Another Flat-Footed Adventure: June 22, 2012

Day 8
Rae Lakes, below Glen Pass
Elevation: 10538 ft
Today's Miles: 13
Trip Miles:109

Our zero day yesterday meant I was too busy to journal, but here are the highlights: Breakfast at Schatz Bakery, a theme park of baked goods, got day-old bargains on apple-raisin-almond monkey bread (even better than Mom used to make - sorry Mom) and resupply bagels. Fruit tart blew my mind while talking with Just-A-Test and Challenger. Hit the danger zone of outfitters and goodie stores. Challenger spent $250 on gear, I semi-restrained myself to buy only underwear and socks - exciting times. Then the real danger: discovered Hoka OneOne shoes at running store, Short story: I later paid an undisclosed amount for the dorkiest running shoes in existence, But they proved themselves on Glen Pass today: NO major foot pain, almost running down the trail. Hope they stand up to linger miles. Had my first grocery store resupply and choked. Bought too much food, spent too much money. Hope to get more streamlined in the choosing of boxed meals and candy. Tried updating my blog on hotel computer - ridiculous. Slow connection, and I'm finding that these pages hold a surprisingly high volume of words. Took an hour to type 3 entries, no pictures added. Not worth the stress, plus I missed out on hot pizza with Andrew. Still ate it, cold, while chatting and laughing with lovely hiking partner, good friend.

Set out early this morning for Independence after too little sleep for me (still not streamlined in other areas of prepping and packing) and right to the trailhead. Andrew was anxious to put distance between us and the road - even skipped trail magic! I was grumpy because of that, but it's hard to feel much negativity around here. Rae Lakes feels like a fantasy world, like Jurassic Park meets Avatar. I swam for fifteen minutes or more in the frigid water, feeling euphoric to be a floating island surrounded by mountains and sky.

Shaggy says:

Yesterday we took the day off in Bishop. Though we had only hiked 6 days and 100 miles, we were in need of some rest. We ate really well and spent time with Challenger and Test. It was a really good day, and we both got a lot done. Lauren bought some new shoes with a ton of cushion hoping they will help with her feet problems. I ate a ton of baked goods from Schats bakery, and a watermelon.
Today we were both super happy to be getting back to the trail. We took the 7 am shuttle back to Independance. We shipped a good amount of stuff home today, including gloves and thermal bottoms, all an effort to lighten up. We got a ride up to Kearsarge Pass in good time, but the guy asked for $5 for each of us. By this point we had met Sheppard, an 18 year old hiker, headed back to the trail too. If I had known it was $5 for each of us, i would have turned the ride down, as there was plenty of traffic headed up that way anyway. Oh well, it worked out.
The trail up to Kearsarge Pass was very busy. Passed a lot of hikers headed down, and many headed up. The climb wasn't bad either. But the further up we went, the more smoke we started to see. Not sure where its from, but it is smokey up here, not terribly, still a little worrisome. The pass seemed easy and felt good. The temperature had dropped since a few days ago.
Then we were on to Glen Pass. Also felt good. We are camped at Rae Lakes with our new friend Sheppard. 13 miles today. I had a lot of fun today too, with both Lauren and Sheppard. Very happy to be enjoying this amazing place with amazing people!
Lauren seems to enjoy her new shoes. I enjoy them too! The colors are amazing and fun to see her wearing =). She is going to give me a foot massage tonight because I have helped carry her food. I am excited. I even washed my feet.