Mammoth to Yosemite Valley

Unlike our stop at Bishop, Mammoth proved to be a much more refreshing zero.  In addition to not having to catch a 45 minute bus ride back and forth once we arrived, we also decided to stay two nights so that we would have a full day in town.  This worked out well since it meant I could enjoy a dinner not consisting of instant mashed potatoes and tuna for my birthday, and we could sit out an ongoing storm from the comfort of a motel room.  I'm sure my time will come when I get caught out in a torrential downpour, but so far I have had remarkable luck with timing my zero-days.  Earlier on I missed a torrent of freezing rain that blasted Fuller Ridge above Idyllwild, and this time I was able to sample the local brews while watching storm clouds sweep into the mountains that my group had just "escaped".  A number of hikers at the Motel 6 had been there for days (either skipping around sections, or taking some extra time off), but my group was feeling rested enough to strike out for the trail the next day after the storm had passed.

The ascent out from Mammoth/Red Meadow had a lot less snow that what we had just been through, but the trail was still a far cry from being clear.  Although last week had been amazing, everyone was starting to get a little tired of snow - Easy Strider in particular.  Despite thru-hiking the AT with little difficulty, the snow really seemed to bother him the most out of anyone in our group (which was somewhat surprising as he was usually the quickest member and always in the lead).  As we were packing up from lunch at a campground that had a side-trail back to the road, he called it quits (for the time-being) and went back to Mammoth.  It was disappointing to lose another member of our group, but I'll confess that his disdain/negative attitude towards the way most of us on the trail were more cautious about river crossings and carried extra gear such as microspikes and ice axes damped my sympathies.  Sure we had to cough up extra money and carry the weight, but microspikes and two trekking poles (instead of the ultra-light approach of only carrying a single pole) definitely made snow travel more enjoyable.

Anyhow, we continued our push towards Donahue Pass and camped at Thousand Island Lakes.  I had seen a picture of the area from a hiker's memoir "Zero-Days" at the Saufley's, but the towering Banner Peak was the only recognizable feature.  Unlike in 2004/2005, the lake was still frozen over with pockets of water just beginning to open up.  There was also a mysterious plethora of trash and Marmot-torn food bags strewn about the south end of the lake.  From talking with some campers who had been there the previous night, we gathered that a boy scout troop had been up there for a weekend trip when the storm hit.  Rather than stay calm and sit the storm out from the safety of their tents, the troop had "bugged-out" as fast as they could.  Shame on them for giving the Scouts a bad name in my opinion.  Although we had to camp above snowline on a rocky outcropping again, we had enough space to pitch our tents this time and were able to cover our shoes so that they didn't freeze.

Unfortunately, an injury that I had been paying little heed to for the past week decided to flare up the next day.  I've been a runner for most of my life, yet I have never before encountered the dreaded shin splint.  Shin splints are really more of a symptom that can be caused by a number of underlying problems (inflammation, stress fracture, etc.), but suffice to say that they absolutely suck.  I suppose that I've never had problems running since I generally hold good form, but the biomechanics of hiking - especially on snow - are different.  I had started to develop pain in my left shin during the long descent from Muir Pass and was actually limping a bit by the time I got to Mammoth, but I figured the zero would've healed anything.  Something about walking down steep downhills in the snow really aggravates my injury, and by the time I made it down the north face of Donahue Pass (boundary of Yosemite National Park) I was in one big world of hurt.  It's definitely not the worst pain I've ever been in (dislocating a knee cap and tearing a ligament skiing takes the cake for that one), it's the most pain that I've ever had to push through hiking/running.  Fortunately there were a number of snow-melt creeks that I could ice it in once I reached Lyell Canyon at the base of the pass.  The trail also flattened out, but I still had over 10 miles of hiking left before Tuolumne Meadows (road crossing within the park).  So with more than a little bit of wincing, I made it to Highway 120 and caught the first hitch that I could down into Yosemite Valley.

I hate having to take time off for injuries, but I recognized that it was bad enough that it would not be smart or pleasant to head back up into the High Sierras when I could barely walk.  So I swallowed my pride and took five days off at the Backpacker's Campground where I iced and rested my shin as much as possible.  The scenery in Yosemite Valley (Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, El Capitan) is incredible, but there's something embarrassing about witnessing it through the windows of a shuttle bus.  There's not much else to report on Yosemite.  I stocked up on calories, read up on some Californian history, and tried not to laugh as tourists plastered themselves with DEET (you could smell it from 10' away, and the number of mosquitoes was NOTHING compared to what I've seen on really bad days in the Sierras).  I also saw my only two bears of the trip so far - both of which were near public campgrounds where I suppose they were accustomed to humans (and their unattended food).

Although I was still limping a bit on the fifth day, I had taken about as much time off as I could stand.  So I packed up my tent and caught the evening shuttle back to Tuoloumne Meadows.  I was a bit nervous about the upcoming section since it was known to have the worst river crossings and I didn't know how quickly I'd be able to meet other hikers to group with.  Fortunately I ran into a large group at the campground that was leaving the next morning (Balls, Sunshine, Snowblind, Thumper, Bottle Rocket, and Wired) - so everything was set for the passage to Sonora Pass.