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John Muir Trail / High Trail / PCT loop on Labor Day Weekend 2019


Previous
Sunday September 1, 2019
John Muir Trail from
Gladys Lake to
Thousand Island Lake

Monday September 2, 2019
High Trail / PCT from
Thousand Island Lake to
Agnew Meadow

Next
Tuesday September 3, 2019
Mammoth Lakes to El Granada

Dawn at Thousand Island Lake was pretty amazing.
In 2017 I hadn't slept very well, so I slept in until 730am or so and missed much of the sunrise.




2019/09/02 06:55



2019/09/02 06:55

PANO - scroll right



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PANO - scroll right



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PANO - scroll right



2019/09/02 08:49



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Eventually we started hiking out the PCT / High Trail.
In 2017 I hiked in on this trail, but I hadn't hiked out on this trail before.
The trail had lots more up and down than I remembered, all at elevation.




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2019/09/02 11:39

Shadow Lake from the PCT / High Trail



2019/09/02 11:40

Shadow Lake from the PCT / High Trail
PANO - scroll right
Ray is on the right side of the pic on the traill




2019/09/02 12:34

The PCT / High Trail stays high as the name says until maybe 1-1/2 miles from Agnew Meadow when it finally starts to drop back down to the valley.



2019/09/02 13:25



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2019/09/02 13:44

We got to the shuttle bus stop and there were already 10 backpackers waiting for a ride out to Mammoth Lakes.
An empty bus headed in the wrong direction pulled up and stopped.
He got on his radio and after a minute or so reported back that the next bus out should have enough room for us.
We all decided to wait for that bus instead of riding in the wrong direction to the Postpile.
Sure enough the next bus out had just enough room for everyone to crowd on board.

We got back to Mammoth Mountain ski resort, then walked to the car and found it was intact.... and eventually found that it started right up!
(in bear territory in cold weather your imagination gets the best of you)

I hit booking.com and quickly decided on the Westin...
We showered.... and hit the hot tub.
It was relaxing.

I checked my weather app, which showed it would have rained on us if we'd have stayed in the wilderness.
That's always my justification for leaving the wilderness early - it would have rained.



2019/09/02 16:34



2019/09/02 16:34

I wanted a decadent meal as a reward for all that hiking.
We wandered over to the touristy resort area just downhill from the Westin and picked Gomez's Mexican restaurant.
The service was awful, our waiter didn't even take our drink order for a good 15 minutes.
The food was decent though.


Previous
Sunday September 1, 2019
John Muir Trail from Gladys Lake to Thousand Island Lake

Monday September 2, 2019
High Trail / PCT from Thousand Island Lake to Agnew Meadow

Next
Tuesday September 3, 2019
Mammoth Lakes to El Granada