Zero Day in Mammoth Lakes, CA

It was really refreshing to wake up in a bed this morning. I took my time getting up and uploaded a couple journal entries to this blog. I then packed up my stuff and left it in a corner of the women's dorm. That room was full for the night,  so I would need to switch bunks when I bumped into a manager.

I left the hostel to run some errands, the most important being laundry. I walked down to the laundromat. This was my first experience with changing into my swimsuit/rain gear to do laundry  because every other clothing item needed to be washed. While I sweated in the seating area,  I met two other thru-hikers, Kimosabe and Maps.

After my clothes were clean, I put them back on, went to Rite Aid for some misc items and then checked out the nearby sports shop to see if they had a replacement water bladder. They did not.

It was about lunch time so I went to a local bakery, Schat’s,  that also serves sandwiches. I got freshly sliced roasted turkey on fresh baked bread.

After that, I went across the street to Motel 6 to pick up my resupply packages. While there I saw Invisible Man who was going to get a room there because the hostels didn't have space. This worried me because I left my stuff at the hostel, thinking I could switch bunks later.

After picking up my packages, I went back to the hostel. I couldn't find anyone there, so I went online to make sure I reserved a bunk in the mixed dorm. After I booked my bunk I got a call from one of the managers saying he saw I booked the “mens dorm.” Online it said “mixed.” That dorm has 8 beds as opposed to the womens dorm which has 4.

He wanted to make sure I was OK with sleeping in that dorm because the boys do boys things like “ fart and burp.” I let him know that I have been traveling and camping with guys for a while, so I was OK with “guy things.” I just needed a bed for the night.

After that I tried to figure out my resupply. My Trail Angel had sent me the wrong resupply box and I now had too much food to go to Tuolumne Meadows. I had to sort out what I wanted to take and put the extra food in the hiker box.  Luckily, as I was doing that,  Songbeard texted me that there was a change in plans. We were going to skip resupplying at Tuolumne and go straight to Sonora Pass with 8 days of food.

I put everything back in my bear box,  but I still needed more food,  so I made the long trek to Vons. After picking up some resupply items (including a bowl of mixed berries that I devoured immediately), I took the free trolley part way back to the dorm. On the trolley I saw Dad Jokes and Taco Slap who were heading back to the trail that night.

I finished my resupply, sewed up the huge rip in the back of my pants, and worked on transfering more journal entries to the blog.

I was waiting for the others in my hiking group to contact me about dinner.  When they finally told me their dinner plans,  it was almost dark and they had chosen a place on the complete other side of town.  I just went to the closest restaurant, which happened to be the brewery, ate dinner,  and returned to the hostel.

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