Finally woke up early and was on the trail by 6:00am. Had a really awesome morning...taking photos of things and just being in a good mood. I thought it was The Kid that was camped near me last night (I saw a headlamp near me after I went to bed last night), but in fact it was a couple of hikers. They were a really nice older couple from Columbia, CA. I asked them if they knew my friend Gabe and Lela's parents but they did not. They liked seeing me carrying my coffee cup down the trail to start out the morning.

Spent a good 30 minutes debating about if I should spend the two minutes to stop, unpack my pack, get my gloves out and put them on. Nope, I just kept walking to the point of hardly being able to move my fingers.

Got to the top of Senger Pass and made a second coffee and cooked a bunch of my random food bits for breakfast. The couple soon reached the pass and gave each other a little kiss for crossing another pass, it was cute. Me, I have just made coffee and taken a Human Clock photo on top of every pass.

I spent longer than I planned up on the pass but was in no super hurry. Some JMT (John Muir Trail) hikers were heading south. I asked one of them if the afternoon boat to VVR was running and he said it was! They had just started it yesterday. I let out the most pathetic cheer of excitement.

On the downside, my solar panel is acting up and when you open it, the solder joint is breaking along the fold. So I gotta get that dealt with. If I partially close it the connection will be made and the thing works, but I don't know how much longer. Another logistic thing to deal with.

Headed down the trail towards Marie Lake and into a cloud of mosquitoes. Just that one mile was the worst part of the trail so far. They decreased after that.

Saw a couple of southbound kids in their late teens or early 20's. i said hi and they didn't even respond. The second kid was carrying this huge homemade bow and arrow too. Hmm, ok.

Had a few more creek crossings that involved a lot of ace Frogger moves: jumping from rock to rock or rock to log and back again. Met a day hiker from Tahoe named Stephanie who shared some trail mix with me. She had driven up here to go day hiking. I didn't know you could get to this point of the Sierra's easily enough for a day hike. Then again, I did leave the Evolution Valley yesterday and dropped into a different canyon.

Oh, I also saw three girls headed southbound, it was also the first time in a while that I smelled "perfume".

I kept hearing those crickets or whatever they are...that sound like rattlesnakes. I have to keep my guard up. Matter of fact, the first time I ever encountered a rattlesnake on my 96 hike, I thought it was one of these bugs.

The trail switchbacked a great deal dropping down towards the lake. I dropped fast enough that my ears popped. The word "pop" entered my head and then I thought of those 80's Shasta Commercials (lookup "shasta pop commercial I want" on youtube)

Met this other hiker named Scott at the VVR trail/PCT junction named Scott who looked to be in his mid 50's. He ended up ahead of me and ended up missing the turnoff to the ferry/boat. I yelled out to him but he didn't hear me. I figured he would realize his mistake soon since he knew we were close.

I got to the turnoff to the ferry/boat and hustled down there. Turns out because the lake was so low they are picking people up about 1/2 mile down. So I had to walk back up to the trail and then walk down the other trail like I was going to walk to the resort. "Look for the big American flag on the shore" the sign said. Just as I was heading down the other trail I saw Scott heading back my way. I told him about the sign and we walked together and eventually saw the flag.

As we waited for the boat I talked to Scott a bit. Turns out he started the trail almost a month after I did, yet we are in the same spot. He hasn't taken time off and has been doing constant 25-30 mile days. He has to finish by mid August, since he works at the University in Austin. This was his first time out here and has never seen mountains like these. "Almost anything you point your camera at is worth taking a picture of", he said.

The boat showed up and we loaded in. Another hiker plus The Kid had showed up so we had four. At around 200 pounds I was the "heavy guy" on the boat, everyone else was around 140 pounds.

During the ride over I talked to Jim who owned the resort. He had bought the place from Peggy. In 1996 I stayed at VVR when this guy Butch and his wife Peggy had the place. Butch passed away a few years after that and Peggy ran the place for a few years before selling it. Jim said their kids are all grown now. They were not that old when I met them.

Saw several people I recognized at the resort so it felt a little like home. Bambi told me there was a scale by the entrance and I went and weighed myself...184 pounds! I have lost 16 pounds so far.

Five-star walked over to me and said hello, asking when I got here. "FRESH OFF BOAT" was my loud reply. "Really, just got off the boat about five minutes ago" and we both laughed.

Had a nice BBQ beef brisket dinner and talked with people. My box was here and it looks like I will be eating good the next three days...since I am packed for four.

Oh, I mentioned the kids I saw with the bow and arrow. Bambi said he had seen them too, except one of the kids was hiking in a Nacho Libre Mexican Wrestler mask.

Bambi, Purple Haze, Cinco, and Five-Star were all here. Purple Haze bought a whole pie and we all shared it. Bambi said he was super starved coming in this morning because he had gotten sick and didn't move for a day on the trail, hence he ran out of food.

Someone mentioned that tomorrow is Father's Day and several voices let out a sound of panic due to forgetting.

I am gonna eat breakfast and then head out in the morning on the boat. I don't have cell service here so there is no point in staying trying to update this site, nor do any of the planning tasks I still have to get done.