Bishop - Whitney Portal

So, after a delicious pizza dinner and catching up on hours of Olympics-watching at the motel we were staying at in Bishop, we had the most comfortable sleep of all time. Seriously, if you ever want a semi-sketchy drive up motel bed in the eastern sierras to feel comfortable, you should hike 135 miles first.

So, we woke up, and hit the local breakfast place - Erik Schats Bakery. Delicious. Also, by reading some of the things on the wall, apparently the bakery has caused an awful rift in the Schats family. The Mammoth, CA Schats Bakery is an imposter!! Imposter!!

Okay, so we made some phone calls to figure out how we could manage transportation. There is a bus from bishop to lone pine (about 60 miles), and then we planned on hitchhiking from lone pine to the whitney portal. Scary, but we were feeling particularly ballsy after our big hike. We lounged by the pool, had sandwiches, read the new york times. Things that seem totally incredible after being in the wilderness for awhile.

We walked over to the K-Mart parking lot, where the bus (more like a van) picked us up. I bought a $7 skirt because I couldn't stand the idea of wearing my dirt and sweat covered hiking pants anymore. The bus went well, we met a funny lady who told us that her husband was a famous long distance hiker, we met a seasoned thru-hiker, we met some funny local teenage boys. After about an hour and a half, we made it to Lone Pine. We walked over to Portal Drive and set up shop to hitchhike.
After waiting about 40 minutes, a guy in a truck who worked at the cafe at Whitney Portal drove by and stopped. He loaded us and our backpacks in, and we drove the 30 minutes up to.... my car!! It had survived the three weeks we left it. No bear attacks. While exciting that everything was in tact, it signaled the end of our adventure. We headed to a La Quinta in Bishop, then hightailed it to Oregon the next day.

[Lucy]
Miles: 0!