Monday September 15, 9.9mi/15.9km
Ward Lake CG (528.3/7320ft) to VVR (538.2/7660ft) (CA)
It was a quiet night of camping in the campground, but then at 6:30am a work truck came banging down the potholed road, good thing I was already awake. I finished the roadwalk amongst the rock formations and cliffs, and didn’t see any other cars.
After a couple of hours I arrived at Mono Hot Springs, a group of soaking pools in the wilderness. The first one I came to was pretty far uphill from the river, but also the perfect temperature.
The next soaking pool was a nice little concrete structure, but the water was cooler. Maybe only 95°F /35ºC.
I continued downhill, and the third pool by the riverside had a woman in it, so I just continued to cross the river.
After getting temporarily stuck in a campground, I figured out the exit and came out at the Mono Hot Springs resort.
I had been looking forward to the cafe all morning, but the door was locked when I tried to go inside. I never know what day it is, but eventually I was able to confirm that unfortunately it was Monday.
So instead I went to their General Store, and bought a homemade breakfast burrito and some drinks to enjoy out front in the oversized rocking chairs.
After I finished second breakfast, I went across the road to the bath house where I enjoyed the $10 unlimited shower.
I thought it was cool they give the chemical analysis of their hot spring water.
The bathhouse was fancy, it even had a massage therapist on site a few days a week, and lots of little kitschy decorations.
By 11am I had run out of things to explore at the resort, so I continued on and climbed a thousand feet uphill toward Lake Edison. Back in the wilderness!
The trail went by Doris Lake, which was really more of a large pond.
And then through Mono Meadows which was a nice little section of trail.
Then there was a mile of burned trail with lots of trees down, which only added to the effort of hiking uphill. As I was looking around for the trail, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, it was a bear!
He was pretty far away, but still cool to see a bear randomly sprinting across a meadow in the middle of the day. I emerged from the Wilderness onto a little road which led to VVR, Vermilion Valley resort.
Everywhere I go I keep seeing the name Denali on random objects.
VVR is a popular stop amongst PCT and JMT hikers, and I was really looking forward to getting a meal in their cafe. Unfortunately, they had decided to close early this season (they usually close September 30th). No reason was given, there was a handwritten sign on the door “Be back this afternoon”. I figured I could still buy a cold drink out of their little store, so I hung out for a few hours with the half dozen other hikers that were there. And a couple resident squirrels.
It was actually a really nice afternoon of chatting with other adventurers, and just the relaxing day I needed, before I finish this hike in a couple of days. A few people invited me along on their hikes, I don’t know if those were serious offers, but it was definitely tempting. And one woman was hiking a reverse GWL (Great Western Loop), completing the CDT first, and now hiking SOBO on the PCT… She had to skip the PNT, but still an amazing feat! The other hikers were waiting around to get their resupply boxes, and by 6pm no employee had returned yet, so I helped them get their boxes out of storage. Finally at 6:30pm, a woman returned and gave us free drinks. By then it was almost dark, and I decided to stay the night, and promised myself to get up early tomorrow and make up a few miles.