9/4 Labor Day, 5:30am flight SEA-LAX. I took bus 124, and arrived at SEA ~3:15am. M.Y. arrived about half an hour later.
We put both our backpacks into his new duffel bag, added more food to hit 50Lb limit. We had to consume some of his coconut water cans then, and gave one car to a passenger nearby.
All is smooth. LAX's rental car agencies are in separate lots, so need to take the particular shuttle. A short line, but slow going. When I got to the counter, the agent couldn't find my reservation. It turned out that I paid for a car in a different airport (Burbank). The agent canceled mine and booked us a different car, and charged $15/day extra for the "up-sell". By the time we drove out, it was already ~9:30am.
Made a stop at Lancaster Walmart on the way. Refreshed in its restroom, bought a can of isobutane gas. I bought some instant refried beans, M.Y. bought a big sandwich.
Drove through Red Rock State Park ~12:30pm, looks quite colorful.
Onion Valley road is officially closed. Google map doesn't route me there. After talking to a ranger on Sunday, I knew we could drive to the TH, it's a "soft closure". On the way, saw some orange cones on the side from time to time, one small washout. No signs of closure.
9/4-7, Kearsarge Pass - Sixty Lakes Basin - Rae Lakes
9/7 Thursday, upon dropping off the LA couple at Independence. I drank a can of calm chowder, while searching for a room for the night. Meanwhile M.Y. bought a large salad from a Mexican food truck. He was a bit sick due to the heat. It was about 90°F here. Settled in Bishop at El Rancho motel (cheapest option $99+tax). On the drive north, with AC in full blast, M.Y. revived.
Had to check in at a different location. The lady their is cheerful. Funny signs on the walll like "bury me at Walmart, so my wife will visit me", "It's better to be lost while fishing than to be found at work". It looks like a dump, But the room is clean. AC. Fridge, microwave, coffee machine, ice bucket. Most importantly 2 beds. I washed my hiking close including my sunt hat and sun gloves. Repacking took some time. Finished my clam chowder and ate another can of sardines. Brew some decafe and ate a pack of oat meal.
I researched what to change for my next loop with the higher than expected snow level, and lower than expected temperature. By the time I went to sleep, it was almost 1am. Didn't sleep well. It was too warm with blanket on, but too cold without it.
9/8, Friday.
Up before 6am. All my washing was dry. Chilly outside (upper 40°Fs(.
I asked M.Y. to fill ~5 gallon of gas, and insisted that trim his food packages.
I drew the new route onto his phone's GPS app.
We headed out ~7am towards Mammoth Lakes.
1 hour to Mammoth Lakes. On the drive to Reds Meadow, next to the town, saw a coyote crossing the road.
Stopped at the Minaret Viewpoint, looking at the peaks that we'll be walking in. Chilly.
Right at the turn off to Minaret Viewpoint is the gate to the Reds Meadow. The young lady said we had to take the shuttle, even if we have camping permits. I asked when the shuttle stops, 11th 7pm. We are scheduled to leave on the 11th, but in case we were late, we'd be stuck. She waved us in. The credit card reader was broken, so no charge either. This road will be open on weekends only starting 0n 9/16, and probably closed in October.
The road descends at least 1000', to my dismay. Reds Meadow is at the bottom of the valley. We'd have to climb out of the valley onto the other side :( There are 2 THs here that allow you to connect to JMT. I only have the permit to the southbound, even though I was heading up north.
As we drove to the Rainbow Falls TH, saw a shuttle coming this way too. A large parking lot. Picnic table, outhouse, only one bear box. Two piles of food cache, with labels of exit-dates on 8/19 and 8/20. What happened to their owners?
9/8-11, Devils Postpile - Minaret Lake - Thousand Islands Lake
9/11, Monday. Smooth driving down. M.Y. drove on I-395 for awhile, so I could check in my return flight. I also called Priceline about my screw-up of the rental car. Priceline said it'll refund me. (I receive the car portion of the refund the very day, the insurance payment was refund 10 days later.)
Stopped twice for gas. M.Y. bought a burger near the last gas station. Some traffic in LA. Not too bad (yet). Returned the car ~3:30pm. At the terminal, put our 2 backpacks into the duffel. It still took sometime. Dropped the luggage ~4pm. Our flight is at 7:26pm.
Now the trouble started with United Airline. We boarded the flight, before it taxes to the runway, we were told that the bathrooms have some fault, and we deplaned, waiting for a new air craft. 2 hours later, we boarded another plane. Taxied to the runway, then 2nd announcement informed us that the pilot would be running out his allowed flight time. The plane drove back to the terminal. We deplaned, and waited for a new pilot. 2 hours later, we boarded the same plane. Everyone was relieved too early as we taxied to the runway. Yet another announcement informed us that the captain was running out of his alloted time. The plane drove back to the terminal. It's already past midnight. They were talking to a pilot who's landing here from DC. We were instructed to wait in the plane, just in case. Then I noticed that I was given a $15 meal voucher. Unable to use it. Each time, some passengers left. More empty seats. Finally, ~1:30am, Marc from DC took us towards Seattle.
9/12, Tuesday. Picked up our duffel ~4am. What a night!
Received an apologetic email from united.com titled Customer Apperciation with a link to united.com/unitedcares. There, I was able to input my flight detail and receive a voucher of $75, which expires in 12 months.
Summary and take-aways
- We brought too much food. M.Y. brought a lot snacks from his office, and shared with me. So I ended up bringing back part of my own provisions.
- Bananas and string cheese survived 4 days in the bear box at TH (no shade), a surprise.
- Didn't prepare for the mosquitoes (big mistake). The high snow fall this spring postponed the mosquito season.
- Colder than I expected, still snow on trail, ice on tent. Sun disappeared at 5pm, unable to wash my clothes and hope they'd dry.
- Umbrella is good to have. Instead of protecting from the sun, used it for the rain this time.
- Regreted not to bring my book on the second loop.
- No one checked our permits.
- M.Y.'s favorite is Mid Rae Lake, mine is the traverse from Minaret to Ediza Lake.
- For updated trip reports and discussions in the area, see High Sierra Topix.
- It's possible to remedy a bad user experience by offering some small compensation in an apologetic and systematic way. Easy to implement.
