D56-D64 Hot springs, new stuff, and a nice family 溫泉、新裝備、一個好家庭

Days 56 to 64:

After Muir Trail Ranch, we only had one more big mountain pass to get over, and then we were going off trail for a couple days to some nearby mountain resorts. The huge climb to Selden Pass was long and hot, but we had Sour Patch Kids to reward ourselves with at the top, and the view on the other side made it worth the effort:

離開度家牧場後只剩一個比較高的埡口要過，之後要離開步道本身大概兩天，走去附近的獨家露營區。爬上Selden埡口是很長又陡的路，所以我們把昨天撿到的軟糖當作登上埡口的獎勵，給我們多一點動力爬坡，看到埡口背面的風景也覺得努力全都值得。

Then it was all downhill the rest of the day, and the next day when we took the Bear Creek Trail to leave the PCT temporarily. This trail follows the clear, green waters of Bear Creek. 

那天剩下的路都是下坡，隔天走的熊溪支線也是。熊溪本身水清澈翠綠。

It also presented us with the best swimming hole I’ve seen on the trail so far, found by Kirk. A little waterfall dropped into a deep pool here, and the water was warm enough so stay in for a long time, as the current washed away the day’s sweat and dirt.

Kirk在這條溪也發現我在這裡看過最幫可以玩水的地方，有一個小瀑布，下面的水潭不冰，可以泡很久，水流又強，不用動身體溪水就會沖掉身上的灰塵與汗水。

At the end of the trail and after a few more miles of road walking, we arrived at Mono Hot Springs Resort. Bird had mentioned this place to us a few days earlier and it immediately piqued our interest. It’s not commonly known among PCT hikers and very few make it down here, but it’s actually not the far from the trail and should be more popular than it is. There is a general store, cabin and camping options for sleeping, a restaurant, a creek for swimming, and natural hot springs!

支線走完要走馬路，馬路再走一小段就到了Mono溫泉度假村。我本來不知道有這個地方但幾天前Bird跟我們提到的時侯我跟Kirk都同意要去看看。比較少走PCT的人知道這個地方，我覺得很可惜，這裡離步道不遠，有商店、餐廳、溪流跟自然溫泉可以泡，登山客需要的或想要的都有。

We sat down to eat at the restaurant, and Bird soon appeared with her partner Mikey. We weren’t sure if she would be here the same day as us, but it was a pleasant surprise and we all ate dinner together. Bird even brought some wine, made from her own grapes!

我們才剛在餐廳坐下的時侯Bird和她男朋友Mikey就出現了。我們本來不知道她會不會跟我們同一天到，看到她我就很開心。她男朋友還帶了一瓶紅酒跟我們分享，紅酒的葡萄是Bird自己種的。

We went for a soak in the hot springs at night, and I went again in the morning for a soak and to get pictures. The setting couldn’t be nicer, and soaking in hot water feels incredibly good for the muscles after days of hiking.

晚上我們去泡溫泉，早上我又去泡一次並拍照。這裡的環境太適合泡湯了，泡熱水也幫痠痛的肌肉放鬆。

Next, we went up the road to Vermilion Valley Resort.

今天我們也去另一個度假露營區VVR。

Years ago, the valley was flooded when a dam was installed for hydroelectric power. Edison Lake was created in the process, and VVR sits on the shores of this lake. The resort is accessible by another side trail from the PCT or by water taxi and is a far more common stop for hikers. It’s similar to Mono, except there are no hot springs of course.

幾十年前這裡蓋了一個水壩來作水力發電場，原本的溪流就變成現在的Edison湖，VVR位在這個湖的岸邊。從PCT可以走支線到這裡，也可以付錢坐船過來。這裡是非常多PCT登山客會來的地方，沒有來的人耶都知道VVR這個地方，不像Mono溫泉。

We were planning to have lunch and get out the same day, but later decided to spend the night and leave in the morning. Lunch wasn’t happening because they were having a water problem that would take a couple hours to fix, the camping was free, and Kirk needed to rest his leg. Not having to stick to a tight schedule is one of the great things about this trip. It turned out to be well worth it to stay for dinner:

我們本來要吃午餐再回PCT，後來決定在這裡過夜。他們那天因為抽水機故障而沒有提供午餐，Kirk的腳會痛，在店旁邊露營也不用錢，所以臨時決定留下來。我好喜歡這種生活模式，不用一直趕時間，隨時都可以改行程。等抽水機好了然後在這裡吃晚餐果然很值得：

The next day we left Edison Lake behind and had one more night camping on trail. The following day we walked through a recent burn area that was just starting to recover, before arriving at Red’s Meadow. This is a campground and resort area, and the end of a paved road that goes down to Mammoth Lakes, a resort town.

