I take a nero in Bishop. The motel I was planning to stay at is getting bad vibes from hikers milling around outside. I divert to another one. My first motel experience. I can’t work out how to lock the door so jam a chair under the handle.
Yesterday before the hitch in I stopped at my first taco truck and bought a burrito and soda.

Schatts Bakkery for yummy hot pastrami sandwich for breaky, then I packed out sourdough bread and oatmeal raisin cookies. Completely by chance bumped into Olga and Willem. We shared stories – they had bailed early due to difficulty of trail and Willem getting ill from drinking unfiltered mountain creek water-remember the pink snow? We might meet again in Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR), which may be the last time as our plans diverge from then on – they’re coming off the PCT.

I liked Bishop – good coffee shop, three outdoor outfitters, bakkery and many restaurants and bars.
I headed back out from Bishop to return to the PCT. I enjoyed plugging away over the pass and found a lovely tent site at 11000ft. On the way up I bumped into someone I hadn’t seen since Scout and Frodo’s plus a familiar face from KMS. We traded trail gossip.
Just before I camped I bumped into Wilson coming the other way. He is a FedEx pilot (geddit?). He informed me the ranger had posted a sign saying ‘that’ river was now fordable as peak melt had passed, advising to do that instead of the unofficial ‘up and over’ Skurka route which was leading to erosion and impact to the environment.
Part way down the pass I make camp alone, 20 minutes later Moose turns up to join me. Not having met before we introduce ourselves from in our tents – the mosquitoes are out and hungry for blood.
Moose is British-Canadian and had good stories about feeding 800 troops in London at the Queen’s Platinum jubilee.
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