Central California
10. June 2003 — Day 45 - Morris/Jenkins Saddle to Chimney Creek Camp - mile 676
Walked by myself again until reaching Spanish Needle Creek where White Stag showed up while I was relaxing there. Took a long lunch break after climbing 1200 ft - sitting underneath a pine tree. From there on it was down hill all the way to the camp ground. Got there at 6:40pm, ate something and went to bed. First night with a lot of mosquitoes but my bug bivy works well.
11. June 2003 — Day 46 - Chimney Creek Camp to Kennedy Meadows - mile 697
Got up quite early and was hiking by 6.30am. Had the first climb done by 9am. I like to get the unpleasant things out of the way and a 1400 ft climb is unpleasant. The trail went through a burnt area again. Looks really nasty from a mountain top looking down into a valley and as far as you can see, the trees are burnt and black. But in these areas, the wild flowers are amazing. For the last few miles the trail follows the south fork of the Kern river, but there are no PCT markers so it is like flying blind. But in the end, made it to the general store. There were a lot of hikers hanging out on the porch. Met Stone there and talked to him for a while. Afterwards, I got myself a Gatorade and a towel for the open air shower. In the evening, the owner made a BBQ with hot dogs and cheese burgers and salad. Slept under the stars again 1/2 mile down the road by the Kern river. The moon was amazingly bright as it was nearly a full moon and it was really, really cold.
12. June 2003 — Day 47 - Kennedy Meadows - zero day
POW, a trail angel shuttling people around in Kennedy Meadows, drove us to a place down the road for breakfast. Very grumpy guy running the show there as if he did not like our money, but the food was good. Then it was hanging around at the store again. Got my bounce box and started repacking all my stuff. Decided not to take my filter in the Sierras and just take my Aqua Mira. Have to save some weight for the ice axe and my heavy sweater. did my laundry as well. Most of the day I spent correcting my journal - had some catching up to do. For dinner, we went to ‘Grumpy Bear’s’ - kind of a restaurant.
Actually wanted to leave after breakfast but I had to make a phone call to order the Northern California guide book. Went for breakfast and when I came back to the store, there was a queue of people in front of me. At around 10am The One, Teatree and a whole bunch of other people showed up. At 10:30am I had enough. There was still one guy in front of me and the two guys in front of him had already talked for nearly one and a half hours. I hit the trail at 11am - made good speed, even though I checked my maps a lot. There weren’t any trail markers and then I got insecure if I’m on the right trail. I sometimes catch myself walking like in a trance and it could easily happen that I miss a turn off on the trail. But it all worked out. Ran into Snowman, Billy Goat and Puck at the bridge across Kern river. I cooked my dinner there because in bear country you are not supposed to cook at the spot where you sleep, because it attracts bears. After this the trail climbed 2000 ft to 10500 ft, the highest I have been so far. Kennedy Meadows marked the end of Southern California and the desert and it is also the start of the Sierra Nevada or High Sierra. The store is at 6500 ft, the lowest the trail will be for 3-4 weeks. Everybody at the store was excited to get his snow gear (ice axe and/or crampons). Nobody really knows what to expect. Rumour is that there is no snow below 11500 ft. Southside slopes are snow free but northside slopes are pretty snowy and dangerous. Likewise with river crossings, it will be difficult. Since nobody really knows unless they are there, let’s wait and see. I’m definitely happy to be there.
13. June 2003 — Day 49 - Saddle after Monache Creek bowl to Trail Pass - mile 739
Got woken at 4.45am by supposedly a bear shearing down bark on a nearby tree. Didn’t come near our tents. Trail was pretty much up and down all day. I felt really tired all day - I think it’s because of the high elevation. At Trail Pass, I went down a side trail to Horseshoe Meadows to get into Lone Pine for resupply. Arrived at the trail head at about 3pm and got a ride by 3.30pm - not bad. The road is amazing, 20 miles going down 6000 ft winding down the mountain. Lone Pine is pretty neat. Everything is close by. Got a motel room and went to the ranger station to rent a bear canister (basically a box to store your food in, which the bear can not get to). It cost $5 a week, not too bad. Then went grocery shopping and bought 13 days worth. My plan was to send 6 days to Toulenne Meadows but I realized then that the post office is not open on Saturdays - pretty shite. And it was already late so most shops had closed. Got new shorts as well. All in all, very efficient town stop. Went back to the motel with my groceries and had a shower. Went for dinner at a nice little place and had a steak with lots of salad. A little pricey but I needed something to cheer me up after the post office frustration. I was so fixed on getting into Lone Pine on a weekend because it would be easier to get a hitch from Horseshoe Meadows that I overlooked the fact that post offices are not generally open on Saturdays.