隔天我們離開Edison湖，在步道上過夜。之後我們又經過森林火災燒掉的地方，最後走到Red’s Meadow度假村。這裡是一條柏油路的終點，路會通到下面的一個村莊Mammoth Lakes。

I had been in the mountains for 18 days straight at this point; no laundry for 18 days, no shower for 18 days, and no Internet for 18 days, except a few minutes on Mount Whitney. I had a lot to do here, so I got to town before Kirk. I had a huge breakfast, which included this lovely thing for dessert:

到了Mammoth Lakes的時侯我已經在山上連續18天了，18天沒洗衣服，18天沒洗澡，除了在惠特尼山頂外也是18天沒上網，手機的問題也要處理。我要忙很多事情所以比Kirk早到村莊忙這些。首先要負責大吃，早餐店的主餐好吃我，甜點是這個超大肉桂捲：

Then I got a bunch of errands done, which included finally getting a new cell phone. The local store was out of stock, so I ended up having to hitchhike to Bishop, 50 miles away, to pick one up. Luckily, I got a ride from a guy going back home to Bishop. He took me to the AT&T store there, and then even offered to give me a ride 50 miles back to Mammoth! I treated him to a meal at a local Mexican restaurant to thank him. The whole experience of getting this phone, which seemed like a huge hassle at first, ended up being a pleasant little adventure.

吃完早餐我繼續忙，去手機店問的時侯很難過，我要買的手機沒貨，只有80公里遠的Bishop店有貨。搭便車搭到那麼遠的地方有時候很困難，幸好有個人要從Mammoth回Bishop回家願意載我。他不但載我去Bishop的手機店，他還主動說可以載我回Mammoth，再自己開車回Bishop第二次。為了感謝他，我拿到新手機後在Bishop的墨西哥料理餐廳請他吃飯。我本來以為去這麼遠的地方會很麻煩又累，結果是一個很開心的下午，跟當地人聊天吃飯。

It was also high time for me to get a new shirt. The one I had started the hike with just wasn’t cutting it:

在Mammoth我也必須買新衣服，從第一天穿到現在的衣服破了好多洞：

Kirk and I met up and did our grocery shopping then he went back to the hostel while I did laundry at the laundromat. This was an interesting experience where a bad situation suddenly turned good. At first I was upset because the detergent machine at the laundromat was broken. This meant I would have to buy a large bottle of detergent from the grocery store, use it for one load, and then just leave it behind. This seemed wasteful to me at first. Five dollars isn't a lot, but when you only need 5% of that and 95% of it you have to leave behind it seems wasteful, at least in relative terms if not absolute. Then I remembered all the food, drinks, rides and other help I'd received over the last two months. I guess it was time to give back. Someone else would be happy to have free detergent. Indeed, when I was at the laundromat I saw a family there doing laundry and asked them if they wanted to take my detergent bottle because I couldn't carry it out. They were very happy to have it, and had a lot of questions for me about my trip and the PCT, as they had seen some thru-hikers in Yosemite before and were very curious. Instead of being bored out of my tree waiting for my laundry to finish and complaining about the broken detergent machine to myself, I ended up having a nice conversation with Cecilia, Mike and their daughter Lexi and was able to give them something useful. If I hadn't had to give away the detergent I probably wouldn't have started talking to them, so suddenly the five dollars didn't seem like waste but money well spent. Lexi’s brothers even wanted to introduce themselves to me briefly before they all left. Meeting this nice family was definitely one of the events on this trip that changed my perspective on things.

