PCT Day 60 - 67

I have been so excited to reach Yosemite, so I hope you enjoy this latest episode in my favorite place :)

Day 60: 7/9/2025, Horseshoe Lake trail to mile 912.3

Today we were in no particular rush to get back on trail. We were meeting a friend at 10am for breakfast and they would be driving us back to the trail afterwards. Who is this friend you may ask? This was the result of one of Dennis’s successful geocache side quests. I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but when we were in the desert, Dennis decided to find a geocache on Cache peak that hadn’t been found in 11 years. He told me it would be an 1.5 hr detour for him and since he’s a fast hiker he would catch up to me by dinner. Well, that day I didn’t end up eating dinner until 10pm because 1) Dennis had the stove and 2) it took him 4 hours but he found the hidden cache! Apparently people can put themselves on a list that gets notified when a geocache is found and so Dennis was contacted by elrojo14 with a congratulations! We also learned that elrojo14, or Wes, was a UCLA grad from 1999. He kindly offered to do trail magic for us at a variety of spots, so Mammoth ended up being it! We went to a delicious restaurant called the Stove and I had a fantastic breakfast burrito and coffee my favorite way, with whipped cream on top.

We chatted with Wes for a few hours and he also surprised us with a goody bag of, wait for it , BABY FOOD!!

He gifted us baby food pouches, liquid IV, chocolate, and hot coco mix. We are being so spoiled here! We headed back to Horseshoe Lake and walked around to find some geocaches with Wes in the spirit of how we met.

Then, Dennis and I were off for a very late start to the day! We probably got on trail at 2pm and within our first 3 miles stopped to take care of some business since we still had cell service. We have been trying to track down a resupply package that got lost for weeks now. After calling 3 separate post offices a lovely postal worker helped locate the package. Unfortunately it was there when we passed through Bishop and they missed it! This was extremely impactful in our wallets because the Bishop resupply was quite pricey.

After figuring out where our packages had gone, we continued on until the Reds Meadow General Store. Here we raided a hiker box and got SO MANY good food items! I even got a backpackers pantry fancy meal for dinner, those things are like $12! We ate ice cream with our friend Quinn thanks to a trail angel Hamburger Helper, and afterwards headed on towards devil’s postpile.

I have wanted to see it for so long and the day finally came! This pile of rocks is famous for its hexagonal columnar shape. Apparently this is natures best way to distribute stress.

Day 61: 7/10/2025, mile 912.3 - 933.2

Day 61: 7/10/2025, mile 912.3 - 933.2

Today we hiked so far today in order to get close to Tuolumne Meadows where we would be seeing my parents! This morning we left our cozy campsite at nearly 9 am. We set an alarm for 6 am but weren’t properly awake and out of the sleeping bags until 8 am. Today we had a lot of gradual uphill climbing to do and we were aiming for an ambitious 25 miles after a 9 am start. Spoiler, we only did 21 miles but we were pretty happy with where we ended up. I hiked ahead of Dennis for a while today and eventually figured I should eat lunch because I was starving.

I had so much fresh food in my bear can and decided today I would eat two tortilla wraps, how bougie. Each wrap consisted of a half avocado, shredded carrots, crushed chips, hot sauce, and half a tuna packet. I ate the first one in peace and thought to myself complements to the chef. However after the first bite of food in the second wrap I was so startled. I was under attack by a chipmunk! One second I was happily munching on a tortilla wrap and the next second a chipmunk flew out of nowhere and hit me square in the chest! I was able to chest bump it off of me and only lost a bit of avocado in the process, but I was taken aback. I had cell service and I called my parents and sister to tell them the crazy news! Dennis joined me twenty minutes later and we decided to go one more mile to a nice campsite with no flies for his lunch. Dennis had lunch at a beautiful rest spot where we had striking granite views from our little site amidst the trees. We set up our tents so we could relax away from the bugs. While we were reading we noticed a train of mules go by, it was awesome!

We had been reading about this on a plaque earlier in the day so it was fantastic to see it firsthand.

Eventually I left before Dennis on my quest to head over Donahue pass before sunset. I ended up arriving only minutes after the sunset and the soft light made the mountains look gorgeous. Dennis was eating for me at a sign and we “jumped” into Yosemite National Park holding hands. We ate a fancy Mountain House Meal and then descended a few miles in the dark until we couldn’t hike any further. 

