Let's clarify what "resort" means
Some of my colleagues at The Bee have heckled me for stopping at Vermilion Valley Resort on Saturday.
Let's be clear about what "resort" means ... it's a resort for backpackers. There weren't any mints on my pillow. There was no pillow at all.
But homemade pie, mattresses and hot showers sure beat rehydrated "berry cobbler," cuddling up on the hard ground and skinny dipping in cold mountain lakes.
Vermilion is on the other side of Edison Lake, several miles south of Silver Pass. The trail drops steeply into the valley, and it's kind of terrible -- rocky and dusty. Once Eric and I arrived at the lake, it didn't take us long to dip our sore feet in the wind-blown water.
The ferry travels to the far side of the lake twice a day: at 9:45 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. Saturday's group waiting for the ferry slowly grew. It consisted of grungy John Muir Trail hikers, slightly less grungy multi-day loop hikers, and freshly scented people just out for the day.
Craig Rangell of Fresno said he took the trail to the far side of the lake with his fiancee, Renea Larson, and his 9-year-old son, Austin. The trail from Vermilion was longer than they'd expected, but Rangell said that wasn't a bad thing for his son.
"Get him nice and tuckered out for school," he said, smiling.
The boat arrived right on time, and the ferryman gruffly instructed new through hikers to check in at the store once we arrived at Vermilion. "They'll tell you what's going on," he said.
Our little group of JMT hikers crowded around the store checkout counter, and the owner of the place, Jim Clement, greeted us with a cheery showman's air. He gave us the complete rundown on the freebies like the bathrooms and night's stay in the backpacker "tent cabin" as well as the stuff that costs money like showers ($5 a pop with fluffy towel included) and phone service ($2 a minute).
The tent cabin turned out to be a freestanding structure with tent walls and a permanent floor. Inside were eight creaky metal bunk beds with mattresses of varying grossness. Ick factor aside, we were thrilled to have the beds. We tossed our sleeping bags on top of the mattresses and rejoiced that we didn't have to set up our tents for a night.
Eric and I had two pressing things to accomplish at Vermilion. For one, we needed to check in with the newsroom. Because of our temperamental satellite phone, no one had heard from us since Thursday.
The next order of business was food. Saturday night was barbecue night. Barbecue. Just the word can turn a hardened hiker's brain into gleeful mush.
But Eric and I had just one problem. We were broke.
Check out "Credit card fraud in the High Sierra" to read the rest...