Mountains Mountains all Around

Ok so I should have done this before the last post but better late than never. So intro:

(also the app I use to publish this has been changed and it won’t let me load pics on it so I managed to add some on the online site but they’re all at the bottom for some reason (sorry)

I am hiking the Pacific Crest Trail; a 2653 mile trail from Mexico to Canada preferably I would start at the the Mexican border and walk to the Canadian border and celebrate the awesomeness but due to circumstances I am starting at mile 652 and hopefully will walk the 2001 miles to the border then come back and finish the 652 miles I missed. This is one of three long trails across the United States; the Appalachian Trail,(2191 miles) the Continental Divide Trail (3014 miles) and this one the Pacific Crest Trail. I walked The Appalachian in 2018 and the Continental Divide in 2019; if you finish all three it’s called the Triple Crown and you officially become a Triple Crowner: and that is my goal. However this year is a bit insane so the odds are stacked against me. It is a fluctuating situation out here and I could be forced to leave the trail at any time due to lack of resupply options, trail closures , fires, snow, plague zombies etc. but for now I hike.

Alright so if you missed it the last post covered my first few days on trail and I left off at the Kennedy Meadows General Store. I have to have internet access every Sunday at the moment to check in for my unemployment so I took a zero day (zero day means day off or zero miles day in trail lingo) on Saturday the thirteenth and just hung around the store. There was free camping so I set up my tent under an old gnarled pine. There was live music and cheeseburgers  in the evening so all in all a good time.

Sunday the 14th I woke early and packed up but I had to wait for the cook to fire up the generator before I could get on the internet and do my check in. so I lounged in the hammock until I heard it the power fire up a little before 8. I got on the WiFi but before I could finish the generator shut off and I heard a lady yell Oh my god! So I ran around the corner and she was running towards me yelling gotta find a fire extinguisher. I looked over at the generator and smoke was rolling out of it and its dilapidated housing shed. I ran over and it was smoking up a storm but there was no flames so it wasn’t about to turn into an inferno at least. The lady came back and sprayed it a bit and it kept smoking but any danger had passed. She said the owner of the place was on the way. I still had to find WiFi and I knew i could get on at Grumpys but it was 3 miles back down the road. So I walked around front just as a truck pulled in the driver looked at me, looked at the smoke and looked back at me. “Generators smoking” I said then added “u going towards Grumpys?” The guy glanced at the smoke again said “sure hop in” and off we went.

So I made it to Grumpys and did my check in but then I had to walk back to the General Store and then a bit past it to get back on trail so I shouldered my pack and walked up the road. Eventually I made it back to the store. The generator was still down but not on fire and the cook was making breakfast on a propane griddle so I bought pancakes with bacon sausage and eggs for ten bucks and ate it real quick. Then it was time to go. I walked the 3 quarters of a mile down the road to where the trail crossed and I was finally back on trail at mile 702.2.

It was almost 10 in the morning so I was definitely getting a late start but was glad to be making miles, it was a long climb up as I was leaving the desert and heading towards the high Sierras. There was plenty of water along the way and I was feeling good. There were more trees as I climbed and as I could see mountains in the distance. It was a good day to be hiking. Hot but bearable I smacked as I walked and made good time. Around 3 I came up on another hiker called Ambassador whom I had met at Grumpys a couple of days before we said hello and I climbed on past. I was planning on hiking until close to dark but a little before 5 I came up on a beautiful campsite overlooking a valley and the Kern river. There was a bridge over the river and dozens of swallows were nested underneath and flying in and out catching bugs and carrying them back to feed their young. It was a beautiful spot and the Professor who I had also met at Grumpys was camped there. I sat down and watched the birds for a while and decided to stay. I sat up camp and shortly after the Ambassador walked in and sat up by the river. We all chatted and ate and watched the birds. A duck had made her home in a puddle nearby and was having a great life. All was good and I retired to my tent and watched the light fade on another day. I had made it to mile 716.5 a 14.3 mile day.

