The stretch of the PCT through the High Sierras is called its crown jewel. It is every adjective you can imagine. Awe inspiring, breathtaking, and fabulous don't do justice to the experience. The crazy little pictures taken with my IPhone also don't register the greatness.
Repeatedly I would look around a full 360 degrees to unbelievably beautiful sights in all directions. I talked to one section hiker, Elk Walker, who had taken 2700 pictures in less than two weeks. It's hard to get very far some days because every step offers a new photo opportunity. I had to start restricting my picture taking.
The view is just part of the place. The smells (especially after thunderstorms), the roar of the rivers, streams and endless waterfalls, the playfulness of the marmots, the challenges of going over the multiple high passes, the fords and river crossings, the elements, carrying lots of food, and meeting new hiking friends whom you bond with quickly because of shared experiences all combine to make this place special.
The Passes
There are eleven major mountain passes (greater than 10,000') along the PCT that must be passed to get through the High Sierras. Miles per day no longer reigns as the primary topic, it is whether or not you have completed a pass and your experiences with these passes.
Days aren't referredy to as Monday or Tuesday, but as the day I did Mather Pass, or the day I did Muir Pass.
Planning so the ascent of the pass was in the morning before the snow softened and postholing (leg falling through snow) occurred became paramount.
The passes are dreaded, and at the same time loved because they provide the incredible experiences, views, and exhilaration. I was never able to do more than one pass in a day, most hikers couldn't. Even if the mileage in a particular day was short, the energy expended on a pass was too much to do two. Add to that the postholing that happens later in the day as the snow softens and there was no way I could be one of the folks with a two pass day.
In a typical year there would be no way to start doing the passes on June 1st, but 2014 has been an extremely low snow year (drought) in California. The snow that is left is melting fast. The experience of hikers one and two weeks behind will be totally different than those who crossed in early June.
The Food
There are no roads crossing the PCT for 240 miles from Kennedy Meadows-South until Tuolomne Meadows in Yosemite National Park, Hwy 120. This requires carrying a lot of weight in food, logistics of getting resupply, and in some cases rationing to make sure there is enough food so you can reach the next resupply.
Food becomes another major topic on the trail in this section, much the way water was a major topic through the desert.
Additionally, in this area bear resistant food canisters are required. They're heavy, and inconvenient, but necessary. At least the canisters make good seats for evenings around camp.
The Fords
Even though it's a drought year the river and steam fords were challenging, but not particularly dangerous. This will probably change drastically in the next couple of weeks as the rivers get even lower and will be much easier.
The worst problem from fording was the resulting constantly wet feet. Wet socks, and wet (and sometimes frozen) boots in the morning, are not two of my favorite things.
Fitness
I've heard the military says it takes two months to get a soldier into fighting shape. After two months it's obvious I'm getting into better shape. My belt is two notches tighter. I don't need as many breaks heading uphill. Recovery after hard days is better, a good night's sleep and food, and usually I'm ready to go again. Thank goodness, all the fitness
gained in the first two months are needed for this stretch.
Friends
Generally the hike has been more solitary than I had pictured. This stretch changed that a bit. For safety reasons it is key to join in with at least one other person when doing passes and when fording rivers. Especially with the people who accompanied me over the top was nearly as memorable as the pass itself.
May 28th Back on the Trail
I hitched two different rides to get back to the trailhead from Lone Pine. It took a while to get rides. Both folks were great. The second driver, John from Seattle hiked the PCT in 2002. We had lots to talk about, compare and contrast.
I took advantage of the time waiting for a ride to work on my boots. My feet have swollen and actually gotten bigger. When I got new trail runners I went from size 11 to size 11 1/2. My boots are my old size 10 1/2, and my little toes and the bump sticking out by those toes were killing me. I took my closed pocket knife and worked the boots from the inside to try and relieve the pressure on those spots. If this idea didn't work I was going to have to cut holes in my boots at that spot. Luckily it worked, the pressure was relieved, and I didn't have to mangle the boots.
I wondered if I should have switched to the boots for this stretch of the hike, or if I should have stayed with my trail runners like most other thru-hikers.
This was by far the heaviest pack yet. The food for the next ten days or so was onerous. I moved slow.
Looking down at Horseshoe Meadows and the Owens Valley area to the east heading back to the trail.
I made it to Chicken Spring Lake,
elevation 11,235 for the evening, and had an uneventful crossing of the first major pass, Cottonwood Pass.
A group of four really nice twenty-something year old guys from Missouri, called The Fellowship, were camped there. We all decided to try and get to Guitar Lake, at the base of Mount Whitney, for the next night so we could summit Mount Whitney May 30.
May 29th, Trying to get to Guitar Lake
I got up early and was hiking by 6:30. The Fellowship was faster than me so a head start was needed if I was to have a chance of making it to Guitar Lake. In just a couple hours a The Fellowship went right on by, not to be seen again this day.
I started seeing marmots. Marmots are plentiful In this area.
Marmots run and play much like the gray squirrels in the yard in Scott Valley. They apparently can be quite the pests with some backpackers, but all I saw was their playful side.
