SHR Day 15 – July 17
Zero day in Bishop
Miles: 0
Gain: 0ft
Loss: 0ft
Passes: None
Alright, let’s make this a quick one…
Not much to say about today. SpiceRack and I did a little wandering around Bishop to fulfill our town needs, but we mostly hunkered down in the motel room, staying out of the heat and giving our sunburn a break from the sun. I got a lot of writing done, and Spice took care of some Spice business, all while avoiding the town-dehydration bug that usually decimates a zero day with a splitting headache. Nope, not this time. A great day of r&r.
Spice got up and out early, as she does on town days, to explore Bishop while the shadows were long and the air temp reasonable. While she wandered between cafes looking for the mystical gluten-free vegan breakfast, I stayed in bed to write on my phone. She came back empty handed and hungry. Expecting this result, we had assembled a formidable breakfast spread yesterday at Vons, and so did just fine, adding Travelodge corn flakes to our own oat milk, hash browns, cream cheese, and bagels.
Then we ventured back onto the streets in search of new shoes for Spice. Her Altra Timp 2’s were low on tread and rich in holes, which made some of the sketchiest parts of the SHR even sketchier. We checked at the used gear store, and then another gear shop with no luck. Fear not, Bishop has at least three gear shops within two blocks of one another. The third had the shoes she was looking for, as well as the best vibes. New shoes, more sunscreen, more bug juice, and free stickers. Back to the motel.
The day warmed up and the hours wasted away. We did laundry and ate. I wrote. Spice treated herself to a professional massage. At 4pm we reconvened for another trip to Vons to replenish our sushi supply. With aforementioned sushi in hand, we made use of the motel pool to cool off and feel fancy for an hour. Let me tell you, pool sushi feels luxurious even if it’s at a Travelodge with grocery store sushi. This was the highlight of the day for sure. As a hiker who blogs, most of my free time is either spent writing or thinking about how I should be writing. After a long day of staring at my phone screen, letting a warm breeze dry my thin covering of water to a chlorinated crust felt satisfyingly indulgent.
Fully relaxed and halfway full, Spice and I headed back to our room to organize our resupplies and get a handle on the giant piles of gear/trash that had accumulated across all flat surfaces. While we were doing that, our friends Stripes and Jet Fighter paid us a visit. It was a good hiker hang-sesh. Although they are not hiking the SHR, there was a lot of common ground and we heard Stripe’s harrowing bear encounter story. Pretty much, she saved another hiker’s life when she helped scare away a bear that had him backed up to a boulder. Of course, this was extreme bear behavior and I quickly wrote it off to myself as “oh, that will never happen to me.” However, I definitely made a mental note of the location of where that bear was hanging out. No way we’re camping there.
The other two left to find ice cream (classic), Spice and I finished organizing. Poof, the day was done. It was 11:45pm by the time we got in bed, well past our bedtime. I fell asleep fast, capping off one of the best zero days in memory. Lots of food, little movement, and no headache. What can I say, I’m easy to please.
Because there ain’t much going on in this post, and because I know you have nothing but time on your hands, here’s an article that I wrote for TheTrek.co about the SHR. This should keep you going until tomorrow…
Hike For Days 
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