My socks and shoes were still wet and cold from the river crossing last night so putting them on this morning elicited excessive grumbling. The canyon where we were camped held in the cold air. After about an hour of hiking, we left the National park. For about the last week or so we have been in Sequoia and Kings canyon national parks. They were absolutely beautiful and lovely to walk through.
Today’s pass was called Seldon pass. It felt significantly easier than previous passes. First of all, it was at a lower elevation so a lot of the climbing was still in the trees with the shade instead of over exposed rocks. Then it was a more gradual climb. We stopped at a lake to swim and eat lunch with about 500 feet of elevation left to go up. After lunch, our whole group hiked out together. It has been a lot of fun hiking with a group. It is Semi, Gnome, Pebbles, and Shuffles. Then at lunch we met up with Spiderman again and found Tadpole at a river crossing. They had been hiking alone and wanted company so our group grew. The last few miles to camp we walked all together in what felt like a conga line. Eating dinner together was filled with so much laughter and jokes. Some of us exchanged food that we were sick of eating and others wanted to try something new. Then the mosquitos got too bad and we all headed to the tents for refuge.
Four miles of the climb up Muir pass faced us this morning after the six miles of uphill that ended the day yesterday. There were sections of steep scrambles but then it would level off into a nice walking break. The trail soon became hidden under snow fields so the miles were slow since we had to route find. We passed a few lakes and many creeks and streams from the melting snow. Lake Helen was huge and deep blue tucked into the base of the last push. It was hard to see where we were actually headed until the roofline of the hut at the top of the pass popped up.
Helen lake
There were a lot of people up top of the pass but only one other PCT hiker. Then I remembered, this is 4th of July weekend so probably there will be a lot of day hikers and weekenders. A few ladies gave us a bunch of their food since they go home in a day and had extra. That was amazing since one lady handed me five snacks and literally every since one was gluten free and vegan so I could actually eat it all! I was so hungry today that I was very grateful for the extra snacks! The trail provides!
Snow fields before the summit
The afternoon was mostly exposed to the hot sun but continued along beautiful alpine lakes. We soaked our feet then tried to find some shade a few miles later for a rest! Finally we made it to camp and the sound of the San Joaquin River through the canyon is pulling me to sleep.
We had camped in a grove of trees just before tree line around 10,600 feet. The body doesn’t recover from exercise as much when sleeping and hiking at altitude. So we are usually always hungry or tired. Even still, Mather pass wasn’t too bad of a climb. We saw a couple of people we had ridden to the southern terminus with over a month ago and hadn’t seen since! It was neat to learn their trail names and hopefully we will see them again soon.
After summiting the pass, we began a long descent into the Palisade lakes area following the drainage of Palisade creek. This section of trail is easily in the top five most beautiful trails I have ever hiked. After some rock scrambling and avoiding the snowfields up top, we watched the creek weave through boulders and rocks until it spilled into the lakes. We then walked along the shore of multiple lakes with deep blue green clear water on one side of us and purple and yellow flowered hillsides on the other. Towering above us the whole time were jagged peaks striped with red iron, ore, and shale.
Palisade lake
Kevin and I sat on a boulder near the water just to soak in the beauty. I have been reading a book that describes life’s existence as a search for beautiful things. Both in what we see, hear, taste, feel, and in the connections and communications we have with others. It is easy to be distracted from the beauty in the world or have traumatic experiences take away the ability to see anything but harm in the world. But when healing has taken place, beauty can be found again. I felt a connection to this idea while observing the amazing beauty around me today.
Alpine shooting star flower
Then the trail dropped down a steep cliff and had seemingly a million switchbacks between the cascading waterfall and the canyon wall. The rushing water could be felt deep in my chest when I went to gather water. We sat with our friends on a rock overlooking the valley for a long while. This trail is one of the most popular trail and has a long waiting list for permits. Then we pushed on through the valley and up another six miles to camp. The last half mile was a steep punishing climb especially since we had thought we would camp before this climb but missed the campsite. So we pushed on to the next flat spots for camping which were right at 10,000 feet. It was chilly when we went to bed but the rushing water lulled me to sleep quickly.
