June 16, 2007

30-30 and I camped last night right before the bridge over Fish Creek.  I fell sleep by 8:30 p. m. and slept soundly until 6:30 a.m.  We began hiking by 7:30, which entailed a 1,000 foot climb early on.  Colorful purple, yellow, and orange flowers sprinkled the mountainside so I stopped to pick a pretty yellow one to wear in my ponytail.

"Fresh as a flower," I told myself.

30-30 and I took a break about 10:30 to stare at the beautiful mountain vista.

Pathfinder hiked upon us and reminded us of the homemade food at Red's Meadow.  YUMMY!  30-30 and I took a side trip and hiked into the Ansel Adams Wilderness to see Rainbow Falls.  I set my pack alongside 30-30's and raced to the waterfall.  A woman told me to slow down because I'd wear myself out.  I smiled to myself knowing I was reaching 900 miles and felt great.  Unfortunately, our timing was off and there were no rainbows. The waterfall was intriguing nonetheless.  The Ansel Adams Wilderness was a burn area.  Many day hikers were out to see the falls on this Saturday in June.  I was in a time warp as it still seemed like April to me.

30-30 and I hiked to Red's Meadow and ordered strawberry milkshakes before catching the bus to Mammoth Lakes.  We caught a ride to the post office by a kind group from southern California.  We checked into the Motel 6 next door, did our laundry, ordered a Hawaiian Dominos pizza, walked several blocks to a movie theatre where we saw Fantastic Four.  30-30 devoured a pint of Chunky Monkey Ben and Jerry's as we walked.  I devoured a bag of extra buttery popcorn during the movie.  After the show, we walked across the street to Carl Jr.'s and ate a cheeseburger and fries. We walked back to the Motel 6.  I used a pumice stone on my very ugly and cracked feet, shampooed, shaved, and called it a night.