The first time I woke up last night was because it was very hot and humid in the tent and I was sweating under my quilt. This was an easy fix - after pushing my quilt to the side, all was well. The second time I woke up last night was because it was raining, and raining hard. This could not be fixed and we both groaned.
It mostly stopped raining by the time we were packing up, which was good, but we had to deal with a wet tent and wet shoes again, which wasn’t so good. But such is the life of a thru-hiker.
leaving camp in the wet, drizzly morning
There was more road walking to do today, which was a struggle for me. A very rad older woman stopped to ask what I was doing (Nick was way, way ahead of me) and after I told her she thought it was awesome and offered encouragement. It was good to hear this because, at that very second, I wasn’t thinking it was so awesome. My blister was annoying me and Patrick Duffy wasn’t in a good mood, either. Plus, there wasn’t a huge shoulder on the side of the road to walk on so it felt pretty dangerous. Happily, Pony was on the Backpacker Radio podcast I was listening to so he once again helped the miles go by.
a scene from the road, on the way to Mammoth
After the not-so-wonderful road walk, we were able to get back on a trail the rest of the way to Mammoth Hot Springs. Of course, Nick and I somehow ended up on the wrong trail and turned a 3 mile hike into a 5 mile one, but the trail wasn’t terrible so the extra miles were relatively fast ones.
When we got to the hot springs area it was shocking to see so many tourists, just as it was when we saw the falls and the canyon. But the hot springs were still worth the visit.
After once again playing tourist, it was back to ‘work’ - we had a resupply box waiting for us in Mammoth. Or at least we thought we did. When Nick finally got to the post office (I was sitting at a nearby table, watching our packs and talking to a very nice park employee taking a break), the package wasn’t there. We had been worried about this happening - by the time we figured out our route through the park, we knew it would be cutting it close to get a package here on time. The postmaster said that packages take even longer to get here because of the closed roads and the flooding.
the Post Office
Luckily for us, there was a general store in the area that had decent (yet expensive) trail food. Even luckier, Mary had sent us extra meals in the last resupply, which means we simply packed out sandwiches for dinner tonight and will still get to eat warm, rehydrated meals tomorrow. Not having our package turned out to be just fine. It was actually fun to pick out different bars and change up the snacks a bit.
While I was in the store, trying to figure out what I wanted to eat for the next few days, I was floored by how many people were in the store and in the general vicinity, particularly since the guy I had been talking to while Nick was at the post office told me that he’s BORED because there aren’t nearly as many people here as usual. I honestly cannot imagine what it must be like in a regular season and made a mental note to not return to Yellowstone during these times as it must be insanity.
In addition to purchasing resupply food, we also bought a salad and a sandwich, which we had for a late lunch while we put some of our wet things out to dry. My shoes really need a lot of time in the hot sun because they smell awful from being so wet all the time. In fact, they are outside the tent and I can STILL smell them. Ugh - I’ve never had such smelly shoes before.
letting our things dry while eating a late lunch
The 8 mile walk to our campsite from Mammoth was mostly uneventful. Nick threw several large rocks in a stream to make it so I could cross without getting my feet wet (he’s a gem), and when I came upon a river that he couldn’t help me with, I ended up taking off my shoes and socks because 1. I’m sick of walking with wet shoes and socks and 2. My shoes and socks smell so bad already that I feared getting them wet again would only make it worse. I also yelled “heyyyyy OH!” A LOT on the way to the campsite.
We made it to the campsite safe and sound. This site is great - it’s right next to the river and there’s even a place to hang our bear bags. Also, it’s not even 9pm yet! I’m excited to go to sleep at a decent time tonight. Tomorrow I have to do an ~11 mile road walk, so my body needs all the rest and recovery she can get.
Along the trail:
Camp:
