Vermillion Valley Resort to Rosemarie Meadow

Mileage: 12.3 miles (19.8 km), total 104.7 miles (168.5 km)

Today was a very tough day for a number of reasons.

We woke up and had breakfast at VVR with one of the PCT hikers who was staying at the resort. His name was Mellow and it was not hard to see how he got his trail name. After breakfast, it was time to hit the trail. Due to the low water levels, we had to get road transport out to where the boat to cross Edison Lake was stored. The boat itself was a small tinnie as the water level was too low for the main boat.

The trip across Edison Lake was stunning despite it being a remnant of its usual glory. It was also nice to be making some miles without having to exert ourselves for a change. All too soon, it was over and the helmsman expertly steered the boat into very shallow water which was as far as we could go on the lake.

Everyone got their packs sorted out as we jumped out of the boat and then got ready to hike. The initial stage of hiking out was across the dry lake bed of Edison Lake. It was marked periodically with orange buckets to guide hikers across the lake bed to the trail.

This part of the day was easy but we were to pay big time for the easy stretch once we were back on the trail. Today had a huge climb up Bear Ridge. We climbed up endless switchbacks along with Fred and Brad. The guide has the number of switchbacks at 57! Eventually, after what seemed like an age, we reached the top and had a break. Then it was onwards over much easier terrain now we had climbed the ridge. Fred took off at this point and I have never seen a big man move so quickly.  He must have been hiking at least 4 miles per hour and we struggled for a while to keep up before letting him hike on. Even Brad was struggling.

With all the recent rains, the water crossings were tricky as the water levels had come right up. We had to cross two major tributaries of Bear Creek and both were difficult.

The second one was very sketchy and there was no obvious place to rock hop. I had been struggling with bad feet and blisters for the last few days, and was reluctant to wade across and get the dressings (applied by Michael at VVR!) on my foot wet. So I made a stupid decision and decided to jump on to a rock which was slippery and wet.

I don’t remember much straight afterwards apart from coming around lying in the water with my head against a rock. I heard a ringing in my ears and then remember putting my head down and blacking out again. I could hear Ben shouting at me and then came back around and was able to struggle on to the opposite bank. My trekking pole was completely bent from the impact and I had bruising all over straining my fingers in the process.

It was a lesson not to take these Sierra stream crossings lightly and certainly I should have taken the safe route rather than risking things. We took a break on the opposite bank and recovered a bit although I was pretty shaken the rest of the day.

We eventually reached our campsite at Rosemarie Meadow. Ben was good helping me set up camp as I was struggling a little. The campsite was really beautiful and plenty busy with lots of hikers around including Fred and Brad.

After dinner, it was time to relax a bit.  After such a difficult and trying day, it was nice to know that tomorrow we would be in Muir Trail Ranch where we had accomodation booked as well as a resupply to pick up.