14.1 miles-camped at the suspension bridge the previous night then camped 3 miles below Mather pass summit.
800 miles
Kevin in the midst of saying “I’ll pose for a picture when we get to 1000 miles, not now”.
Today we went over Pinchot (pin-Cho) pass. It was a seven mile steep slough uphill. The mileage (14) and elevation gain (4,000 feet) was the same as when we climbed Mt. Whitney except we went over a 12,000 foot pass. It was exhausting. Probably because of the still very full pack with five days of food and the giant stone steps in the trail.
It took us four and a half hours to go the seven miles up to the pass this morning. I had to stop a few extra times for water because I kept running out.
The trail followed a drainage along a rushing creek the whole way up until we began passing the alpine lakes. There were several places that would have been fun water slides if the water wasn’t so cold and we were so far away from a hospital.
For lunch we stopped at a clear blue alpine lake. We soaked our feet and it was so cold! I could see the snow field that was draining into the lake making it very chilly! I was quite happy to make it to the campsite and it is another early to bed night!
Camped previous night at Gilbert lake 2.2 miles into Kearsage pass, today hiked 16 miles, only 10.6 were on the PCT. Camped at suspension bridge, has a bear box.
The views coming back into Kearsarge pass were better than the views going out. So many alpine lakes and views of tall rocky but pointed mountains. Even so, we were very happy to make it back to the PCT and have our miles be directed north towards Canada again. We did two passes today, both Kearsarge and Glen. Usually we will just do one pass because of the elevation gain and effort. But we made it over both passes by 12pm and descended into Rae Lakes. This area is one of the most popular in Kings Canyon National Park for backpacking. It is absolutely beautiful with all the lakes that are such a deep blue and green color set right into the back drop of the gray, black, and red striped mountains. What a beautiful place. We stopped for lunch at one of the lakes and just enjoyed the scenery and the people we are with right now.
View on Kearsarge pass headed back to the PCT
Even though we did less miles today than usual, it still felt tiring so we were glad to make it to camp and get dinner. Everyone was happy to crawl into tents at 7:30pm since we have a hefty climb to start our day tomorrow.
Sleeping in felt glorious at the hostel. Then we laid out our food to make sure everything would fit in our bear can. That is a challenge, trying to eat enough food for the amount of energy we expend but also have it fit in our bear can.
As soon as we got all our stuff situated, we went to the climbing gym with the group we have been hiking with. They wanted Kevin to teach them more about how to boulder! He is a great teacher and climber. I sat and watched with another of our hiking group.
Since it was so hot today (101 degrees) and the trailhead was 56 miles away, we got a shuttle to the trailhead. Then we didn’t have to stand out in the heat and try to get a ride. There were seven of us in the group headed out to the trailhead so we could split the cost. The driver of the shuttle said he used to be in the army and driving hikers around was way more relaxing than getting shot at on a daily basis. I would hope so.
We only hiked in about two and a half miles this afternoon. I was exhausted from the previous days’ miles and all the errands in town. It was so beautiful at the lake and a treat to just take our time and rest. Technically this is a zero day since we didn’t hike any PCT miles. We are ready to do less miles a day in this next section in the Sierras. Both to enjoy the days and fully soak in the beauty around us.
I awoke to a campfire and warm coffee. The people doing trail magic at the campsite were also serving breakfast! They had warm coffee and breakfast quesadillas. They were trying to get rid of all of their food because they were hiking out today without the mules that brought all their food in. So we got some extra food that will help us not have to resupply in town so much. One of the guys gave me some of his lentils and quinoa he made that I can cold soak and I was so excited about it. It also gave me a great idea for a dehydrated meal I can make later.
