July 25.
Thanks to the jet lag, I woke up rather early and enjoyed a quiet morning in the motel parking lot.
For those in Germany suffering from the current heatwave – it’s just the same here, around 40 degrees Celsius.
I am looking forward to getting into the Sierra and to 10000 feet / 3000m where the air is not only cooler but a bit cleaner than around Los Angeles.
Spent the day shopping for snacks at a 711 and waiting for my Eastern Sierra Transit bus at 2pm. The motel kept the pool locked – a bit disappointing.
But the day got much better. At the bus stop I ran into Nick, a hiker from Missouri. He is about the hit the High Sierra Trail. We will be entering the wilderness via the same trail head tomorrow – what a nice coincidence. We spent the long bus ride to Lone Pine chatting about hiking. He gave me the idea to call the visitor center to ask for my permit to be stored for late pickup tonight. That worked out nice – thanks Nick!
Coincidence got bigger – he had actually recently visited a friend in Switzerland and seen the same town that I will be moving into after this hike. World is really small. 😜
Did some last gear preparations (fuel, dry bag and water filter replacement) and started the self hydration process that is so critical to be conducted carefully before every hike (got wasted on beer with Nick). 😝
That made the gear shakedown we did with two JMT hikers we met in the hostel even more fun.
The weather might get interesting – there is a chance of thunderstorms tomorrow at lunchtime when I will be on trail already.
Tomorrow… Can’t wait! 😍
The world is big 