07-16-2026 Hike

This was a generally good day. I slept fitfully, the tent was pitched on a slight incline, and I kept feeling like I was rolling down toward where Joe was sleeping. Also, I couldn't get comfortable around my head, need a better pillow solution. I woke up early and was out of the tent around 4:30 for my morning constitutional. Then I went back and pulled out my sleeping quilt and pad to pack them up. By this time the others were waking up. I took the tent down and packed it up, with help from Joe. One of the tent stakes had been hammered into a tree root, and it was really difficult to get out. But we had success. Had coffee and oatmeal for breakfast, everybody was feeling good and sitting around while we ate. Fairly quick cleanup after breakfast, then I packed all of my stuff into my backpack and got ready for the hike out. We were rolling a little after 7:00, and nearly all of the climbing for the day was concentrated into the climb from Duck Lake up to Duck Pass. I had stopped to take pictures of the lake and start my watch to track the hike, so I was at the back. I walked for just a bit with Joe, then turned on the juice and passed him and Mike. Jason was pretty far ahead, so it was an effort to catch up to him before we got to the top of the climb. We then kept going to the pass, just a short distance from the trail intersection, where we waited for Joe and Mike to show up. Jason was able to read texts and found that his wife Jodie had suffered a fall after donating platelets. She got some staples to close a scalp wound, but it sounded like she was okay, lucky to have two of her kids nearby to help with the emergency response. After a long wait, I got worried about where Joe and Mike were, so I walked back to the train intersection and looked for them, saw no sign. After waiting a little bit, I walked back to Jason and told him I was going to walk down toward the lake and look for them. When I walked back to the intersection I saw Joe coming from the other trail. Turns out that they had turned left at the intersection instead of right, they ended up hiking about half a mile down this trail before realizing that it wasn't correct and turning around. I was surprised at the mistake, it just didn't make much sense to me. In any case, I was glad we were all back together and ready to hike down to our jump-off point. Since it was nearly all downhill, we made good time. Jason and I were out in front for the most part, with Mike a little further back and Joe further still. Saw a lot of hikers, both backpackers and day hikers, coming up the trail as we came down. We made surprisingly good time and were back to the car around 10:00, I think. The last mile was a little tough for me. I was ready for the hike to be done, and my shoulders were sore from the weight of the backpack, particularly as it bounced on my shoulders while I took big steps on the descent. In the parking lot we talked to a really old lady who was looking for a place to park so she could hike to the mine. She couldn't hear and she couldn't read maps, it was mildly hilarious that she was out for a hike (I think she ended up not hiking, saw her in her car leaving the parking lot later). It took us a while to empty trash from our packs and arrange stuff in the car as well as gather items for a shower. Eventually we were ready to go. Joe was driving, and I could tell he was tired and not thinking really clearly. With a little assistance we located a place where you could take a shower for $10 (Mary and Maria helped us at this trading post store). I bought showers for all of us, and it felt quite refreshing to get clean after five days of camping. We drove from there to Distance Brewing Co. in Mammoth, had a beer to celebrate the successful completion of our hiking and backpacking adventure, then we ate lunch there as well. I had just one beer and volunteered to take the first shift driving on the way back. After lunch we got in the car and were rolling around 1:00. I drove down to Lone Pine, was feeling pretty tired behind the wheel near the end, and Mike graciously offered to take the wheel (I think he noticed that I wasn't fully alert). Had a little nap in the back seat and felt so much better after that. Jason was also riding in back, and we talked about a number of topics, but most of the conversation on this part of the drive back was about music. Mike drove until we stopped in Chaffee for a bio break along with drinks and snacks, then I took over again. We were on Hwy 14, which took us through Lancaster and over to I-5 just north of the 210 split. Got on I-5 and made good time to within <10 miles of LAX, when we ran into evening rush hour and crawled the last 40 minutes or so to the airport. We dropped Jason off there, and I continued driving, talking with Joe and Mike again mostly about music. Not too much traffic to have to contend with by this point, thankfully. I wasn't paying much attention to the car until Mike reminded us that we were almost out of gas. Oops. I pulled into a service station and Mike paid for enough gas to get us back to Joe's house. Joe was okay to drive, so he took us the rest of the way there. We got to his house around 8:45, and Ann was just pulling into the parking lot, so that was good timing. I unloaded my gear, said goodbye to Mike, Joe, and Cathie, and we headed home while I told her the highlights of our trip. Got home, and I did minimal unpacking before getting ready for bed. I dozed for a bit before waking up hungry and getting something to eat, then I went back to bed. Ann was also restless (<!>), but we both eventually got to sleep.