June 22: I awoke right and early with purpose: only 11 miles to Red's Meadows, where idols get the shuttle into Mammoth. The day you hike into town is always since. Even when you take an unexpected detour into a resort and do laundry/ take a shower 2 days prior. Town is always a treat.
The miles on a town day take 4 times as long as the miles on a non town day. Even if the clock says different. So even though there was lots of downhill walking into Red's Meadowa and the clock said I wa doing faster than 3 mph, it actually took me approximately 150 years to hike those 10 miles. Fortunately I have good genes and I age well.
To make matters more complicated, the trip into Mammoth required not one, but three separate shuttles. One to get you from inside the national park to the ski\mountain biking park. You got dropped off near the chair lifts and shop. The next one to get you from the lifts to the condos/ shopping center at the edge of the resort. Near the shops. The third required a walk through the shopping center to the other side where you got the shuttle into town. Talk about exit through the gift shop! So, a mere 2 hours after reaching Red's Meadows, I had completed the shuttle ride into town.
Town, of course, was filled with all the town tasks: post office, find lodging, shower, laundry, charge the electronics, groceries, and replace broken/ worn out gear at the outfitter. And eat mass quantities. Town stops can be exhausting!
After Mammoth, I would be entering Yosemite, so I picked up my bear canister, that I had bounced ahead. And, go figure, when I had a bit of time after my bout of sickness, the canister didn't bother me nearly much! (I'm still glad I didn't have it going over all those passes) I left Mammoth full, clean, heavy with food, and ready to thwart any bears or marmots after my food!!
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