Day 54: Home Away from Home

June 23, 2015
Red’s Meadow – Mammoth Lakes (906.7)
0 miles today
950.8 miles total
Today’s Elevation Gain/Loss: + 0 ft, – 0 ft

Pickles and I love Mammoth Lakes. We could totally move here. In fact, the thought crossed both of our minds today that we could move into a condo, get jobs, and feel pretty well settled by the end of a week if something went wrong on the PCT. Not that we’re anticipating any problems, it’s just been nice to feel like we’re in a place that “fits”. Between the size of the town, the pine trees and thin mountain air, the flourishing mountain biking scene, the array of coffee shops, and the successful brewery, we found very little that this town lacks. This fact, and the long chunks of free time that Pickles and I found throughout the day, made for a pretty incredible zero.

I started out my morning at what I now consider to be one of my favorite coffee shops ever. Stellar Cafe has charm, character, good prices, a full menu, and tasty coffee. Plus good music and wifi of course. I ended up spending about 5 hours there this morning getting caught up on all sorts of work. This is actually one of my favorite ways to spend my time and I found it to be incredibly therapeutic and relaxing. Pickles and Mama Bear dropped in at different times for breakfast, but then both found their own ways to occupy the morning. When I was finally ready to head out, everyone was eager to check out the Village at Mammoth and Pickles and I were already hungry again. We filled up at Pita Pit, then bought ourselves a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and walked around the village in the warm sun eating our dessert and watching young moms herd their kids and sip their Starbucks. From there we headed back to the hotel for a quick swim, and then got ready to go to the movies.

Movies at the theater are Pickles’ favorite treat, and when he saw that Jurassic World was playing, he insisted that we fit it into our zero. I was down for some off-the-feet entertainment, and actually enjoyed the movie way more than I expected.

For dinner, Mama Bear, Pickles and I all wanted to check out the local brewery. We weren’t disappointed – everything from the ambience to the food to the beer was on point, and we left satisfied and sleepy. We’re so pleased with how well this day went, and are almost tempted to stay for another. Of course we know we need to keep moving, and we have Tahoe to look forward to, but it will be hard to leave Mammoth so soon. At least it’s not too far away, and I’m sure we’ll be back for both skiing and biking in the years to come. Tomorrow I’ll head back out on trail in my new shoes, which finally arrived, so I’m hopeful that they’ll work well, and also a bit nervous that they might not. At least my feet have had some time to rest and recover and tomorrow we’ll be heading out as fresh and ready as can be.