Day 13 - Click on Map
Day 13 (August 7). We woke up this morning to a cold wind coming up and down the canyon. It was windy last night and it made for a cold nights sleep if you happened out of your sleeping bag. The mid-night nature calls were frosty for sure! We packed up camp after having some coffee and tea. Breakfast was waiting for us down below at the cafe 3 miles away. One of the benefits of camping at Crater Meadow was that the hike into Red's Meadow was only 3 miles instead of 4 if we camped at Upper Crater Meadow last night. We were out of camp by 7 am and on the trail. We made our way down the switchbacks and as we headed back towards Crater Creek, the temperature seemed to drop about 10 to 15 degrees. We were glad to get into some sunshine in the meadows below. The burned out section of the trail was interesting to walk through as the undergrowth is coming in very well but the tress have yet to catch up. We did make our way through some aspens as we headed towards the junction to the stables.

We made it to the cafe by about 8:30 and called the wives to let them know of our revised plans. Sue was still at her Moms and had to go to Reno to pick up the daughter. Marsha was at the cabin and would come over to pick us up at the top of the hill. She had thought of coming over to surprise Mike but decided not to, as she thought it might send him a message that he was not in shape to finish the trip. I guess she had a premonition! Sue was going to be back at the cabin Tuesday night, so we were lucky Marsha was able to pick us up. The YART buses did not leave Mammoth until 7am the next morning, since we missed the Monday bus. Marsha would be over around 1 pm so we had some time to eat and shower.

Breakfast at the Mulehouse Cafe was wonderful. They did not disappoint me on the food this morning. As we were calling the wives, I noticed John was walking around the grounds and Mike and I said hello. While he had already eaten he joined us during our breakfast and we had a good time talking with him. It turned out he was camped around the corner from us at Sallie Keyes Lake and he saw our camp but did not think it was us. He was also camped about a half mile up the trail between Upper Crater Meadow and Crater Meadow the night before. He was continuing on to Yosemite and planned to make it by Thursday (our original plan). We told him we were done and Mike gave him some tips on good sites along the rest of the way. He set off and we wished him well! It was nice to meet him on the trip this year.

The food was great and I considered ordering another round but decided to hold off until lunch. We made our way over to the showers and what a treat they are! We had come prepared with soap, but our camp towels were a little small for the task. They did work but we still had to sun dry a little. We then headed down to the shuttle bus stop to make our way back up the hill to civilization! What a shock that was. When we departed the bus at Mammoth Mountain, the crowds were in full swing. Shuttle buses were hauling people up and down the hill to Devil's Postpile, other buses were hauling people up and down the hill to town, towing bikes behind them in the trailers. Mammoth does a big job of using the lifts for mountain biking during the summer. We watched many people come and go on their bikes. We also saw many families take in the sights and getting ready for their backpacking trips. We saw one poor guy with about an 80 pound pack trying to get into the shuttle bus. It took two people to lift the thing!

Being back in town and watching all the people made me want to get back on the trail, but I knew it was time to call it quits. It would be nice to see the wife and family and get back to the cabin and sleep in a real bed. It would also be nice to have that cold beer! As we were sitting on the side of the parking lot next to the lodge, three nice young ladies walked by and actually said hello to us grubby looking old men! Mike said did you see that? And I replied, yup she had a box of Cheese-Its! It is amazing how your mind will work when you get back into civilization! Marsha arrived about 1 pm and we headed out of town and over the pass, through the park and back to the cabin. It was nice to be back! Tomorrow night I would get to see my best friend, my wife!

To view photos of our trip please refer to the Photo Albums section of this site!