Showing posts with label VVR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VVR. Show all posts

Friday, June 13, 2014

Day 63 - Vermilion Valley Resort to cs892b

After a good night's sleep on real beds, we got up and started arranging our packs.
Apparently the generator that supplies electricity to the entire resort is shut down every night, so nothing got charged while we were sleeping.
We went over to the restaurant for breakfast (I had scrambled eggs and potatoes), paid our tabs and registered for the first boat out. It left 15 minutes to do all of our final arrangements. But we made it.
Helen joined us for the boat ride. She hikes the JMT southbound, and plans to finish it in 8 days. She also visited Israel, and knew how to say "ma kore". I hope she has fun on the rest of her hike.
Back on the eastern side of the lake we finally had good cell reception again, so we reserved a room at the Motel 6 in Mammoth, and got up to date information about the bus from Reds Meadows down to the town (every 30 minutes until 7pm). That's a relief.
We finally started hiking at around 9:00. 1.5+ miles back to the PCT, and then another 13 or so to our designated campsite. Seems like a short day, but we climbed over Silver Pass, which isn't high enough to have significant snow, but it was still a 3000 feet climb, and then later in the day we had another 1500 feet climb. So a hard day in total.
We passed about 11 southbounders, and they were all women. I wonder what are the chances.
The views from the top of Silver Pass were nice, to the north. Some lakes below it.
That second climb of the day was hard and slow, and from the top we had another mile to hike until our campsite. That was a long mile.
At the end, Harmonic-Wave and I found Signal near the campsite. He found a good spot near some trees. We are still near the lake, at about 10,500 feet. So it's going to be cold here. But tomorrow it should be easy enough to finally reach Mammoth Lakes, a ski town near the trail.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Day 62 - wacs873 to Vermilion Valley Resort

Today we had a short day, finally, into Vermilion Valley Resort (VVR). We pushed a bit more in the last few days just to make today shorter, since we wanted to get to Edison Lake early enough to catch s boat ride across it to the resort. Otherwise we'd have had to hike 5 more miles around it.
We got up a bit early, again, and started our morning climb. It was about 1000 feet up. It didn't feel too bad, in the morning.
From there we had about 2000 feet down to the junction to Edison Lake. I pretty much ran it without stopping, and got down there at 8:15. After waiting for Signal and Harmonic-Wave for a while, we all headed down towards the lake, to the spot where the boat should pick us up.
The lake is in a really bad shape, due to 3 years with not enough rain and snow. It's a pretty big lake, and it's several meters below its full capacity. The side trail leading to the original ferry spot is not relevant anymore, and now there's a new side trail, a bit further off, leading down to the lake's dry bed. From there it's another half a mile or so to the actual water line.
On the way there I've met several hikers who just came out of VVR. Penguin and Sockpot were on their way out, with some other hikers who passed us recently.
After waiting for the boat to arrive (and for Signal, Harmonic-Wave and Jordi to catch up), we all got on it, and headed to the other side of the lake. Once there, we got a ride from the shore, up to the resort (which is situated on the original shore line). It was quite strange - on the ride there I could see the path boats are supposed to take when approaching the resort, between what once were underwater rocks. Now it's all on sand.
Harmonic-Wave and Signal on the ferry to VVR
At the resort we got our first drink free, and were told we can tent behind the store. We quickly opted for a room for the night, and got a very nice 3 bed room, with a shower. What a treat!
And that's me
After a nice shower (and after me nagging the manager about lack of hot water, and finally finding out I had to turn the knob the other way) we went for lunch. Yair and I both had a very good black beans veggie burger. The make it right there at the restaurant. Very impressive.
There are some supplies available at the store, and everything you buy, including restaurant bills, is put on your tab. It's easy to lose a lot of money that way.
There is just a bit of AT&T reception near the beach, so we kept leaping among the rocks to try to find a good signal, with data maybe. I barely found anything.
After a good sleep at noon, we went over for dinner. Yair and I split two courses - one was polenta, rice and fried vegetables, and the other one was pasta Alfredo with vegetables again. The vegetables were fresh, and it tasted pretty good.
I stayed with Yair at the restaurant to watch a bit of the NBA finals (game four). San Antonio beat Miami. Yay.
That was a very nice and relaxing day.