[pct-l] VVR-Good and Bad like most things

[stprsn at softcom.net (Pearson)]

Here's our nickel's worth.

When we got to VVR after 16 days in the Sierras + a side to Mt.
Whitney (yeah, we're SLOW!) we were pretty happy.  We had been
dreaming about cherry pie for the previous 3 days and were probably
 salivating over everything we walked past. (Too bad there was only peach when we got there.) There was a fair group of  hikers there already (about
 June 19th?) and we enjoyed talking to everyone we could. Buzz, Izzy, 
Ukelele Nate, Britt, Billy Goat, Mulligan, Gail, Porter, Halftrack, (Trim?)
 Walking Carrot, Dan, Data, Jason, Addie,and one guy named Mike? who hiked over two passes to get to the ferry by 9am and ate 3 burgers with fries in one sitting PLUS pie and said he was still hungry...LOTS of folks!!

The staff were VERY friendly towards us...John the cook and the woman
 who did the laundry (sorry, can't recall her name at the moment) in
 particular.  John cooked us anything we asked for and the laundry
 woman gave us soap and some tea for Tom because he was really bad
 off.  (dehydration, diarrhea, loss of appetite--all problems he had been
 dealing with BEFORE we got to VVR)  They were all concerned about
 the food situation though because we were telling them of a big group of 
hikers coming in within a day or so that we'd heard about for a few days
 on the trail (about 15 or so ravenous souls) and they needed to make a 
run to the store. Up there, that's an all day event.  When they showed up
 food started running out quick...wonder why? ;)  We did have a nice guy
 show up with 4 boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts though!! FREEEE for the
 hikers!!

The power was cut by the construction crew working there, which melted
 all the ice cream (oh heaven NO!!) and also hit the water main so there
 was an issue with water as well.  Not that it mattered a whole lot to us
 because we were so dang worn out that we HAD to hole up there for a
 few DAYS (yes, DAYS).  We didn't leave until we got ice cream! John
 thought we quit the trail and got jobs!

Were there some issues? Yeah, the fishiness of the hiker barrel
 donations caused us concern but we put our donations in when a big
 group of people were rummaging through in the morning and it seems
 those donations were snapped up by hikers before leaving on the ferry.
  Would Tom have liked to have taken a shower sooner...yeah, but what's
 a few more days after you have 16 days of stink on you? (I rushed to 
showers before they hit the main.)  Pricey, but we expected that. At least
they didn't charge us for the buckwheat pancakes that weren't cooked
 (John wasn't cooking that shift).  In total, $616.14 damage. (We had to
 get a room because Tom was spending all day in the crapper.) Glad we
 had our Visa with us!!

So, would we stop again?  Probably because we got to meet a lot of folks
 there that we may not have been able to otherwise and there was
 more good experience than a bad for us.  Would we stay for  DAYS?
 Nope.  Probably just in for the night and out provided we were in
 better shape than we were last year. (This was our first backpacking trip
 afterall.  Who's idea was it to thru hike the PCT?) =-)


Red's Meadows was great for ice cream, but the previous bunch of hikers
 must have cleaned them out because when we arrived there wasn't much 
left. (Unless there wasn't much to begin with!) Tom got a half-raw burger
 at the cafe though, not very appetizing. Also, they guessed at the price
 of a tomato...$1! Tom paid it before I
could object but he was really hankering a tomato! Nice to have the 
 shuttle out to Mammoth there, but we kept on going after pigging out on
 Haagen Daas.

The bottom line is that we're going through resorts and they're all out
 there to make a buck and they're all pricey.  The best burger for buck we
 found (Paradise Cafe ran out of hamburger when we got there so we
 can't judge them) was at Northern Kennedy Meadows, $6.50 burger with
 a bag of chips...add a buck if you want fries.  But if you head into Packwood up in Washington...a PA BURGER is to die for!!! (Get two, they'll give you funny looks.) =o)

Start Slow & Taper Off