Day 62: 7/11/2025, 933.2 - 943.9

Today is the day I finally get to see my family!!! HOORAY! I have been counting down the steps to Tuolumne Meadows because I’ve been so excited to see everyone. My dad would be picking us up from the trailhead so we wanted to get a move on since we had 10.5 miles to hike and we wanted to arrive before 11 am so we could order a breakfast burrito from the grill. Dennis and I had our speed legs on and cruised until we wanted a little coffee break. We enjoyed hiking in such a flat, mellow meadow and we were flying around 3 miles and hour.

With a couple miles to go until we reached the trailhead a familiar voice said hello! It was the Globalman! (My dad) and he came bearing fresh apples. We were so grateful for the consideration in bringing fresh fruit and immediately stopped for a break.

We then hiked all the way out with dad and chatted with him about the trail. When we arrived at the general store we picked up our mail that we asked people to send. Since my birthday is this week I thought it would be special to receive mail in Yosemite! The post office man was so excited and said Giorgi and Gavrilenko, finally! You have a ton of stuff.

We were so giddy and took a picture with our mound, drank the beers dad brought and downed our burritos. Libby even sent me my absolute favorite cookies that she bakes! They arrived and were still freshly baked perfection. Then we enjoyed the winding drive on highway 120 back to the cabin where we would see Mom and Anna. Thanks Dad for driving 1hr 40 min each way! When we finally reached the cabin we had a welcoming party! My sister’s dog Matilda was so excited to see me again. I missed my family so much, especially my sister and I had such a nice birthday (fake bday since no one will see me on my real bday, or so I thought). My family made me the most incredible mile 945 care package full of thoughtful resupply food options and A HUGE SAUCE BAG.

Someone’s been reading the blog ;) Then I had an unboxing party of all my mail and opened presents from my sister. My great uncles sent me the most incredible haul of fancy backpacking meals, I’m going to be eating well!

She drew a picture of me the day I left for the pct and it is so incredible.

Dennis and I figured out our resupply with all the food we had and then around 5:30 pm I picked Pablo and Flo up from the bus stop. We all had a delicious bbq thanks to Dad’s cheffing and I made everyone watch Mama Mia with me after that. What a beautiful day. 

Day 63: 7/12/2025

Today was a special zero day. I have never felt so full! I woke up relatively early and was able to greet Nonie when she arrived. She gave me the most amazing camp chair for my bday and a fun hat to wear!

I then proceeded to chef it up for over an hour and I made 11 of my famous egg toasts. Then I got incredible news that my dear Jess Cooper was going to come over for lake day! We quickly finished up our ressupply and made some sandwiches so we could join my sister and her friend at the lake. It was a very hot day, perfect for pounding at the lake! Dad dropped us all off at the lake and we had a proper California lake day with hard ciders, fresh fruit, sandwiches, and a soft serve ice cream cone. 

Later in the evening I repainted my trail nails with the polish that my Gruncles and sister brought me. I’m officially stylish and ready to hike.

Day 64: 7/13/2025; mile 943.9 - 958.5

Today was an amazing day on trail because dad joined us for the first 6 miles! We had one last amazing breakfast of breakfast burritos that I cheffed up, and then left the cabin for Yosemite. The drive is quite long, thanks Dad for driving! We got to Tuolumne Meadows just before noon and started hiking shortly after.

These next 6 miles to Glen Aulin are some I am very familiar with. I’ve hiked here with Dad, my cousin Cassidy, my friend Teresa, and trail run here with my friend Natasha. I enjoyed the mellow miles with my super super full belly. Town food had filled me up! Dad had lunch with us at the Glen Aulin camp and I jumped in and swam downstream of the waterfall. Thanks to Anna and Dad I have so many sauces, specifically Chick-fil-A sauces! Each day this week I’ll be trying a different flavor with my tuna/chicken wraps. Afterwards we decided we would push on 9 more likes to camp.

Today was fairly easy and we found a nice spot at the base of a steep climb, that could be a tomorrow problem! Since we were below 10,000 ft and in Yosemite, we were allowed to have a fire since there was already a nice ring built. The site was perfect for a fire with an open space and nothing to catch fire. Dennis made a fire, I cooked a delicious meal, and we enjoyed a proper camping experience with Flo and Pablo. 

