June 28, 2018 Even a Hero Needs a Zero

Zero Day: A day in which you do no hiking. So named because you do zero PCT miles. A zero day is almost always taken at a town stop. Often the distance from the trail to town will make taking a zero day more practical than trying to get to and from town in one day. Zero days are often used to do preparations such as laundry, shower, resupply, repair or replace gear, etc. They are also times to get caught up on calorie loading, and rest. Also called a Zero. (Scott Bryce’s PCT Glossary)

Mission took his first ZERO of the trip after completing 1000 PCT miles. (He has had a few NEROs which are nearly zeros but some PCT miles were hiked) Granny Hat and Dad picked him up at Kennedy Meadows, the Kennedy that actually has meadows. Mission says that about 70 % of PCT hikers hitch a ride with a trail angel at Sonora Pass down to Kennedy for some food, a shower, some laundry etc. Mission accepted a ride from a retired forest ranger who provides shuttle when he isn’t working in his wood shop in Sonora CA.  The little Kennedy Meadows store and diner accommodates tent, RV and cabin vacationers so they opened up a special porch out in back just for the thru-hikers, one can only imagine why….

He called this photo on top of the world “dead tired”.  His feet have really taken a beating so on his ZERO at the cabin with Granny Hat and Dad, he soaked them in Epsom Salts, rubbed them in coconut oil, elevated them and then fed them a ton of calories.  This hiker hunger thing is nearly a disease!  Granny Hat just couldn’t fill Mission up; pies, sandwiches, chips and salsa, grass fed burgers, sweet potato fries, fresh fruit salad, fresh green salad, piles of pancakes, juice, smoothies, BBQ, corn on the cob, and all in a 24 hour period.  You might say Granny really spread out the AYCE! We might have to change that popular song’s lyrics to “I don’t want to be hungry no more, I don’t wanna have to pay for this…..” Mission said that “the only thing hungrier than a college student is a PCT thru-hiking college student”.  And Mission has learned the hard way that certain foods do not sit well on a thru-hiker’s lean machine stomach.  The Italian Hero sandwich in Tuolumne Meadows is an example.  Be a hero, just don’t eat one.

AYCE: All You Can Eat, as in all you can eat buffet. For a through hiker burning as much as 6000 calories per day, all you can eat is a lot!

Another activity for the ZERO was laundry, soaking and hand washing his PCT uniform.  Here are some pictures of the Mission Mountain Laundry in action! “oh black water, keep on rolling……”  It took four rinses to see clear water, from left to right below.

Soak and Wash

Rinse #1

Rinse #2

Rinse #3

Rinse #4

The afternoon sun finished the job well and when Mission put the shirt and pants back on to return to the trail he declared that they felt so light, but not for long, I’m afraid.  He told Granny Hat so many great stories which will have to wait for another day because I have so many beautiful photos to post for you to enjoy.  Mission said his ZERO at the cabin was the best trail magic yet.

Trail Magic:  Unexpected generosity from a non-hiker. One unfortunate trend in recent years is that trail magic is becoming so common that some hikers now expect it, and become rude when it isn’t offered. (PCT glossary)

Mission traded out his heavier Sierra pack for the lighter one he began the PCT adventure with and re-stocked it with food and supplies for the next section from Sonora Pass up to Oregon.  After a good night’s sleep, Dad took Mission back up to the Pass and on the way they stopped in Kennedy, the one with the meadows, and picked up three thru-hikers to give them a ride to the trail.  One father and daughter duo were flip flopping and going south to get the JMT done without snow drifts.  The third was a 55 year old professional hiker woman who is a Triple Crowner, and has hiked the thru trail in New Zealand.  Dad said she weighed no more than 90 pounds.

Flip Flop: Skipping a section of trail, and hiking in the opposite direction to return to the place where you left the trail. Often done to avoid difficult trail conditions, such as heavy snow pack in the Sierra Nevada mountains. A flip flop is often an attempt to postpone difficult trail sections until conditions improve.

Triple Crown: A triple crown is accomplished when one has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail. A handful of hikers have done a double triple crown, which involves accomplishing this feat twice. At least one hiker has done a triple triple crown. A calendar triple crown involves hiking all three trails in one calendar year. As of this writing only three people have completed a calendar triple crown. (PCT Glossary)

JMT: John Muir Trail, from Mt. Whitney to Yosemite National Park, some of the most difficult, treacherous miles of the PCT.

Thousand Island Lake is on the left in honor of Mission’s 1000+ miles completed.  This is one of Granny Hat’s favorites so far.  Virginia Lake is on the right.

On the top is a panoramic view of Tuolumne Meadows, from left to right on the bottom, entering Yosemite National Park and the headwaters of the Tuolumne River.

Tuolumne Meadows

Entering Yosemite National Park

Headwaters of the Tuolumne River

Granny Hat got to wear her wedding hat last weekend in Southern CA where Mission’s cousin and fellow hiker, Jacob Young wed Ninette Marzakhanian.  Jake is the backpacker in yellow on top of Mt. Whitney several years ago.  It was a beautiful wedding with amazing Armenian food and dancing.  Mission was sorry to miss the festivities but had the bride and groom’s blessings.  Pictured below are the bride and groom with the groom’s family and their first dance together.

And then some more fun wedding pics of Granny Hat and her granddaughters who were flower girls.  The wedding was at Pickwick Gardens in Burbank, CA which is very close to Hollywood.  Granny spotted two glamorous movie stars in the crowd which turned out to be second cousins Rebecca Hallock and Sage Grivey.  Everyone had so much fun! Except for the littlest flower girl, Brighton.  She was just voicing what everyone was thinking…..when will it be time to eat and dance?

In tomorrow’s post there will be some of Mission’s stories. Here is Mission’s progress map, GPS coordinates last night were 38.52714,-119.77557.