August 2, 2015
0 miles today, 89 total
Vermilion Valley Resort
We woke up at 8:00am and had breakfast in the restaurant with Andrew and a new hiker named Gaye. Gaye had stayed in one of the yurts last night, but she was leaving today and had an extra night in it, so she offered it to us! We happily agreed – Courtney and I were tired on sleeping on the ground in the rain and a yurt sounded like luxury! After breakfast we packed up our stuff and “moved in.” There was one queen-sized cot and two twin cots, so Courtney and I took the queen, and Andrew took one of the twins. When Cole showed up at VVR, we offered him the last cot. Heather and Jennifer were nearby at their own yurt, and once everyone was settled in and had hung their wet gear in the sun to dry, we convened at the laundry room and spent the afternoon chatting together. We took showers, ate lunch at the restaurant, divided up our resupply boxes, and mostly hung out laughing and talking.
We stayed up until 9:00pm – very late for us! – on the porch of our yurt drinking whiskey and watching the sun set. Courtney and I sent out our nightly text message to our friends back home on our emergency beacon, letting them know we had made it halfway through our journey and had enjoyed a leisurely day letting our feet recover at VVR. We were excited for the next twelve days, which would take us through some of the most remote parts of the JMT, and also some of the most beautiful.