PCT Day 72-74 – Double Zero in Mammoth to PCT mile 917.1

June 15-17, 2026

Total PCT miles: 9.3

Non PCT miles: 4.1

Total: 13.4 miles / 21.6 km

Total elevation gain: 2644 ft

Total elevation loss: 2858 ft

Steps: 31448

Double Zero In Mammoth

With the exhaustion and lethargy I’ve been feeling over the past section I decided it was best to take a double zero in Mammoth. This would give me a day to get town chores done and another day to actually rest. When you get into town there is so much to do that the “day off” from hiking feels busier than a day on. I guess it’s pretty similar to real life when the weekend flys by and the next thing you know it’s time to go to work and you didn’t even get a chance to recover from the previous week. The extra day in Mammoth also gave me a chance to eat more town food… and let me assure you I ate as much as I possibly could.

Mammoth is a great hiker town. Even though it’s a bit spread out there are free busses that run every 20 mins during the day that will take you pretty much where ever you want to go. This really helped keep my step count at a more reasonable number over my zero days!

I got my new Durston pack which is the updated 2026 version that has some good improvements over the one I had. Notably it has larger hip pockets so I can cram more snacks into them! Extreamly happy with their customer support For replacing my old bag due to a manufacturers defect even though it was past warranty. I bought new sun gloves as my old ones were full of holes, a new water filter because my old one was slow as molasses and bug spray.

I also took the opportunity to lighten my load a little by mailing home a few things. My ice axe, which I probably never actually needed, my touque that I never used, my extra mittens and my down puffy jacket. I may live to regret sending home my jacket but between my alpha fleece and my rain jacket I think I’ll be fine. I also put a few things into the hiker box that I no longer needed like my extra powerbank (can’t ship it internationally via USPS).

I ate all the food – steak and eggs x 2, burgers, chicken burgers, pizza, a giant sandwich, crepes, ice cream, chips, cookies, more sandwiches Just to name some. It got to the point where I was eating not because I was hungry because I was stuffed. But I knew I needed the calories. Hopefully I managed to gain a few pounds back.

I also did my resupply. I decided to pack out 4 days of food. I’ll have to get more in Yosemite. But somehow my 4 day food carry fills up the same bear can I just did 7 with. But I did purchase a ton of snacks to try and keep myself fueled.

I seem to have lost my ankle brace. It’s entirely possible I inadvertently put it in the box I mailed home. I mean it’s been 700 miles since I sprained my ankle. I probably don’t need to be wearing it. But I’ve ordered another as I was planning on replacing it it anyways. I’ll get it in Tahoe which is 200 miles ish away. Hopefully I won’t have any issues.

I also relaxed, watched TV, met lots of hikers and got as much sleep as possible.

The double zero was definitely the way to go even if it meant other than High Stakes all the other people I have been hiking with have gone ahead.

June 17th – Back on Trail

I woke up early this morning, before my alarm even went off so I could get steak and eggs one more time before hitting the trail and grab some red bull to pack out with me.

High Stakes and I would have preferred to get on trail earlier but the bus to Horseshoe lake doesn’t start until 09:00hrs and take about 30 minutes to get to the trail head. But the bus is free and we didn’t have to bug a trail angel of hitch so I can’t complain much.

We were on the trail head shortly after 0930 am it was already hot. Today’s high is 24 Celsius but it felt much warmer for most of the day. We decided to take the Mammoth Pass trail instead of the trail we hiked into town in. As a result we skipped 4 ish miles of the PCT. This trail brings us though a small burn area from a fire that was over a decade ago and provided good views of the valley and surrounding mountains. At Red Meadows we finally joined back with the PCT. This is normally a pretty popular stop on the PCT but it has not opened yet for the season because of damage to the road. Just last weekend they opened the road for weekends only.

From here we continued down and then followed the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. Fortunately all the crossings on this river have bridges because it would be very unsafe to cross otherwise. We then entered Devil Postpile National Monument which features basalt columns similar to those found in other places in the world. There is a side trail that will take you close by but we decided to just enjoy the view from the trail and continue on.

Today I’ve seen more PCT hikers on trail than any other day. It seems the bubble is catching up to us. We stopped for lunch at a creek and by the time we left there were 6 other hikers there. I counted another 5 or 6 throughout the day and I’m camped now with 5 other PCT hikers and 1 JMT hiker.

We had hoped to do a few more miles today than we did. But the first day out of town is always the hardest with the heavy packs and typically late start. So we found a great spot and set up. I even have cell reception here which is wild!

We plan on an early start and hopefully 17 miles tomorrow to get us over Donahuge pass to the last legal campsite before we entire Yosemite!