Then we started our hike out to Bishop. Going over Kearsarge pass is not on the PCT but a lot of hikers use that exit trail to resupply. We tried to figure out a way to skip this trail out but decided it was too much food to carry and still enjoy the miles. So over the pass we go on a trail that doesn’t count for PCT miles to Canada. My mantra for today was “this is part of the journey”. Getting food is important and seeing the towns along the way is super neat. Bishop happens to be a skier, hiker, climber town. The largest town in Inyo county with 4,000 people. It has a couple of Native American reservations nearby so the intersection of expensive tourist prices doesn’t bode well for everyone. It is always important to remember the peoples’ land we are on.
Getting to Bishop is about an hour long drive from the trailhead so we weren’t quite sure what the hitching would look like. Fortunately, we came down the pass with a guy who camped at the same place we did last night. He had his car at the trailhead and offered four of us a ride. He had a cool adventure van him and his wife built out to sleep in and have taken it to a bunch of National Parks.
He lived in the Bay Area and was going North so could take us all the way to the hostel. He had hiked into the PCT from Kearsarge to bring food to a friend who is hiking the PCT. What a nice situation for the friend! He was telling me about his work for the state of California and how in the middle of his life he got a “fun job” building pipe organs. He talked about the difficult dichotomy of choosing to work for fulfillment or a well paying job with insurance and how those two don’t often come together. It is an unfortunate situation for many people. He said he balances his not quite fulfilling job with weekend and long trips outside. It is always neat to hear about other peoples’ life experience and it often seems that with a shared experience of backpacking or being outside, people are way more open to talking about life.
Once we got into town, we checked into the hiker hostel. It is a super cool hippy joint with brightly colored buildings but much cleaner than I expected. What a relief. We got most of our chores done before being so hungry and deciding to get dinner. Then we could go grocery shopping. The hostel had bikes for us to borrow to run errands. Four of us rode our bikes like a cool kid biker gang over to the grocery store. I’m sure we were an odd sight. Four grown adults on cruiser bikes, in conglomerate outfits since our normal clothes were in the laundry. What a time!
21 miles-Crab Tree Meadow ranger station to Vidette Meadow campsite
From the campsite it was 14 miles to the top of Forester Pass, the tallest point on the PCT at 13,120 feet. After a full day yesterday and a chilly moist night, it was hard to get moving this morning. My legs were tired and I was so cold. I must not be used to a wet cold anymore. After a couple of miles I warmed up and my legs felt like they were working again.
The climb up to Forester pass was very different than how I had imagined it. We crossed a couple of high plateaus with marmots running over the soft ground and eating the grass. The trail was steadily going up for a few miles crossing several streams coming out of high alpine lakes filled with snow melt. As we got higher we would see another lake and another stream. Going up mountains and passes is just so interesting because perspective changes so quickly that it seems like every new turn is a new view. Finally we got to the base of the very short but steep part. Looking at the wall before climbing, it was hard to see where the trail went. While on the climb, the trail is so well made that you feel tucked into the side of the mountain.
The climb was so fun and we could see our friends at the switchbacks above and below us so it was almost like a game!
As we reached the top, I was listening to my favorite pump up song which makes me feel strong and the view was so lovely I cried a bit! Overwhelmed at being here in this beautiful place and being able to share it with Kevin.
There were some other hikers up top coming south who told us that about 8 miles ahead there were some people camping and doing trail magic for hikers! Here? In the middle of nowhere? So we hurried down the other side of the pass to get to the food!
As we passed a few of the lakes in the other side of the pass, I paused to remember the woman who recently died there. She was a PCT hiker who died from untreated altitude exposure. Very young and what a terrible thing for her friends, family, and community. It was sobering to walk through that area after reading what had happened there. Her memory will live on.
When we arrived at the trail magic, it was a party. A group of trail angels do this once a year on a weekend and we just happened to come across them at this time! What a treat! They were cooking spaghetti over the fire and even had some food that I could eat too! The trail angels were hilarious and super fun to hang out with. At the end of the night, one passed around kazoos and led us in rousing chorus’ til everyone was laughing! It was a great experience there!
