Start point
Horseshoe Meadows Vista
End point
Hidden Valley Resort
Miles hiked
~3 mile road walk
Wilderness area
None
People I met
Rascal and Ripper
The day on trail
How unfair is it that I get to wake up here?
It was a super fast road walk down to the gate that closed the road. We went to the Lavender Ranch, filled water, and found someone who could give us a ride to town in 45 minutes if we didn’t get one by then.
About that time, someone in a van-lifer van pulled up to the ranch. I talked with them, who used “whatever you want” pronouns and had a bracelet in the colors of the transgender flag. They were there to take care of some hikers a number of hours behind us. They gave us a ride to town, and it was a brilliant start to Pride Month.
We met up with the first group at the Whitney Hostel and Hotel. We used their showers to get clean, and then, you know, back into our dirty clothes. But you take what you can!
We went to get breakfast at the Alabama Hills Cafe and started planning our next steps. The next step was to get ice cream at the Lone Star Bistro and plan further.
Ice cream was…goodness. I got a sundae and it was exactly what I needed. We spent about an hour reviewing our options and decided that hiking Mt Whitney as a side quest, rather than as part of the PCT, would give us a more manageable food carry and let us have some more fun both on the mountain and the trail.
Grazer was able to secure permits for Whitney from the Whitney Portal side. There are two approaches to Mt Whitney: the Portal side, closer to the city, and the PCT side, closer to the Trail. The PCT permit gives you permission to climb it from the PCT side, and to go from the Portal side you need what are usually very competitive permits. Due to the snow this year, there are lots of permits left over, so Grazer was able to grab some for us.
We finalized our plans to go to Reggie’s Hidden Valley Ranch tonight, then up early to get to Whitney Trail Camp for an early night, then up early for a 1am start of the Whitney Summit for that firm, hard snow.
We stopped at the grocery store and I got stuff to make dinner and some snacks for the afternoon.
Back at Hidden Valley Ranch, I made chicken marinated in Greek yogurt with curry powder, some potatoes, and grilled zucchini. It was delicious and we all felt rejuvenated. We hung out, pet the dogs, talked, and ate the mulberries that grew there.
Soon after a couple of hikers, Rascal and Ripper came in. We chatted, then it was off to bed.