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The snow continued off and on, but the temps were still quite warm. That meant that every time the snow stopped it would melt and compact down. This kept the depth manageable and made things a bit easier. Dave had discovered a stone building near the campground with another eve to escape the snow, but better yet, it had an unlocked empty wood storage locker. He also noticed two working pay phones next to it. Working pay phones! Now that's not something you see everyday. Since I provide an itinerary to my friend Chip when we take off on one of these trips, I felt it important to try to get a hold of him. The itinerary we left him is now totally wrong and should we get into trouble he'd be telling people to look for us in the wrong spot. I wanted to inform him of our new route over Tioga Pass and down to Lee Vining. Unfortunately, I not only left my cell phone in my car since it doesn't work out here, I also left my wallet with Chip's phone number in it. Why would I need phone numbers in the forest with no phone? The only thing I was carrying was two twenties, my drivers license and a VISA card. Undeterred I headed for the phones. Racking my brain I finally remember Chip's work phone number, but was afraid if he wasn't at his desk, my attempt would fail. Instead I decided to call the county help desk. It is always staffed during business hours and they could check his desk before transferring me to oblivion. I figured out how to make a call with my credit card and the help desk line was ringing! Naturally when the ringing stopped, a recording told me all help desk personal were busy on the other line and I could leave a message or continue to hold. I could just imagine how much money this call was going to cost me ($45 in case you are wondering). Thankfully after several minutes on hold, Paula answered. I recognized her voice instantly. I asked her if she remembered me and began explaining my situation. I gave her the basic plan just in case we got disconnected and then asked if she could check to verify Chip was at his desk before transferring me. She contacted him on IM and it was good we checked because he was actually working from home that day. She provided me his cell number (which I immediately remembered when I heard it), and then transferred me. I told Chip our new plan to hike the closed highway until we reached Ellery Lake. There we'd camp one night and hike the next day down to Lee Vining. From there we'd hitchhike to Dave's Truck at Silver Lake. The total distance if we couldn't hitch a ride is over 33 miles and we already had over 34 miles on our legs without any rest days. |
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Dave warming up by the fire. I used the time to dry my ski gloves and a few other items that got wet. |
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While continuing to cut and dry firewood, I went over and over the plan in my head. The hike to Ellery Lake was more than 10 miles and HWY 120 was covered in black ice and snow. I knew we weren't going to make good time. To make the closed Ellery Lake campground before dark would be a challenge. Hiking in the dark would be very dangerous and freezing cold. I wanted to leave as early as possible after sunrise. As the snow continued off and on, my desire to setup the tent and then have to pack it soggy wet into my already heavy pack seamed silly. I told Dave I thought we should instead sleep on the porch of the stone building. That way we'd have less gear out and could pack dry gear quickly the next morning. Everyone agreed the porch plan sounded like our best option for a fast morning launch. It was now clear the forcast was wrong. By nightfall I estimate we were close to a foot of snow - more than double the 5 inches expected. I was glad we turned back. |
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