Day 52 | mile 933.8 - 942.5

Woke up at 5:30. Forrest had been up all night apparently not able to sleep. Oof. Everything was frozen. There was lots of condensation on the tent. And all the condensation on my bag was completely frozen.

Didn’t even realize it was so cold because I was toasty in my Katabatic quilt. I love love love that thing. Favorite piece of gear by far.

We got out of the tent, Forrest got some water, and we started breakfast ramen. :) For real. It is that good.

Started hiking at 7:10. Easy miles in frozen mud. The whole meadow was covered in frost. I was cold, but Forrest was sweating within minutes. His head looked like a pressure cooker that is at the tail end of pressurizing: steamy.

I was brainstorming ways to avoid carrying a bear can for the duration of the hike. So many stupid ideas.

Got to Tuolumne Meadows at 10:15. We each pounded a le croix out of Forrest’s trunk. Went to the ranger station to ask about bear can rentals and whether I could drop it off somewhere near Sonora Pass.

We drove to Bridgeport to cache some food for my next resupply. It’s 75 miles to get there on the PCT and I’ll be there on Wednesday.

We each got a burger and ate at the red tables outside - Jolly Kone. There were little black birds puffing out their chests and squawking at us for fries. I got an ice cream cone and Forrest got a strawberry marshmallow milkshake. Did I mention I love eating with Forrest?

I booked a room with a shared bathroom at Bridgeport for Wednesday night and stashed my food at the front desk. I have the best resupply ready to go on Wednesday. Met a Swedish couple checking into the hotel. Talked to them in Swedish! They are from Lund and their names are Louisa and Frogger.

I still needed to dry out my sleeping bag and tent and charge my devices. So we agreed to split another night at a hotel. Back to Mammoth because we love Mammoth! And their breakfast burritos are the bomb. (Although Bridgeport has a 4 egg breakfast burrito I intend to sample Thursday morning.)

Got a room at The Sierra Lodge. We had high hopes, but it is no Quality Inn.

Once we got on WiFi, Forrest discovered the reason he didn’t have service the whole day. He was a victim of a crazy hack. The attacker takes over your phone number by calling your service provider and adding another device. Now they’re getting all your texts. So, they reset all your passwords by getting a verification code over SMS. So scary! Obviously, Forrest handled it like a champ and got everything back to normal within an hour.

2 handrolls and pizza for dinner. Forrest helped me buy a mailing label for the bear can. We stole some tea from hotel’s breakfast room. Sleep at 11.