Slept well again last night. Started moving at 6 and got to Carson Pass at 10. There was a visitors center there and they had lots of trail magic there. Doughnuts, soda, fruit, chips, etc. Stayed until 11 and started moving again. 

I had service at some point and realized Echo Chalet closed at 5 so Sonic and I started moving a little faster. We later decide to go to South Lake Tahoe instead. So we stopped at Highway 50 around 4PM and hitched a ride into town. The guy that gave us a lift happened to own a ice cream shop on the lake so he took us there and gave us free ice cream, best hitch so far. 
He dropped us off at the Mellow Mountain Hostel where it was only $25 to stay the night, great deal for an expensive town. We quickly showered and headed straight to the casino buffet. The casino was actually in Nevada, the hostel was .3 miles from it in California. 
I ate so much food at the buffet. Chinese, sushi, salad, pasta and dessert. I felt like I was going to puke. Went back to the room and chilled out for the rest of the night. I always stay up late when I’m in town, it’s just natural for me. It also helps that the wifi here is strong.

Slept well last night. Caught up with Sonic within the first ten minutes of the day, guess she wasn’t that far ahead. We had to navigate around snow for the first few hours and then the trail got much better. At 12:30 we ran into our first trail magic since the desert. A man named Brian had lawn chairs out and gave us homemade cake, sodas and fruit. I wasn’t planning on breaking for long but I ended up staying there for almost 90 minutes. 

Got moving a little before 2 and started crushing out the miles. Felt great to hike at a normal pace again. At about 5:30 the mosquitos started to come out and it was terrible for the rest of the day. They didn’t bother me too much but as soon as I slowed down or stopped there would be clouds of them all around me, it was nuts. I crossed a little creek and saw cans floating in there, then I realized they were full. I took an Orange Crush out of there and booked it because the mosquitos were getting me. 
Sonic and I are camping on an open ridge so there are a few less mosquitos to deal with. It’s only about 26 miles to Echo Lake tomorrow. I’m thinking about staying the night there so I can send home my Sierra gear. 

Slept great last night, feels so good to be in a bed. Stayed up a little later than I wanted to though, was out on the porch with some other hikers until they cut the generators at 11PM. Woke up at 7AM and went down for some breakfast. Had pancakes, eggs and sausage, didn’t take more than five minutes to finish. 

From there I resupplied at the general store. I really haven’t been eating enough on the trail so I bought more food than I usually do. Emptied out a part of the store in the process. It was all high calorie junk food. Spent $40 for a three day resupply to Echo Lake, not bad. After that I had the pleasure to send the bear can back to my friend that lent it to me. So glad I don’t have to lug that thing around anymore. Will finally be able to pack my bag like normal again. 
Took a little nap and went back for more food. Had another pint of ice cream, a bag Doritos, a Gatorade and a banana. Decided to take another shower and then had lunch at 1:30 and more ice cream after. Sonic and I got a quick hitch back to the trail and we were hiking by 3PM. I wanted to be back by 2 or 4 so it was perfect. 
Didn’t take long to get dirty again. Had to move over some more snow. Busted my ass a few times and even broke my drinking water bottle I keep on my shoulder strap. After that I found out I actually can reach my water bottle in my side pocket, I guess it helps that the smart water bottles along with the Sawyer Squeeze makes it a very tall piece of gear. 
Sonic got ahead of me so I’m camping alone tonight, feels kind of weird to be honest. Only about 60 miles to Echo Lake. Can’t wait to send home my ice axe and micro spikes. 

Got moving a little after six. Today was much easier than yesterday. It only got difficult going up and down towards Sonora Pass. Lots of snow fields on steep slopes. 

Did the 26.5 to Sonora Pass by 4:15, it took until 8PM yesterday to do 27 by comparison. As I waited for Sonic to arrive I watched other hikers try to hitch with no success. I don’t know why they were standing right at the pass because it’s a complete blind spot for vehicles, almost a hairpin turn. When Sonic got there we started walking down the road and within three minutes got a hitch to North KM. The road we were driving on was crazy, sharp turns everywhere with no rails. Some sports cars passed up going around corners on double yellow lines, idiots. 
Got to KM and quickly got the thru hiker package. $35.00 for a bunkhouse and shower/laundry, not a bad deal. From there we went to the restaurant next door. I had an 8oz steak, soup, salad, potato, sprouts, bread and desert. I was still starving. Went to the store (which was well stocked) and ate a pint of ice cream along with a 24oz Gatorade. I was still starving. Went back and bought two bags of potato chips and ate them immediately. I was still starving and went back again for more ice cream, a soda and a giant slim Jim. 
It’s 9:15 right now and I’m waiting for laundry to get done. 

Today was my crappiest day on the trail so far. Started moving at 6 up to Benson Pass. Ended up going on the wrong side of the pass and was about 750ft off trail on top of a mountain. It took me about 40 minutes to walk, climb and jump my way back onto trail. From there the trail was still covered in snow going uphill, got lost a few more times trying to find it. Lost count of how many times I busted my ass today, I’m actually shocked I’m not injured. 

