Jammin' with Jameson

24 miles. I slept past my goal of 6 am and heard footsteps around 6:30 that I was sure were prairie and Brightside coming to sneak up on me. We had to hike 24 miles by 4:30 to get to the boat 2 miles off trail that shuttled us to VVR. Our other option was hike 20 miles and then another 4 off trail for a free bus. We tried hiking as fast as we could and passed by beautiful lakes with huge fish because we didn’t have the time to stop. Luckily the climb up Selden Pass was easy and beautiful. We met up with Vogue at the mosquito infested top and I hiked with her for a while on the way down. I met one of the forest rangers who had chopped down the massive tree I had seen a day earlier and he said it had taken him 4 days with a full team to get it down the summer before. Once we knew we were making good time and could stop for lunch, we heard from a southbounder that PCT hikers had told him the night before that the boat wasn’t running for mechanical issues. We had to decide if we wanted to turn around and walk off trail to get the bus or keep pushing on for a unsure boat. So. Much. Fear mongering. We were able to inreach message them and get confirmation from a girl we met named Chimney Sweep. We got to the extremely receded lake around 4:10 to a very very gray sky. We had to wait around until 5 as Chimney Sweep and her friends were really late. I was a little annoyed because a storm was coming in fast and I had heard that they may not run the boat in inclement weather. Luckily we made it on the windy boat ride to a well known sierra destination, Vermilion Valley Resort, to see it in it’s splendid, overpriced glory for ourselves! We immediately got our free beer and put in our dinner order before setting up our tents. I really wanted a day of me time and to watch lots of stranger things so that’s what I made happen… As well as watching anchorman in the middle of the night.