TR: PCT-SHR Donner to Piute Pass Jul 13-Aug 10 2016

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Stanley Otter
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Re: TR: PCT-SHR Donner to Piute Pass Jul 13-Aug 10 2016

Post by Stanley Otter »

August 10 — Day 29: 3.0 hrs, 6.1 miles, +125/-2350
Out :(
Muriel Lake to North Lake

Dang cold last night, so I got on the trail early as a matter of self-preservation. A mere one mile of trail and one hundred feet of elevation gain led to the top of Piute Pass and then down, down, down a well-built trail to the North Lake trailhead. The first people I met were Sean, Iris, Matt, and Chris who recognized the HST patch that Boone wears. We had a nice talk and then off they raced toward Four Gables Peak, their Sierra Challenge objective for the day. At the trailhead, I changed into my moderately clean camp shirt and headed down North Lake Road with my pre-printed “Bishop” sign. Two miles on, right at the stop sign that controls access to Hwy 168, I got a ride in the lead car of a group that had just completed a section hike of the JMT from Devil’s Postpile to Piute Creek. I tried to maintain my composure (successfully, I believe) as we bombed down the highway at a safe and sane 92 mph and discussed the merits of various hiking foods. I was totally velocitized — the fastest I had traveled in the preceding three weeks was about 5 mph, and that only during my frenzied dash out the tent door for my morning toilette each day. Yowza. Anyway, had I known how far it was to Bishop I would have been much more worried about hitching a ride — I am grateful for the kindness of strangers. I checked into my motel, cleaned up, and went for a burger and a beer at Mountain Rambler Brewery. I almost ordered another round of everything, but went back for my resupply package and some organizing for the morning ride on the Eastern Sierra Transit bus to Reno. While packing up, I listened to a cable music station on the television with a sweet display from a Hewlett-Packard spectrum analyzer from back in the day when they made really nifty stuff. Evening meal at La Casita where I overate — my body just overruled my mind: “it’s here, you don’t have to carry it or save it for tomorrow, so just pipe down and keep shoveling.” A couple Mammoth Brewing IPA 395s from Joseph’s BiRite (“Serving the High Sierra’s for the last 121 years” — it’s right there on the bag, possessive!). Night night. The end.
Day 29 -- Muriel Lake (in the distance).jpg
Day 29 -- Summit Lake & Humphreys Basin.jpg
Day 29 -- Piute Lake & Piute Pass.jpg
Day 29 -- exiting.jpg
Day 29 -- best cable station.jpg
Day 29 -- The End.jpg
Thanks for following along.
Dennis
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Roaring in my ears,
the mountain temple's silence.
Nobody else here!
-- Edith Schiffert
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wildhiker
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Re: TR: PCT-SHR Donner to Piute Pass Jul 13-Aug 10 2016

Post by wildhiker »

Thank you Dennis for a great post about a great adventure. I know just how you felt at the end. I've never been able to go out for as many days as you did, but I do know that the longer I am out in the wilderness, the more I want to stay!
-Phil
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Re: TR: PCT-SHR Donner to Piute Pass Jul 13-Aug 10 2016

Post by rlown »

Very nice report. I absolutely love that wall :) Anytime I hit a Sierra Col, the trekking poles collapse and get strapped to the pack, so I agree with you on that. Big talus and trekking poles are incompatible.

The TV shot.. Very cool and the comments. I worked at HP for 33 years. They did great work back then... Not now. I can say that now..

Boone is a nice touch to the report. The HST patch is also great.
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Re: TR: PCT-SHR Donner to Piute Pass Jul 13-Aug 10 2016

Post by LMBSGV »

I really enjoyed following along on your odyssey. You covered a lot of miles most days. Thank you for sharing your experience.
I don’t need a goal destination. I need a destination that meets my goals.

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Stanley Otter
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Re: TR: PCT-SHR Donner to Piute Pass Jul 13-Aug 10 2016

Post by Stanley Otter »

Phil,
Thanks. The real reason I ended up down at Tomahawk Lake on the last day was because I was shuffling along not looking where I was going with my head hung low like a sad Peanuts character, poles trailing behind like Linus's blanket, and shrouded in a cloud of my own grit and odor like Pigpen. Access to real food and some beer helped me recover the next day like Lucy the psychiatrist -- well worth the 5¢.

Russ,
Thanks. Ya know, I actually posted something a little harsher about HP originally (something like "back in the day when they made stuff worth owning"), but then I was reading the What-You-Should-Know-About-Hiking-in-the-Sierra-This-Year-So-You-Don't-Die thread where I was reminded that you had worked for HP so I quick went back and toned it down so as not to offend. But, yeah, I still use the HP 11C scientific calculator Dad bought me in 1983 when I was a junior in high school. My physics and engineering students look at me like I am some sort of luddite, but I can wipe the floor with 'em when it comes to running through a calculation -- just love that reverse Polish notation and the stack with four (count 'em!) entries. With no equal sign, I never have to worry about loaning it to them when they forget to bring their calculator to the test. And don't even get me started on programming Moon Rocket Lander into the thing and making believe I was doing the real deal even though all I was looking at was a flashing 10 digit numerical display. All through college and grad school I worked with *nice* HP equipment -- chart recorders, meters, oscilloscope... And then HP spun all that great stuff off as Agilent Technologies -- I never did understand that. Anyway, thanks again.

LMBSGV,
Thanks. About the miles: Taking Zero or Near-O days is one of the things I have to work on -- I know it would be better to rest every six or so days. I put them into the itinerary, but they tend to get ignored...

Dennis
Roaring in my ears,
the mountain temple's silence.
Nobody else here!
-- Edith Schiffert
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Re: TR: PCT-SHR Donner to Piute Pass Jul 13-Aug 10 2016

Post by rlown »

You can't hurt my feelings. Get a Dell.. :) I actually have an HP electronic stethoscope from just before the Agilent spin-off. I wanted a memento.

Got to use the Network analyzer 4952A early on. I ordered it as I was doing dialup/telecom at the time. Always fun to watch what is going over the wire.

http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/produ ... Ag4y8P8HAQ
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