Monday the 15th I awoke at 445 and packed up. I was hiking at 5 after 5 and taking advantage of the early morning. It was a great day to hike and I was hoping to make big miles;  there was a lot of climbing and it heated up pretty quickly but I was feeling good and for the 1st half of the day there was plenty of water. I made good time and had 14 miles it a little after noon and I stopped and ate and filled up my water bottles. It was the last water for 8 miles and there was another steep climb ahead. I spent the afternoon baking in the heat making my way up the mountain it was a long hot afternoon but at least there were shady trees and plenty of places to take breaks and eat snacks. I made it to where the water source was around five and decided to camp there since the next one was miles and miles away. There were plenty of huge trees but the ground was still barren dirt. The water source was actually a quarter mile off trail down a hill so I sat down my pack under a huge tree grabbed my water filter and bottles and headed down at the bottom was a lovely green meadow with real grass and a stream flowing through it it was awesome and it was filled with hordes of mosquitoes. They were relentless like I was the only blood source they had seen all summer and the last they ever expected. I actually had bug spray and a head net but they were both back at the top of the hill with my pack so I pushed into the swarm scooped up water and filtered it into a bottle; not a fast process. I filled one and then another idly wandering how many mosquitos I could fill before feinting from blood loss. I finished the second refilled my water bag for later and made my escape. Once I started climbing I left the mosquitos behind; many with full bellies.
Back at the top I set up camp by the tree and cooked dinner relishing in the solitude and remoteness of my camp. I was feeling utterly alone in the world out in the wilderness; then just as I settled in to eat I hear “Hellooo” I looked up and coming south down the trail were two of the happiest grandmotherly matrons I have ever had the pleasure to meet  in the wilderness. They were carrying large packs and looking for the water. We chatted a bit and I told them the water was down the hill and there were camp spots down there but there was also a gathering of all the mosquitos in the mountains. They dropped their packs a few hundred yards away near some other large trees and went down to get water. I finished eating and read for a while and then I was ready to turn in early and get some rest. I heard the ladies come back up the hill and set up their camp. Shortly thereafter I slept. I was at PCT mile 738.3 a 21.8 mile day.

The 16th I was up and hiking by 5 another long day of climbing. It was becoming much more evident that I was climbing into the high mountains. The snow covered peaks were evident in the distance.i made it up to Cottonwood Pass and strode by Chicken spring lake above 11000 feet in elevation. By afternoon I was working my way down the other side. The trees were much more numerous and streams and creeks abounded. It was a great hiking day and I made good time. I reached Rocky creek camp at the bottom of the saddle just before 5 and crossed the raging creek on a slightly sketchy log. I camped on the the other side and did my camp chores and ate before letting the sounds of the stream lull me off to sleep.

Wednesday the 17th came with excitement and trepidation. I was going to reach the Mount Whitney portal that morning. At 14505 feet in elevation it is the tallest peak in the lower 48 states. It is not actually on the PCT but it’s a short side trip to climb it and the permit I have allows it. Normally Whitney is crawling with day hikers but the portal to get in; coming from the highway on the other side of Whitney, is closed this year (the trail from their side meets the trail from the PCT 2 miles from the peak) so this was a rare opportunity to climb the mtn without the crowds. So I had to do it but first I had to get there. I got up early and started hiking out up from Rock Creek on what I’m told is the steepest mile of the trail. I know it was a tough climb but I was soon at the top, then I hurried on to where the Whitney portal turned right off the trail. From there I hiked about a mile and a half to a backcountry campground at Crabtree Meadows. I guickly set up my tent and put most of my stuff inside keeping only my microspikes, ice axe, water bottles, puffy and snacks in my pack. It was 10 after nine when I faced the mountain and began my trek. It was a long way up. The camp was at about 10600 feet and Whitney’s peak was a little over 7 miles away at 14505.
So I climbed, it was an epic hike. Huge granite peaks, beautiful snowmelt mountain lakes, story book scenery on every side. The Grandeur was insane and I felt like I was walking through a fantasy but the ache in my legs let me know it was real. I climbed and climbed; an ant on a behemoth the weather was absolutely gorgeous perfectly blue skies and sunshine the wind wasn’t even blowing hard which in my experience is rare at that altitude.  I drank from melting ice sickles and a took snack breaks on boulders with insane views. Each step was an effort and my legs felt like wet noodles quivering with fatigue and on I climbed. I hit the trail junction 1.9 miles from the top and met a few hikers coming down. We all greeted each other and then went on our respective ways. Shortly after I hit a snow field I had to work my way across so I put on my microspikes and carefully carried on. I saw a few more hikers coming down and we passed and waved and about a half mile from the peak I hit more snow but made it through and then there I was at the top and I had it all to myself. I took in the views and inhaled the crisp air Slowly taking in the 360 degree view of the world falling away on every side. I was at the very tip top and as far as I could see in every direction the mtns and valleys carried on. The whole world at my feet. I sat down there and ate a cookie and have never been more content.
It was nearing 3 o’clock (I’d gotten up there a little after 2 a 5 hour climb) and I reluctantly had to leave. It was still a 7 plus mile hike back to my tent. I was tired but exhilarated I had climbed Mount Whitney! I took a selfie with a wooden summit sign that was up there and checked out the Smithsonian Summit emergency hut (mostly full of snow) and then I hiked down the mtn. It was just as gorgeous going down as coming up. The snow was a bit treacherous in the hot afternoon air but I made it through and hiked all the way down the mountain and back to camp just before 7 I was exhausted but happy. I did the camp chores and ate. I went to bed and slept.  That morning at camp I had started at 9500 feet climbed up to 14505 and back down to 10600 and covered 22.4 miles in the process.