The John Muir Trail, a 250 mile or so trail through the Sierras, joins the PCT in this area, bringing southbound hikers and now I'm seeing more people each day. Also, the fast hikers who started a month after me at the ADZPCTKO are staring to pass me. At one break with about six young guys talking about how many 30 days they have done in a row, I realized I was out of my league.
With the heavy weight I wasn't able to get to Guitar Lake as I had hoped. I made it 18 miles to Crabtree Meadows, another popular kickoff spot for hikers hoping to climb Mount Whitney. I was disappointed with my mileage.
At one point I thought I'd get up real early and try to see the sunrise from Mt Whitney, I changed my mind and decided to get up at a rational time to attempt the ascent.
There were probably 20 or 30 folks camped at Crabtree Meadows. The only amenity was a toilet seat, with a windscreen on the backside. When one sat on the throne they faced all the other campers, it was the oddest set up I had seen. Sit down toilets are such a luxury along the trail that this definitely got constant use!
May 30th-Climbing Mt Whitney
Mt Whitney is not on the PCT. It's a 16 mile round trip off the trail. It means one entire day with no mileage gained, so it's technically a "zero." Most zeroes are for relaxation, but not this one. It took me six hours to get to the top.
Some of the trail construction is amazing!
I had been to the top of Mt Whitney, via the Whitney Portal route, five years ago with my daughter Staci. The last two miles on that route and this route merged.
On that trip my back was bothering me. We left early from Whitney Portal (22 mile round trip). It made sense for Staci to go ahead, and I would just do what little I could, then return to the base at Whitney Portal. Staci took off, I strolled slowly, never stopping. Sitting was impossible because it hurt my back, when I walked it was fine. I never stopped.
Nearing the top I talked with someone mentioning my daughter was ahead, probably at the top. They told Staci when they got there how near I was.
The memory of Staci running down toward me with the biggest smile imaginable yelling "You're going to make it!" is etched in my memory as a favorite life highlight. She then joined me and went back to the top with me. A special moment.
On the way down I decided to practice glissading. To glissade is to slide straight downhill on your bottom, using an ice axe like a rudder to slow down. It worked great. I figured I must have paid close enough attention when watching the You Tube video.
I have a little video, but I can't figure out how to post videos to the blog. When my daughter Kari and son-in-law Colin come to visit in two or three weeks I'll hope to post a few videos at that time.
May 31-There are 31 days in May??
I have always known there are 31 days in May. I know, and have taught, the trick with knuckles on your hand. I have taught the jingle "thirty days hath September, April, June," etc.. Of course there are 31 days in May. Somehow in my planning I had a brain fart and went with 30 days. This was positive in that I had one extra day to get to Tuolumne Meadow by June 12th. It was negative in that I was one day short on food. I had thought I had a little extra food, so I figured it would all work out.
The goal for the day was to get to the base of Forester Pass for the attack the following day. It was about a twenty mile day, but pleasant. Toward the end of the day I saw a couple about my age resting just a couple of miles from where I hoped to camp.
I wasn't anxious to do the pass alone so I asked if they were going northbound, and if so would they mind if I joined them in the morning for the climb up and over. They were gracious and said yes. Then we shared names, and it turns out it's Halfmile and his wife Deb. Halfmile is a legend on the PCT. Virtually everyone uses the Halfmile app he developed for navigation, and most use his maps. He did all this incredible work, and he doesn't charge for it.
In addition to all he does, he and Deb are very kind. We camped at the edge of the snow, above an iced over lake, on the coldest night yet. The previous two mornings there was some ice in the water bottles in the morning. The wind was blowing hard. Once I got into the sleeping bag with liner, underarmor, balaclava, and down puffy jacket I was fine...after my wet feet thawed out.
The evening was interesting as I camped next to Rudy, a lawyer from San Diego, who is quite a character. He was very experienced, and said he had over the years crossed Forester Pass eleven times.
June 1-A forester on Forester Pass
Oh my goodness it was cold in the morning. There wasn't just a little ice in my water bottle, it was frozen solid. My water bottle was outside my bivy sack, Ruby informed me how unwise that move was. Luckily, he had kept extra water inside his bivy sack so I filled my extra water bottle from his liquid water and was able to have water for breakfast and the climb.
My boots were wet from the previous day's stream crossings, so that meant putting on frozen boots. For some reason I didn't find this enjoyable.
Halfmile and Deb just as they arive at Forester Pass.
A forester at Forester Pass!
Now it's time to descend.
This was a safe, comfortable high mountain pass crossing. I now had two of the eleven (Cortonwood and Forester Passes) complete without any issues so I was feeling great.
It was fitting that I passed Charlotte Lake because my good friend, Charlotte Ferguson, has been feeding me in this part of the trail. For my retirement gift Charlotte dehydrated and vacuum packed numerous meals for me. This turned out to be a perfect retirement gift. It was challenging to get 12 days of food in the bear canister, and Charlotte's food packed super tight so I could cram lots in. Additionally they were great, and added variety to what had been the same old, same old meals.
The only negative to Charlotte's food came last night, the coldest night yet. The taco/burrito filling was fantastic, but it gave me horrible gas. I had to keep the bivy sack closed up tight for warmth. The result was not favorable.
