Day 66 (9 July)

Miles 890.9 to 906.6. Bushcamp to Mammoth Lakes.

We get up at 4.30 am and we don‘t even feel like snoozing. We just want to get into town! The place we need to reach is called Red‘s Meadow, it‘s a campground with cabins, has a small store and most importantly, a restaurant!!! Apparently they sell really good burgers and milkshakes there and we just can‘t contain our excitement!! And then on to Mammoth Lakes. It has been 9 days since we were in Bishop and it‘s really time for us to have a hot shower and do laundry. I am sure every one we meet this day would agree with us. :)

So off we go, leaving our campsite at around 5am. We pass Lake Virginia, it looks so peaceful. The sun is not yet up, but the sky is slightly pretty in pink. We did all the climbing the day before on purpose as to have an easy day today. It‘s still 16 miles but since it‘s all downhill we make good time. We stop for a quick breakfast, a cute little chipmunk keeps us company and even finds some tortilla crumbs to eat. I love these little fellas!

The scenery is once again mindblowingly beautiful, especially this time of the day. The miles fly by, we only stop for the occasional photo session. The last 5 miles we average 3.8 miles per hour, which is our now record! This is how much we crave restaurant food! And finally, here we are, Red‘s Meadow at 12.30pm! We sit down at a table in the restaurant, order cokes, burgers, a large milkshake to share and then sit back in the chairs and relax. And are suddenly aware of how we look and smell. But the waitress just smiles at our remarks about how we must look to her. She must be used to smelly hikers.

After a delicious lunch we hop on the bus to Mammoth Lakes. We have to take two more buses until we reach the guesthouse we had booked the day before. Our room is small, has 4 beds in it, but feels comfy enough. We start unpacking, collect our dirty laundry and soon head out again in search of a laundromat. Mammoth has a great public transportation system, all their buses are for free and take you anywhere! While our laundry is being done we treat ourselves to some drinks and snacks from the coffee shop next door. And then head back to the guesthouse for a nap once the laundry is done.

Later we head out to an Italian restaurant. Pasta and pizza, beers and wine for us today because we deserve it! Life is good!