June 11th, 2022 by Jon
We woke a little earlier than normal, around 5:00 in the morning instead of our usual 5:30. We wanted to get up and over the pass before it got too hot, and we also wanted to enjoy some breakfast while it was still too cold for the mosquitoes. We packed and ate without issue, and then we hit the trail by 6:00. The trail led us up and into a small green canyon with a perfect, picturesque creek running out of Heart Lake, which was in a bowl at the end of the canyon. We could see the top of Seldon Pass from below. We hiked around one edge of the lake, with some snow on the ground, then hiked up a small series of switchbacks before reaching the top.
The views were excellent, and we saw a massive series of lakes on the north side of the pass. We would find out later that Wilco and Biscuit camped there last night, only 3 miles away on the other side of the pass from us. We had a small snack there and began our descent. We trail-switchbacked steeply down a small hill, then walked on a fairly large, flat plateau where the lakes were. We walked along them for a while, enjoying a distinctly lower number of mosquitoes than on the other side. We passed the outlet of the lakes, which would become Wild Bear Creek, the main body of water in this valley.
As the water dropped off the plateau, the trail began its descent through a pine forest, though it was noticeably rockier and drier than some of the other valleys we had been walking through. Missile got way ahead of Singsong, and we were a bit behind me, so it made for some very quiet and peaceful hiking. I really enjoy hiking with others, but I also get a lot out of solo hiking. We hiked downhill most of the morning before eventually coming to a small meadow where the water flowed in a fairy tale way, babbling and gurgling quietly. Small insects flew around, and I saw a ton of butterflies fluttering in the air. It was so peaceful I wanted to stay longer, but I had more hiking to do, so I continued on.
I came to a larger stream crossing and waited for Singsong so that we could cross together. She ended up only being behind me by about two minutes. There was a wonderful tree that had fallen across the creek, so we balanced carefully and crossed together. Once on the other side, we left the meadow behind and began another long downhill through the rocks and pine trees. There weren’t a lot of views beyond what was on the trail, but it was peaceful nonetheless. Eventually, we got to the bottom of our hill and came to the edge of Bear Creek. While small when we passed it high above, it was now much larger. We could have taken our shoes off and crossed in what looked to be about knee-deep water, but there were comments about a tree that had fallen across the whole thing about 0.2 miles north. When you crossed, you didn’t even need to double back because the trail went right by it. Sounds great, right?
We went off to find our log, pushed through plants, crossed small streams, climbed logs, and got swarmed by mosquitoes. They were out to get us, and we could hardly think with the 40 mosquitoes that swarmed each of us. Losing our minds, we accidentally crossed a small stream and got sort of stuck on a large island in the middle of the creek (basically a river). We ended up having to take our shoes off and cross a feeder stream that came up to our ankles, and then we found the log. All in all, it took us about three times as long, a lot of stress, and about 20 new mosquito bites. What are you gonna do, sometimes things just don’t work out the way you hope and you move on. So that’s what we did.
We walked alongside Bear Creek for quite a while after that. The trail continued gently going downhill, and although we wanted a break, we couldn’t take one; the mosquitoes would attack every time we stopped. We crossed a few more large streams using rocks and logs, though once we had to take our shoes off again. When we got to the bottom of the valley, we passed through a damp, dark pine forest and then began our climb back up.
The trail passed a number of junctions to other lakes, but we continued climbing, mostly sticking along a rock wall that slowly lifted us above the tops of trees, and we could see a long valley stretched out in front of us. We eventually came upon Missile, who was taking a break right after a creek that we had stopped at to fill some water only moments before. We cursed mosquitoes together before hiking the rest of the climb together. This was Bear Ridge, and at the top, we would reach the junction where we would leave the PCT and head towards VVR.
The climb was very steep then, only about 1.5 miles from the top. We switchbacked up, but also just climbed straight up at times. We stopped three different times to catch our breath, but eventually we made it to the junction. We took a break there and sent a message to VVR asking about rides from a trailhead 5 miles away, which would save us from having to hike the last 3 miles to VVR. We began hiking downhill, which made us feel a little upset because we had just worked very hard to get up to the top of the ridge. On our way down, we heard back that they would be at the trailhead at 2:30 to pick up anyone there. That left us plenty of time to get down, which felt nice. We stopped once for water about halfway through, but otherwise just climbed down a very rocky, sandy trail. At one point, we had to climb on logs to get through a flooded section, but otherwise it was pretty chill.
We got to the trailhead around 1:40 and spent some time eating, reading, and relaxing. The last few days have been extremely difficult, and our bodies need some self-care. A truck pulled up right at 2:30, and the very kind woman driving it took us to VVR. She gave us the scoop on Lake Edison. Apparently, it’s a lake in a series of lakes that are used for hydroelectric power, and the power company owns the water rights. They can draw the lake down to 5% of capacity, and right now it is at 25%. Apparently, last year they got all the way down to 7%. She also told us that when we get to VVR, we should go ask for our complimentary drink. That was news to us and made us much more excited.
When we arrived, we saw about 25 other hikers all sitting at picnic tables outside the main store and lots of tents pitched in their “mushroom city” section. They offered free camping, and then goods and services were available for purchase. We set our stuff down, found Wilco and Biscuit, and then headed inside to each grab a beer, and then Singsong got a party sized bag of chips and I got a sleeve of Oreos. We started a tab that we just need to pay out before we leave. We got shower tokens and paid for a spot on the boat tomorrow morning. The boat will take us back across the lake, saving us about 5 of the 6.5 miles to get back to the PCT.
We sat around eating, drinking, and chatting with Wilco and Biscuit about passes, mosquitoes, snow, mosquitoes, town, mosquitoes, and everything else. Missile Toe paid for laundry and let us throw our stuff in with him. They had clothes you could wear while doing laundry, which was super nice. We held off on showers because they were fixing an issue with the water pressure. Eventually, they rang the dinner bell, and everyone rushed to order. Tonight was all-you-can-eat BBQ tri-tip and ribs with mashed potatoes and baked beans. Glorious. We ate A LOT of meat, and then had pie for dessert. We sat there in a food coma for a while, then Singsong went to lie down to digest food. Then the cook walked by with milkshakes. I do love a good milkshake… Biscuit, Missile, and I all ordered one and enjoyed them immensely.
Feeling sated, I went to get the laundry out and helped Singsong get the rest of our tent ready for bed. With clean laundry, we both went to shower and enjoyed an excellent, very hot shower. Our last one was 6 days ago, and it felt amazing to get clean again. We put on clean clothes, and then I worked on some blog stuff and called a few friends and family. Breakfast gets started at 7:00, and then we will be on the 9:00 boat, so we can sleep in a bit tomorrow. This has been a nice refresh spot, and we managed to resupply some food to make sure we get to Mammoth comfortably in a couple of days.
