Another exhausting zero. From Red’s Meadow, we took three different shuttles to get to Mammoth. Beetle and Shield (previously Pants, previously Andy, named for his heroic effort to save Hanna during the rock slide on Mathers Pass, when he jumped on top of her to shield her from the falling debris) also got on our shuttle. Good to see them again after 5 days.
Mammoth was very much akin to Big Bear, as in, it took an eternity to get anywhere. Initially, we had planned to camp at the back of the coffee roasting place in town, but because their yard was under construction, we couldn’t. The alternative was to head back to Red’s Meadow, but I wasn’t too keen to spend another night there. That was also abandoned when we read the weather report. It was going to freeze with strong gusts of wind during the night and even chance of snow. So we rented the cheapest airbnb we could find, a weird little place with a 6 person bedroom.
We were having our first breakfast of the day when Tommyhawk, Remedy and Gnome strolled in. My mouth full of lemon custard from my donut, I jumped up and embraced them. The bad weather report had made them decide to stay in Mammoth one more night, meaning they would be in our bubble from now! From now I’ll stop worrying that I’ll lose them, every time they appear again anyway.
At our second breakfast place, Stinger, Mouse and Spice joined us, completing our family again.
I spent the afternoon being sick from eating too much mexican breakfast and dragging myself through the resupply and repackaging chores. As a treat, we’re all packing out pizza for the first day. It was supposed to be a short food carry, only for 2 days, but somehow I ended up with a full bear can again. Oh well, saves me on money at the expensive stores in Yosemite Valley in 2 days.
In the evening, me, Mash, Merlin, Marble, Half and Half and Lucky Charm played games in the Airbnb. I also tried to order dehydrated meals from the brand Mash has been recommending me, Huel. It’s supposed to be way cheaper than the stupidly expensive backpacker meals here. Alas, things were going too easy. The site decided to refuse my credit card and after three tries, my bank then decided to block my credit card. It was too late for me to think clearly about it, so I borrowed Marble’s card. Another exhausting zero, I feel like I didn’t get a minute’s rest.