Vermilion Valley Resort

Mileage: Zero

Today was a much anticipated rest day at Vermilion Valley Resort.  The place itself has a nice vibe to it and the day was a great experience. The resort was full of PCT hikers and JMT’ers enjoying relaxing and having a day off the trail. It is well and truly set up for hikers and has some great food and drinks – for a price! This was probably one of our more expensive days on the trail but was well and truly worth it.

Most people tended to hang around outside the restaurant socialising and waiting for the next mealtime – unusual for hikers. It was great to hear people’s stories from the trail so far, especially the PCT’ers who had been on the trail a while and had a lot of miles under their belt by now.

After breakfast, it was time to explore the place a little. Taking a walk down to Edison Lake showed just what a low snow year it was this year. The water levels were incredibly low which explained why the large ferry was not operating – in fact, it was sitting on the lakebed stranded and waiting for the water levels to come back up.

Lunch was great and it was time for a burger, and another beer. After lunch, we hung around with the hikers outside and charged our electronics for a while. I think they enjoyed having an Englishman and an Aussie in the mix.

We met Brad who was hiking the JMT and we would see on and off for the next few days. Fred and his wife were also there who we met at Cathedral Lake. She was getting off the trail as it had been hard going for her.

We also came across Old West (named after his hat) and Thirsty. Given this was an interesting trail name, I had to ask where it came from. Thirsty had been hiking the trail and had apparently been on the look out for a trail mate – she was hungry for men… Hopefully she never reads this blog as I’m not sure she’ll thank me for sharing that! In real life, she is a musician from California.

That afternoon, we had the usual Sierras thunderstorm but this was was wild and came down with a vengeance. It was definitely a day we were glad we not in camp out in the wilderness. The rain poured down and within minutes, rivers of water were flowing down into the area we were standing.

A few people had their tent sites completely flooded with water heading straight through their tentsites causing pools where their tents were standing. It was crazy but after an hour or two of the heavens opening, it was all over.

For dinner, we caught up with Michael and Susan who were hiking the JMT. Michael was a retired doctor who had completed the Appalachian Trail with his son a few years prior. Michael and Susan were great company and we shared a bottle of wine (thanks guys!) with them over dinner. We talked about everything from life on the trail, earning trail names, Vermont (their home state) and having time off to thru-hike.

After a bottle of wine and a few drinks, it was hiker midnight and time to hit the hay before getting back on the trail tomorrow and heading south.