Day 57- Zero Due To Lightning And Thunder

June 28, 2016 

Onion ValleyTrailhead 0 Miles Hiked

The general rule of thumb for hiking in the High Sierra Nevada range is if there is a thunderstorm get off of the mountain. In our case we never even had a chance to get on the mountain. 

We stayed up way to late again last night so we all slept in again. We were hoping to get a late checkout, but the owners of the motel wanted us out so that they could clean the room. We only had ten minutes to pack up and get out. We barely made it before they charged us for another day. The only good thing was Zuul and I had time to watch the season finale of Game of Thrones. Oh, man what a season!!! We went across the street to Mcdonalds  for another greasy breakfast. There is a bus that runs between Bishop and Independence that left at one o'clock. We decided to take it instead of trying to hitch the forty-four miles. Since we had two hours to kill we decided to hangout at McDonalds and take advantage of their free wifi. Unfortunately they did not want us lingering. The owner politely asked us to leave. That was two places in the same day we were asked to leave. I guess we had overstayed our welcome. We decided to walk down to 

the bus stop and try to hitch from there while we waited for the bus. We were unsuccessful in getting a hitch, but at least the bus was on time. 

The bus driver was playing all kinds of Disney movie soundtracks. It was a little strange, but I enjoyed the Jurassic Park theme music. We got back to Independence around two thirty. We stopped at the convenience store for some last minute drinks before trying to hitch back to the trailhead. By this time we could see storm clouds brewing. After waiting over an hour for a ride we finally had a car pull over. The driver was non other than Dinna "L-Rid" Saufley the owner of Hiker Heaven. She was in the area visiting a friend and thoughtfully came looking to see if any hikers needed a ride. On the way up the mountain the sky finally let loose and it began to pour. L-Rod dropped us off at the trailhead and told us we had better wait out the storm. We did not need convincing. By that time it had started to hail. We ran for the bathroom and piled inside with a few other hikers. It was the best smelling trailhead bathroom I've ever been inside. 

Hiding from the storm 

Car ride up the mountain

Once the storm blew over it was too late in the day to hike over Kearsarge Pass and back to the PCT. We only had one option and that was to pay $30 to camp at the trailhead. We set off to see if there were any spots open. As we were walking around a family asked us if we were hiking the PCT. We told them yes and talked about the trail for a little while. They said they had decided to leave early because of the storm and offered us their spot that was already paid for. They even threw in some firewood and two half full bottles of wine. Trail Magic!!!! The campground attendant was also nice and didn't make us pay for the spot since it was technically already paid for. Thanks Wild Bill, and your bathroom smells great. 

It wasn't exactly how I thought the day would go, but it was a happy ending nontheless.  

"Respond; don't react.

Listen; don't talk.

Think; don't assume."

-Raji Lukkoor