[pct-l] PCT international hopefuls seek local knowledge

[Paint Your Wagon]

Bingo!

Mammoth Lakes has a hostel. 

I stayed there for over thirty days nursing an injury. Davison Street Hostel. Mammoth Lakes has everything you asked for. There is snowboarding, downhill skiing, mountain bike riding, skate boarding, hiking, biking, running and equestrian trails, music festivals, the highest brewery in the sierras, free shuttle buses, you name it! The rate is about $30 a night, but they have reduced rates for long term renters. A month would be considered long term. They give PCT hikers a discount. There is a coed dorm room with bunk beds (10 spaces). There are four individual rooms with one bed to multiple beds. One or more people can rent them for any number of nights. The kitchen is well stocked with everything a personal residence would have. Andy is the manager, and Maggie and Carl the owners; whom live in the San Diego, CA., area. The YARTS shuttle runs a route to and from Yosemite NP. The ESTA shuttle runs up and down HWY 395, connecting Reno, NV, in the north, to Lancaster, CA., in the south.

Kennedy Meadows (south).

Home of the Cyber Café. A vintage Airstream travel trailer with computers and internet service. This is a trail angel’s personal 5 acre spread, populated by vintage pull behind camper trailers affectionately referred to as canned hams. I stayed there for 56 days nursing an injury and while awaiting some planned for funds that were held up due to human error. 

Tom handles the bear vault loaner program for hikers needing one. Kennedy Meadow’s sign says there are 200 residents, but the locals swear that is a lie. Lower, much lower. This is the start of the high sierras. The elevation is 6,427’. The Milky Way is stunning at night here, weather permitting. It’s high desert; very arid. A fork of the Kern River is nearby. Fishing with a license is OK. A free bath is possible, depending on how cold, or how warm it is. There’s a USFS campground 3 miles north. 

There is a 9 hole disc golf course, which I was privileged to help build, and is addictive as heck. Tom, the owner, and whoever else is there, plays a round in the morning and another round in the evening. There is an outdoor movie theater with rustic bench seating set up ala amphitheater style. US Navy fighter pilots from China Lake, love to serenade the audience by cutting donuts overheard (circling in the night sky) in their F-18 Super Hornet fighter attack aircraft. I believe they are curious about the outdoor movie screen which captures their attention causing them to turn a radius overhead. It’s quite exhilarating for the audience down below. 

There is an indoor/outdoor kitchen that’s somewhat primitive but stocked well enough to allow Tom the ability to cook and feed 30, 40 or 50 hikers at one time. The location is isolated a bit. It’s an hour by auto travel to Ridgecrest, population approx. 27,000, which Tom travels to regularly, usually on a weekly basis, and maybe more often when the PCT herd is passing through, in order to do shopping. US mail/postage is available in town. You can probably yogi a ride with Tom, providing he has room in his truck. He has two trusted canine companions; Kubota (mother) and Clover (daughter). 

There is a store within eyesight; Kennedy Meadows General Store, which has somewhat sparsely stocked shelves but with an eye (inventory) for what hikers want, and they travel at least weekly off the mountain to do their shopping, so it’s possible to yogi a ride. There names are Al and Leonna Hansen/Hensen??? I ran into them by sheer coincidence last year as they were shopping in Lancaster, CA. Also, Al and Leonna, accept packages, and will take them to the post office for a fee. Cheryl Strayed, author of the hiking/odysseys in life book, mentions stopping in the store in her book.  

The ESTA shuttle runs up and down HWY 395, connecting Reno, NV, in the north, to Lancaster, CA., in the south. This location is mile 702 of the PCT, and it lies a half mile west of Tom’s place. Tom operates on the kindness of hiker’s donations, and the usual and customary amount proffered by some of the wise sages in the hiking community, suggest a donation of $20 a night. 

One caveat: there isn’t a shower at Tom’s place, but the store has a couple of them, and they will also do one’s laundry (wash and dry) for a small fee each. Also, the store has a short order grill, and each Friday, the local customers and the owners get together for a potluck which is excellent. Once a month there is a special celebratory weekend event and meal, usually running under fifteen dollars.  

It’s

Big Bear Lake has a hostel. 

Big Bear Lake has everything you asked for. The population is 5,116. A sister city contiguous to Big Bear lake, is Big Bear City, with a population of 5,779. It’s easy to mistake one for the other, especially when using the postal system. The hostel is rustic and hiker friendly. It’s located in a ski town just like Mammoth Lakes. There’s a modern kitchen in the hostel with well stocked cabinets full of dishes, pots, pans, silverware and appliances. There are dorm-rooms, and I believe there are a few single/double private/semi-private rooms. Their rate is around $20.00 a night. They offered me a sliding rate for staying a number of days, as long as I paid for all of the days at the front end of my stay. The manager’s name is Richard. Getting to your destination however will be a bit circuitous. The location of Big Bear is north of los Angeles, in the transverse range (east-west) otherwise known as the Los Angeles Crest.