Hiking - 2106 PCT - Day 46 to 53

Enjoyed a very large pancake breakfast in the morning and as the power is only on when the generators are going had to hang around a while to recharge devices. By the time that was done it was close enough to stay for lunch and then wait for the cool of the afternoon before making a start.

KM was a good place to hang around with card games and lots of other hikers to share stories with. Everyone busy for a while sorting out their resupply packages and gear for the next few days, trying (and falling short) to cram all their food into their Bear Canisters.


While the afternoon still wasn't quite cool a few of us set off around 230. We stopped by a good creek where I took the chance to soak my feet again and others jumped in. I'm not a fan of swimming before a long hike, too much... friction.

We aimed pretty high for a great site we were told about. With the late start, lots of elevation gain and the break for a swim we ended up hiking well into the night. It was great to see the sunset on an awesome cloud formation, but with ~2 hrs hiking by head torch to arrive at camp just before 10 I wonder how much other scenery we passed. Plenty more to see out here though!



Woke up to frost on my sleeping bag and sparrow poop on my bag. Still was a pretty good spot on the sandy shore of a river. The day started with a climb up to a pass almost as high as San Jacinto. The saddle between 2 mountains was as high as the highest mountain I have ever climbed...

It wasn't as scenic as San Jacinto because, thankfully, there wasn't any fresh snow fall. I did offer some amazing views and was still pretty special. Nice big pine trees also kept me in the shade all the way down.



Stopped for water at a fast flowing stream, Death Canyon, and came across an old nemesis, the mosquito. I was thinking it would have been a good camping spot. Lots of nice flat areas, water on hand to save carrying dinner/night water. However when one mozzie was biting me through my shirt I knew I had to move on. Pushed uphill a few more miles to find a suitable spot.

Despite a few more climbs the next morning felt really good. I spent most of the day walking above 10,000 ft and while I can still feel the effects of the altitude it's not as bad as other days. The trees are also getting bigger but with the foot traffic in front of me every time I've come across a fallen one there has been a track cut around it.



It's really scenic here but it's strange as I haven't really seen any one view/location that had had me stop and think "wow that's awesome" but every time I stop to catch my breath, rest my feet, collect water or water a tree I look around and think how beautiful it is. That was until I reached Chicken Lake. Too cold to swim though...



After the lake it seemed like I was stopping every 0.5 miles to take in the scenery and take a picture. Views of mountains through amazing trees.



Just after I set up camp some friends walked past with news from people just out of Lone Pine. Possible storm on Mt Whitney tomorrow night... which I had planned to summit the morning after... Might make the climb up a little interesting with a fresh coating of snow.

More amazing views throughout the day. Meadows, Mountains and brilliant pine trees. I also got to see quite a few Marmot which apparently aren't that rare... was also deer in the fields and lots of other critters.



The day started out really easy with the first 1/2 mostly down hill. At the bottom of a valley I came across my first alpine stream. Some people were walking through, others removing shoes or putting on crocs etc. I ventured a little bit up stream to find a large log. Little high off the water but I didn't plan to fall.



Later in the day there were more streams some easier to hop across than others. One stream I carefully went over some rocks and a small log. Didn't seem too bad. Another hiker saw me and tried to follow but bailed when he lost his balance on the first rock. Luckily didn't fall into the snow melt water, but then had to walk though shin deep anyway... I'm not looking forward to the places I can't find a suitable crossing.

Got to the ranger station to get the low down on he weather. "You can't tell in the mountains... but more like today probably" Awesome... chance of a late storm and probably overcast. They might get fresh snow but probably not much. Clouds closed in by 630 am, so unless I want to start at 2am I might not get the best views.

Went to quickly set up the tent before the impending rain... but it turned out to be tiny tiny hail instead. Still annoying and the bits that got in my tent quickly melted to water anyway. Everything else bounced off and managed to stay dry.

With the impending bad weather I took my first trail zero day. I could think of worse places to be forced to stop... The day went by pretty slowly,  had to hide in my tent a few times to avoid the snow.





Awoke to a dark but clear sky. Wanted an early start. The first river crossing just outside of came was sketchy as the logs were icy. Managed to stay dry and start the ascent to the summit. It was a pretty hard hike but awesome views the whole way up. All the way there were only 2 small bits that gave me a bit of pause.  Snow sliding away under foot with nothing to grab and a long way to fall.







Also had to make sure that it was indeed the tallest mountain in the continental USA, sitting pretty at 14,505 ft. You can take the man away from Surveying but not Surveying away from the man!



The trip back down was much quicker. Taking it slow for the afore mentioned sections but otherwise booking it down. Much easier to hike fast when 80% of your gear can be left at camp. I got back around 2pm and packed down camp to push on just a little bit further to make sure I could start the Forrester Pass climb, the highest point on the PCT as Whitney is a side trail, fresh in the morning.

I had been going really well finding places to skip across creeks but this afternoon didn't go as smoothly. It was partially because I wanted to move a bit faster and partially because my shoes were already mostly wet due to snow. There were 4 big creeks that I ended up just walking through, socks and all. I think I might need either crossing shoes like crocs or dry camp shoes because standing around camp in cold wet shoes wasn't ideal.

 



Wasn't in a rush in the morning after yesterday's climb but knew I had another big day. I had to head over Forrester Pass before the snow got slushy. Despite its dire reputation I actually found it fairly reasonable. Climb was tough with the full pack but over fairly quickly. The snow chute was a little intimidating at first sight but only a very short segment.

 



Made it down the other side and with the snow melt most of the path was already a mini-stream. There were some snow banks within the switchbacks that hikers create snow slippery slides which made the trip down a lot faster!



With the exception of the climb in the morning most of the rest of he day was downhill... until I reached the next pass. Kersarge Pass. The plan was to camp in the valley and make the trip over, out to the town of Independence, the following day. I arrived a little earlier than expected and decided to push on... a decision I regretted about 5 min into the climb...

Once I reached the top though it felt great. I was rewarded with awesome views and a feeling of achievement. Plus I knew I was closer to a hot shower! Got to the trail head about 1815 and by 1850 had a ride down to town. After getting sorted in my room having a shower and putting the laundry it was too late to head out for dinner so I had a Hiker meal in my room. Plenty of chance for town food tomorrow.

The 40 mile drive to Bishop ended up easier than expected, the owner of the Inn needed to head to the bigger town and offered me a lift! Checked into the hostel and saw some old friends before getting down to chores.

My bounce bucket is here which means backing up photos, more Milo and sending off a package or 2. I also needed some grocery shopping and to seek out new tips for my trekking poles. I've managed to grind down the old tips from about 100 mm in length to 20 mm.

After the chores I was finally able to settle down with a beer and enjoy the backdrop of the mountains.