我跟Kirk在超市集合，一起買後面要吃的東西後Kirk自己回旅館，我去洗衣店洗衣服，在這裡壞事很意外地變成好事。洗衣粉的販賣機壞掉了，要洗衣服只能自備洗衣粉，所以我只好去超市買一大瓶洗衣精，今天用掉一點點，剩下的留在店裡，當然不會自己揹上山。其實五塊美金不是很多錢，問題是我只能用到我買的百分之五，百分之九十五要丟棄，想到這個比例就覺得很浪費。當時心情不好，不過我很快就想到這兩個月幫助我的人，提供食物、飲料，或願意開車載我，這些都遠超過五塊美金，現在要把這洗衣精捐出去我也不虧，收到的人也一定很開心。在洗衣店裡我看到一個家庭在那裡洗衣服，走過去問他們要不要拿我剩下的洗衣精，反正我自己不能帶走。他們謝謝我，然後開始問很多關於我這個旅程和PCT的問題，之前在優勝美地看過長距離登山客的時侯就很好奇了。於是我沒有在洗衣店感到無聊，沒有想壞掉的販賣機這個問題，我反而很開心地跟這個好家庭聊天，也很高興能給他們洗衣精這個小禮物。如果沒有要捐出洗衣精我就不會主動去找Cecilia、Mike和女兒Lexi聊天，後來覺得那五塊美金沒有浪費，反而會覺得我得到的很值得五塊。他們離開前Lexi的兄弟還說要認識我。洗衣店的事件是這旅途中讓我改變觀點的重要經驗之一。

Back at the hostel, we did not get out early the next day, as it was nice to sleep in a real bed for a change, and one of the hikers staying there decided to cook breakfast for everyone that was around. Thanks so much, Moana!

睡床比睡帳篷舒服所以我們隔天早上在旅館睡得比較晚，起床後也沒有馬上回步道，有一個登山客煮早餐給大家吃，謝謝Moana！

Back on the trail, we passed by Devil’s Postpile National Monument, columnar basalt formations, i.e. magma that cooled down in a certain way.

下午回到步道上的時侯經過一個國家風景區，這是柱狀玄武岩，形成方法跟外貌跟澎湖的玄武岩幾乎是一樣的。

Once again, we had a curious deer circling our campsite that evening.

那天晚上又看到一隻鹿在營地外圍走來走去。

The PCT split from the JMT in this area and we decided to follow the JMT instead, which seemed more scenic as it passed by more water. Eventually the two trails joined again and continued on into Yosemite National Park, the last of the three national parks the PCT passes through in the Sierras.

之後PCT和JMT在一段距離走不同的路，我們決定離開PCT走JMT，這個路線會經過很多湖泊，感覺風景會比較美。PCT和JMT匯合後，步道很快就進優勝美地國家公園，是PCT在內華達山脈中要經過的第三個且最後的國家公園。

In Yosemite, we arrived at the Tuolomne Meadows campground and the very first road to actually cross the Sierras since Kennedy Meadows, an incredible 388 km ago. There was a store here, and for our last meal together, Kirk and I opted for canned food that would normally be too heavy to carry. This way we were able to enjoy green beans, chili, broccoli and salad: a true feast on the trail and a great way to celebrate Kirk’s successful section hike.

在優勝美地我們走到從Kennedy Meadows起算第一條橫貫內華達山脈的公路，也就是說前面388公里的山區很原始，車子無法過。這裡有露營區和商店，我跟Kirk決定吃平常不敢揹的東西：罐裝食物。四季豆、德州肉將、青花菜、沙拉，在步道上算是豪華的一餐，也是慶祝Kirk成功走完他預計走的這一段的好方法。

We did eight big passes and over 260 km together over some of the highest and toughest but most beautiful terrain the PCT has to offer. Except for a couple days of rationing, we also ate very well and had plenty of leisure time despite the hard miles. Here we are at Donohue Pass, the border of Yosemite National Park, on this our last day together. It’s been a blast!

我們走過八個高山埡口，一起走完260公里，是PCT最有挑戰性且最美的一段。除了兩天因為怕斷糧而吃得比較少，我們這兩個禮拜都吃得很好，休閒時間也不少。Donahue埡口在優勝美地的界線上，過了埡口等於走進國家公園，這張是我跟Kirk今天拍的，是我們這旅途最後的合照。這兩個禮拜很好，我們兩個會在高雄再相見。