7/1/20; mile: 949; elevation: 7,900 ft.
Many of my trail buddies took off early to mak more miles; they’re on a tear to make it to a place to hitch so they can get off trail to celebrate the Fourth of July. Me? Sleep in as best I can, drink coffee, use the flush toilets and bang out some of the easy miles in the vicinity so when Heiny comes by to resupply me I can take off.
Vader and I spend some time chit-chatting about trail families while he dries out his gear due to a water bottle spill in his tent last night. He’s my age, but an amazingly fast hiker. He’s got the lightest gear and doesn’t have extras, so he’s light on his feet too boot.
I go to the arranged meeting spot to wait for Heiny and spend the time rehydrating, charging my batteries with the solar panel, and rinsing clothes as best I can in the bathroom. It’s such a cool feeling to see your friend show up with all of the necesary (and many non-necessary accutraments) a thru hiker needs for a segment of trail We load up in his car to go the road crossing where the picnic area is so he can spread out his wares.
Beyond the food that I asked Sarah to hand off, there’s extra things like chocolate milk, beer, Fourth of July fake tattoos, a pastrami sandwich Heiny made for me and more that I can’t remember. And I certainly can’t pack it all. So a feast commences so I can camel up and carry less. Midday turns to early afternoon as Heiny and I take off down the trail together for a few miles until the first creek crossing. There we meet Tommy So Happy, another thru hiker. Heiny shares some beef jerky, stories are told and Heiny turns back to civilization (though not for long) and Tommy So Happy and I continue northwards.
This may sound innocuous and all, but Heiny jumped through many hoops to make this resupply happen for me. Yosemite had just reopened and they had a quota on the number of allowed cars to enter the park. He happend to score a reservation (good for 7-days) that would match my time window, but he had to show up on the first day to activate it. But July 1 wasn’t it. So he and Mia drove up and entered the park on 6/28 to activate the reservation, then he came back up (using a vacation day) to resupply me. And this is no short drive, even from Sacramento. Thank you, Mark and Mia. Many hikers now know what a true trail angel you have become since this.
Soooo, Tommy So Happy and I fly down the trail, aiming to camp at/near Tuloumne Falls. With the late start, it’s a late end, and the only camping area around is kind of crowded. We end up sepparated so I end up solo. Which in the end, isn’t too bad. I had easy access to water and a decent sunset view. The only fly in the ointment is it seems my solar panel isn’t really doing it’s job. Is it a panel issue, bad connections, or user error? This isn’t good timing for this. Let’s see what else Yosemite has in store for us.
Savior out.
Ron, thank you for the kind words.
It truly was a pleasure and an honor to be asked to help. It’s what friends do.
And as you’ve found out, all of us are behind you and are willing to help as much as we can.
I think we all wish we could retire and chart our own adventure, so for now, we live through yours.
FYYFF.