The next morning the 18th I slept in till 530 and didn’t start hiking till a little after 6. There were other tents scattered about some belonging to the hikers I had seen coming down Whitney while I was going up. No one was steering though. There was to be no rest that day as I had to climb up and over Forrester pass, the highest point on trail. A break in a wall of mountains  13124 feet up. There were also a lot of creek fords that day which meant wet feet all day long. It was a 13 mile climb from camp to the pass, and like the day before it was tough but the views were amazing. I climbed and climbed heading into what looked like a solid granite wall of mountains on every side;  an impassable culdesac but the trail said there was a way through so I hiked on and on. I passed emerald frozen lakes and crossed fields of snow. Every step was an effort and wet feet pounding on rocks on and on ever upward. I had to use my spikes to cross a snowfield near the top with a many thousands feet drop below. Eventually I made it to the pass a break in the wall. I have no idea how anyone ever found it but there it was and I was through. I took a break at the top and sat taking in the majestic scenery all around the frozen lakes the snow covered peaks. Immense boulders and far far below grass and trees. Then it was time to descend the other side which was covered in snow. It was afternoon and the snow was soft so it meant postholing and flailing about slipping and sliding trying not to fall off the steep mountain slope trying to get down to where I could find the trail again. I made it over to a ridge where the wind had swept the rocks clean on top and rock hopped my way down it to where I could make out the trail below. After about a mile I reached mostly dry trail and was able to carry on. My wet feet were in need of drying and I was tired from climbing Mt Whitney and Forrester pass on consecutive days so I stopped early at a campsite overlooking a bend in a creek with mountains trailing off into the distance. It was a beautiful spot and I took in the scenery as I sat up my tent and crawled in exhausted it was a little after 4 pm and I took a much needed nap as I let my feet dry out and my legs rest.  I still had to do the camp chores and make dinner so I was up soon after and taking car of business before again retiring for the night. I was at mile 784.3 an 18.3 mile day.

The 19th it was time to get to town but it wasn’t  going to be easy. From my camp it was just over 4 miles to a 9 mile side trail which led up and over Kearsage Pass and then down to a parking lot where hopefully I could hitch hike out to independence where there was no store but a bus stop where I could take a bus 40 miles to Bishop where there was a grocery store and a hostel. So yea not an easy process but I needed food so a necessary one. I wanted to get an early start but I was tired and reluctant to leave my bed. Still I was hiking at 530 and it was a long long climb on tired legs. I made made it the side trail and climbed up through a beautiful valley and walked by Bullfrog Lake but didn’t see any bullfrogs. I got up and over Kearsarge and from there down to the parking lot. There were loads of day hikers coming up and I had to stop every few minutes to let them pass by but still made good time. I reached the lot and saw a a backpacker getting ready to leave and asked it they would take me to town and they agreed; another hiker came up and asked for a ride too and they agreed to squeeze her in as well. So we crammed in 3 of them, me and the other PCT hiker named Katie and went to town. The ladies dropped us off at the post office where Katie was picking up a box and heading straight back to trail and I was walking to the bus stop to head to Bishop . A bunch of other hikers were around and 6 of us all got the bus. Soon we were in Bishop and I got at bunk at the Hostel California for 25 dollars a night. The rest scattered to hotels and private rooms. I’m here till Sunday taking a break, resuppling, letting blisters and sores heal up a bit. So far so good out here on the PCT.