Four AM came very early after a night of tossing and turning. Must be I was excited and nervous for mountain climbing. We got up and got ready to go with the others in the group we had hiked with yesterday. Sometimes hikers just fall together for certain days of hiking and it naturally leads to looking out for each other on big days.
Kevin’s first words were “the stars are out!”. Meaning the skies are clear and we can go up without fear of a storm every second! Maybe our risk management is a bit more sensitive because of our guiding experiences and knowing people/friends who have been in dicey situations. Maybe we just don’t want to be stuck in a bad situation. But yesterday we had made plans for our backup plans regarding everything from weather to trail conditions for this specific hike. It felt good that it was a lovely morning and we could start out after the weather horror stories of the previous couple of days.
From the ranger station we followed a creek up to a few more alpine lakes tucked away in a bowl created by huge cliffs. It was hard to see where the trail actually went and we couldn’t see Whitney because we were too close to it.
There were so many PCT and JMT hikers starting out today, probably because some had waited for the weather window. There was a long line of people along the trail.
As we wound up the slope with many many switchbacks, I felt pretty good despite the altitude. Our group stopped often and checked in with each other as to how the altitude made everyone feel.
The trail was super interesting with many switchbacks and then it sidelined along what are called the Needles. Tall spires of rocks reach upwards and the trail winds around between them giving views of the desert below and the mountains of the Sierra on the other side.
Around 13,000 feet Kevin starts feeling the altitude. Per his usual altitude crisis. The last .4 mile took around 45 minutes as we went slow in the altitude and checked in often to make sure his symptoms didn’t get worse. He started feeling better after eating.
It was exhilarating and exhausting to arrive at the summit! The tallest point in the contingent 48 states. The views of the Sierras were phenomenal. I love seeing each mountain range and figuring out their personalities. The sierras are intimidating with their sharp edges and closer than most other ranges look from the tallest point.
We didn’t stay too long at the summit and headed down before the projected afternoon storms. The way down felt long but also nice to be going down after a long climb. There was also the resignation that tomorrow we also have another roughly 4,000 foot climb on trail over the tallest point on the PCT.
We planned to rest for a bit and then head out to do a few miles before setting up for the night. As we rested, we began to hear thunder in the distance. Then the rain and hail began. Luckily our tent was still up from the morning and leaving it up when we hiked out. We decided to stay put as the hail got harder. No more miles for us as the thunder continued in the distance for a couple hours. It needed up clearing up later and we could have dinner outside and hangout after a successful day!
Hitched out of Lone Pine, hiked from Horseshoe Meadow TH up Cottonwood pass trail to Crabtree Meadow ranger station.
21.1 miles
We began hitching out of town around 7:30. We sat at the street corner for around half an hour before someone picked up another hiker named Twizzler and ourselves. We felt fortunate to get a ride out of town so quick. This gave us enough time in the day to do our miles.
As we started up the trail we began seeing other hikers we knew coming down. They told us about the storm yesterday. Some people had gotten ice and sleet after just a few miles into their day and had to hunker down for the day. A few had been all the way at the Ranger station before going up Whitney and had been getting dumped in with snow. They said it had been 4-6 inches of snow there. That meant probably more snow for the top of Whitney so we were concerned about our attempt to summit the next day. One person told us they started up Whitney and turned around because of the bad weather and the snowy conditions.
When we arrived at the first water, the first lake of the sierras, we saw two groups of hikers that we have hiked some with. Both groups told us about their terrible day in the storm yesterday. One guy was headed back into town because he was not doing well.
Made it to a new National park!
Turned out, one group of hikers was going the same place we were for the evening so it was nice to meet up along the way throughout the day. It made the miles fly by and we made it to the Crabtree meadows ranger station around 7pm. Super great for a long day in the Sierras. Usually people’s daily mileage drops about a third when entering high altitude but ours has remained consistent so far.
Tomorrow we will attempt summiting Whitney. We are concerned about the weather based on the storm that has come through the past two days. We are hoping for clear skies and clear trails!
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