Day 59

Zero #2 - still waiting for Leki part.

Ya Ya and Utah Aaron spent the day at Kenough Hot Springs, I joined Lucky, a hiker from Colorado, for lunch at the local juice bar, and Cosmo got a surprise visit from his mom and cousin Steph (who drove down from vacation in Lake Tahoe).

Later in the day we all reconnected at the Bishop Brewery and got the pleasure of meeting and spending time with the Cosmo Family Clan.

After lunch we headed to Vons to finish our resupply. While shopping I received a surprise text, and visit, from my friend Danielle. She happened to be driving to Bishop to rescue her off-roading husband (another story for another time). Although the circumstances weren't the best, it was great to see Danielle, Wesley (who was safe), and the wonderful Newman!

Day 60 

Zero Day #3 - still waiting for Leki...

Today was mellow, I started with a swim in the hotel pool, followed by walking up and down Main Street and stopping in at the local book stores to browse.

Later in the evening Lucky joined us for a game at the bowling alley.

Day 61 

Zero Day #4 - Leki part arrived! Cosmo gets sick :-(

​This morning we woke up ready to go, all except for Cosmo who had been awake all night throwing up. Although everyone, Cosmo included, was anxious to get back to the woods, we knew it wasn't safe to go into the backcountry while sick. We extended our stay another night and once again spent the day hanging around the Main Street in Bishop.

Day 62 

Zero no more. We finally made it out of town.

We stayed in bed at the Red Roof Inn until noon, getting our last fix of being horizontal and binge watching HGTV. In the middle of our relaxing morning I had an emergency craving for Chinese food, so I hurried to the restaurant a couple blocks away, brought my rice and veggie soup back to the hotel and ate it in bed.

Once we were practically kicked out of the hotel room we began our trek to the outskirts of town where we would attempt to hitch.

Along this journey down Main Street I heard "Lani!" yelled from across the street. I couldn't tell yet who it was but I waved enthusiastically until I figured it out. Crossing the street was my good friend from Los Angeles, Cari and her boyfriend John!

Cari was getting ready to embark on a backpacking trip with 11 other friends and just happened to be in Bishop to witness our departure. After more hugs and chit chat we continued on down the road.

It took us about an hour to get a hitch out of town. A nice young woman took all four of us to Big Pine, the next town over. From there we were picked up pretty quick and got taken all the way to Independence and up the long winding road to Onion Valley. The driver was enthusiastic and energetic. Cosmo and I sat in front while Ya Ya and Utah Aaron hunkered down in the bed of the truck.

We got to the trailhead with enough time to make the grueling trek back up and over Kearsarge Pass and down a few miles where we ate dinner and settled in for the night.