Had to do a ton of fords today. Most were about knee deep but one of them almost got me. I couldn’t tell how deep the other side was from where I was standing, started off easy but it just got deeper and deeper. Then the current picked up and lifted me off my feet and carried my down stream, I was chest deep at this point. I managed to grab onto some branches to stop myself. If I didn’t have my poles looped around my wrist I would have lost them. When I got on dry land I was soaked, the current also took the snacks right out of my hip belt pocket, now I had no food for the rest of the day. Thank god I always keep my other pocket half zipped because my phone is in there. If I lost my phone that would pretty much ruin my hike. 
It took Sonic and I the entire day to do 27 hard miles, which was my goal for the day. Since I lost my food from the ford I starved myself from 4PM to 8:30PM. I ate both the dinners I had left which was two ramen noodles along with tuna and some pepperoni Sonic gave me. 
Tomorrow we’re going to North Kennedy Meadows where we definitely plan on staying the night along with showering and laundry. We also get to ship away the bear canister. 

Slept in until 7:30, felt pretty good. Went down to the store and waited for them to open at 9. Ate at the little diner attached to it. Should have saved the money, the breakfast sandwich I ordered was the size of a baseball and looked like crap. 

The store there was very well stocked, much better than Reds Meadow, did a good resupply out if there and also pigged out on ice cream and chips. 
Sonic and I got moving at 11:15. We were going real slow, it’s hard to get going after a resupply stop. We did about 20 miles to the bottom of Benson Pass, got in at about 7:45. The fords we did were actually challenging today, they were only thigh to waist deep but moving very fast. 
Man, the mosquitos at this camp dpi are horrendous. Had to walk around in circles to eat, most of my upper body and even my head are covered in little lumps from all the bites. There’s probably a hundred of then trying to get into my tent right now. I flicked one and it exploded with blood, probably not even mine. 
I have also noticed some holes getting to form on my Darn Tough socks, this didn’t happen on the AT but I’m using thinner ones. I’ll have to take them up on their lifetime warranty, but that will have to be at the end of the hike. Looks like I might have to spend some money on new ones pretty soon. 

Got moving around 6. I couldn’t sleep last night and checked to see if I had service, turns out I did. Found out the Cavs won the NBA title, wish I could have seen it. Thinking back, I should have taken the bus into Mammoth and spent the night there, I heard its one of the best trail towns, oh well. 

It was a long slow 10 mile climb up to start the day. Went by a campground that had toilets so of course I couldn’t pass up that opportunity. Went over Island Pass which was the easiest pass so far. Took a long break at noon since I had 16 miles done and another pass coming up. Ate a ton of extra food I had which felt great and also lightened my bag. Started moving at 1 and went over Donohue Pass which was covered in snow like the other passes. 
Sonic and I were originally going to camp 6 miles from Tuolumne Meadows but we decided to get there tonight instead. It was a long flat stretch to TM so it was easy hiking. Got there around 7:15 but took a wrong turn and ended up at the lodge instead of the store and campground. Eventually made my way over there and set up camp. A ton of people here, seems like everyone is getting drunk, probably not going to get much sleep but I’m kind of used to that by now. 
The camp store doesn’t open until 9AM so I plan on sleeping in until 8. 

Slept in till 6, really didn’t want to move this morning. Dealt with some snow for the first few hours until the decent to Reds Meadow. The last few hours before every resupply stop are the longest. Got there around 1:30. Great place, there was a restaurant, general store, laundry, showers, running water, flush toilets, outlets, free wifi along with good cell service. Pretty much everything a thru hiker wants, and it’s less than half a mile off trail. You can spend the night here but I just spend most the day relaxing after three thirty mile days. It’s only 36 to the next resupply so I’m bringing two days of food. 

The timing worked out perfectly since I had cell service there and it just so happen to be Fathers Day so I could call my dad. 
Sonic and I ate at the restaurant twice. We ended up leaving at 7PM, a little later than I wanted but I couldn’t resist sitting there and doing nothing. Only did about three miles to a camp spot. My belly was full so all I ate was a packet of tuna. That ended up being good because the mosquitos were terrible, swarms of them everywhere. I have no idea how people sleep with no protection from bugs, I’d go insane. Just watching them try to get into my tent is kind of freaky. I heard they’re supposed to get real bad from here on out…
Also found out today is game seven of the NBA finals, I wish I could be watching it.

My insomnia came back last night. Couldn’t fall asleep until after midnight. Long day today. Climbed over Selden and Silver Pass. The snow fields going up and down the passes really slow me down. Also had some big fords, they ended up being not too bad. The ones in Maine were still worse. 

Going to Reds Meadow tomorrow to resupply

Got moving by 6:30, been waking up at 5:30 the past few days. The accent to Muir Pass was almost 10 miles. The last 1.5 or so was all snow, very slow moving. Got to the Muir hut at the pass and took a few pictures before heading down. Going down there was probably snow for at least 3 miles. I felt bad for the southbounders heading up that. 

Sonic and I took a break around 1PM, we had 16 miles done at that point. Got moving again at 2:15, it was all downhill. We had to ford one of the notoriously difficult streams/rivers on the PCT. There’s actually a detour around it that I was planning on taking but I decided to see how bad it was. It ended up being pretty easy. The stream was wide but only about knee deep. I hope the rest of them are like that. 
Took another quick break to fill up water at 6:30, decided to push a few more miles after that. The last 30 minutes or so of the day was awful. Hordes and hordes or mosquitos, it was insane. Reminded me of the 100 Mile Wilderness on the AT. There were probably 10-15 mosquitos on each arm, that I could see. I wanted to hit 30 but ended up .1 shy when I saw a good camp spot, oh well. 
Side note. On this day last year I summited Mount Katahdin to finish my AT thru hike. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since then, I remember it like it was yesterday. Time flies.