Day 65: 7/14/2025; mile 958.5 - 980.9

Today we started with yet another climb. We attempted to have a huge epic mileage day and the terrain map was like a sawtooth. I spent morning till lunch with Merit and Dennis, but by the time we were going downhill from Benson Pass I was slow going.

There are so many uneven rocks in trail that I’m constantly tripping and rolling my ankles. Today Merit witnessed a particularly rough ankle roll. I had misstepped and placed all my weight into my left ankle. Then I hopped a few times on my right foot until I abruptly sat onto a rock and waited out the sharp pains. This actually happens way more than you’d think, maybe 3 times a week. Once the pain stopped I started hiking down again. 

We had an ambitious goal of 24 miles today, but around afternoon snack time I ran into Pablo and Flo at the base of a climb and they announced they would be stopping sooner. Dennis and Merit had already passed them, but we were at a water crossing with a choose your own adventure to get to the other side, and somehow Pablo and Flo didn’t see the other boys at all. This detail becomes important later! Pablo and Flo left first and I finished eating a bunch of Welch’s fruit snacks. Then I trudged on to climb the next and potentially second to last climb of the day. I quickly came to a fork in the road, left for Benson Lake, and right for the PCT. There was a familiar green trekking pole left on trail. I thought it was Dennis’s so I picked it up and yelled his name, no answer. Sometimes we place our poles on the ground to let other people know where we are going. Dennis clearly wasn’t close by, so I decided to take his pole as I hiked up the trail. I kept calling his name, but after a quarter mile I realized he was actually probably at the lake and so I turned around and left his pole at the sign. The lake was 0.5 miles off trail and I had plenty more miles left to hike, so I continued on alone. I freaked out a bit when the sun had set and I still couldn’t find Dennis. Thankfully Pablo and Flo sent me a garmin message saying he was behind me and that he’d catch up on 15 minutes. I was so relieved to see him.

Day 66: 7/15/2025; mile 980.9 - 1005

Today we got off to a late start but still managed our goal of 24 miles. There were two steep climbs in the morning and a long gradual climb towards the end of the day.

Today we exit Yosemite on foot. We’ve only spent a few nights within the Yosemite boundary, but it seems like it came to an end really quickly. Today was a monumentos day because we finally reached the 1000 mile marker! I’ve seen it before the last time I hiked this section of the trail with my dad, but at the time I couldn’t comprehend what that would mean. It feels so incredible to have walked into the quadruple digits on my own two feet. We pretty much hiked from 9 am to 9 pm, so I’m sleepy in the tent as we speak. Today had an 11 mile gradual uphill that was honestly tremendous. I’ll add some photos and that’s pretty much it for today!

Day 67: 7/16/2025; mile 1005 - 1018.1

Today was yet another exciting day because I would see my family again!!! We had 13 miles and a bit of climbing to do until we got to highway 108, so Dennis and I woke up at 6 am and left by 7:15 am. Today’s scenery was much more volcanic. The trail no longer had the massive granite rocks looming around us, but instead had many different dark colors of red, brown, and black in the soil.

The switchbacks up to the ridge were so cool! They were long and gradual which made for nice climbing. Dennis and I stopped on the ridge because we knew there would be service there. I downloaded a few more podcast episodes and continued on. About an hour later a very familiar man and dog were walking towards me on trail. Dad and Tilly!

Mom wasn’t far behind and together we hiked the last four miles down trail.

With about a mile to go my sister and cousin Jenna were waiting to cheer us on.

The caravan kept growing! With 0.2 miles to go my aunts and grandma were waiting. It was a whole party.

We had a proper feast at the parking lot complete with cozy chairs, cold beverages, and yummy yummy food. Dennis and I hung around for hours waiting for Flo and Pablo to arrive since Dad had their resupply. By the time they arrived Dennis and I decided we wanted to spend the night in Long Barn (a cozy cabin) with my family before heading back on trail the next morning. We spent the rest of the evening chatting with my family and eating Uncle Dave’s delicious bbq! 

Thank you to all of my family who came out to make my series of birthday adventures amazing! I enjoyed all of your company and am so grateful you supported me ❤️