from the pass to avoid the storm, and that guy headed up into it.
The only thru-hikers we met the next day, John and Marcy, spent the storm in the echoing stone walls of the hut. But when they had arrived at the pass they found the southbounder projectile vomiting into the snow before heading off into the storm. Willie thinks he probably caused it. - Squirrelfight

6/25-
Day 76 - The mosquitos have fully kicked in today. All other trail trials - getting lost, long climbs, being cold, hungry, or tired, too much or too little water, non-operational gear - have at least some element of excitement or adventure to them. Mosquitos don't. They just buzz and swarm and swarm and buzz until they drive you stark raving mad and ruin an otherwise perfectly pleasant day of hiking. I'm doing OK today, but I really hope it's not like this for the rest of the summer. -Ez-

Day 76 - Got a photo of Pickle fording Evolution Creek. It's not raining so the mosquitos are back. - Squirrelfight

Vocab: "Full to the top" - Jonny and Maria's mashed potato meal

Day 76 - Tonight was our second beautiful sunset night in a row. This time instead of sitting on the rocks at Evolution Lake, we were sitting in a hot spring on San Joaquin river.
This was our first hot spring since day 33 when Kate left us at deep creek. It is very rustic, no one has built it up with cement. It is just a hole in the middle of a field large enough for several people, or in this case, the Vegetables.
On the trail today we saw five other thru-hikers who we tried to convince to join us. They seemed interested, but when it came right down to it they had to do more miles in order to get to Canada. Admittedly, the hot spring was two whole miles off the trail. Then the route involved crossing a log over the rushing San Joaquin. But when was the last chance we got to soak our aching muscles in hot water at the end of the day? Day 33. And this one had a real nice view of Macho Mountain above us and, like I said, the sunset.
The Vegetables were actually very happy to have the place to ourselves. I think these people will make it to Canada, but I don't think many of them will make it down to that hot spring in the field. I hope some do. - Squirrelfight

6/27-
Day 78 - Chillin' here at Vermillion Valley Resort. We said farewell to Staggerin' Willy. He departed on the Lake Edison ferry today, bound for Maine. We'll miss him, but his absence will give me a chance to organize Squirrelfight and Pickle into a union. We're not going to stand for his CEO scare tactics any more. Hikers of the world unite! - Ben

For those, like my mother, wondering about a mailing address at Sonora Pass, there isn't one. The Vegetables are going to San Francisco from Sonora Pass for one week to fulfill all of our wildest food fantasies. If you would like to send us mail from July 8-14, you can send it:

c/o Gabriel Biderman
1370 McAllister St.
SanFrancisco, CA 94115

We will also check our e-mail there for the first time since Agua Dulce. We look forward to hearing from you.

This week's ask Squirrelfight-
Ken from LaHonda, California writes:
Dear Squirrelfight,
What goes through your mind while you are walking all those miles each day?

Dear Ken,
I sing sometimes. Mostly Beatles and Unbunny. A lot of the day I spend pondering the film career and comedy genius of Steve Martin. Boy that guy is a hoot. On days that I think I'm walking too fast and may get to camp prematurely, then I just think about baseball. Occasionally I look around and enjoy my surroundings.
Thanks for writing.

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