14. June 2003 — Day 50 - Trial Pass to Rock Creek - mile 754
Tried another place that sends out packages but they would only send UPS which would not work. Went to a small bakery for breakfast and then started packing up. I threw away 3 breakfasts & dinners. So I’m carrying 10 days of food. The pack is so heavy. This will be way too much food to get me to VVR but I just have a problem with dumping food. Started hitchhiking at 9.30am and it was already hot. Lone Pine is basically in the desert again at an elevation of 3600 ft. At first I wasn’t lucky but after 20-30 minutes a pickup stopped. And while I was getting in, I saw the ‘bla-bla Shuttle Service’ sign. So I though uh oh, I might have to pay for this one - normally they charge anything from $35-60 and he had a customer in there. When we arrived at the parking lot and I unloaded my stuff, I asked the driver how much I owed and he replied $5 and he would give it to the paying customer who by the way paid $60. So I gave the guy $10. Might be a bit cheap on my part, but the guy was willing to pay $60. I wasn’t and they didn’t have to stop. So back on the trail I was with my ultra heavy pack. It makes such a difference. I was really struggling. So when I ran into Snowman at 5.30pm, I took the opportunity and called it a day. I only did 15 miles. Snowman & myself decided to climb Mt Whitney together. So we would have an easy day the next day.
15. June 2003 — Day 51 - Rock Creek to Crabtree Meadows - mile 760
We actually did more than those 6 trail miles. We walked 1 mile to upper Crabtree Meadows which has a bear box and we stacked our food there and had a little lunch break. Saw Diesel, Grunt and John there. They climbed Whitney that day and gave us tips. Then we continued on up to Guitar Lake (another 2.8 miles) and a little further there are two little tarns where we camped at 11500 ft.
16. June 2003 — Day 52 - Crabtree Meadows to Tyndall Frog Ponds - mile 769
Got up early (5am) and Snowman and myself started our climb of Mt Whitney, the highest peak in the continuous USA (14494 ft). The climb up was pretty hard. I could definitely feel the altitude affect me. No altitude sickness but I got tired quicker and was breathing harder. Snowman was struggling even more. We made it to the summit at 9am and it’s an amazing feeling. I now can see why mountain climbers do this. The views were amazing but it was pretty cold with a stiff wind blowing so we did not stay long. On the descent, we met Treebeard, Bandana and Rob on their climb up. I think we did a quick descent and Snowman was struggling now. We did a quick break at Guitar Lake but then descended quickly down to Crabtree Meadows where our food was. I cooked there and rested for 2 hours. The climb took it out of Snowman so I set off by myself. Did 9 miles on the PCT and camped at Tyndall Frog Ponds with Long-Haul.
17. June 2003 — Day 53 - Tyndall Frog Ponds to Middle Rae Lake - mile 789
Wow, what a day. Did the feared Forester Pass (13180 ft, highest point on the PCT) today and did Glen Pass as well. Snow on the southside of both passes was OK. Main problem was finding the trail on the approach to Forester. The northside, so the side we had to come down - lots and lots of snow. My legs were really tired after this. First spot I could find at Rae Lakes, I camped. There were four hikers and I chatted to them for a while. Then went for a swim and boy it was cold, the lakes are fed by the snow well. From here on I think it will be one pass per day.
18. June 2003 — Day 54 - Middle Rae Lake to South Fork Kings River - mile 805
Very nice walking this morning, all alongside Rae Lakes, Lake Arrowhead and Dollar Lake. During the ascent to Pinchot Pass, the weather got pretty bad - a thunderstorm came up on the south side of Pinchot Pass and it started raining and sleeting when I was 400 ft below the pass. At that time, I was not sure if I should press on or set up camp to wait out the storm. Some southbound hikers coming down from the pass told me that the other side looked better so I pressed on. Made it over the pass and quickly descended down. Right when the storm passed a long the pass & ridge, it did not move into the valley I was descending into. Lucky. Had to ford South Fork of Kings River which was very tricky (fast running water about thigh high). Then it was climbing up again all along Kings River until fording the ‘infant’ south Fork Kings River. I think I had to ford 5-6 rivers today that required to remove my shoes and wade through. I don’t know how many I crossed by bolder hopping or balancing on a log. Camped after the creek crossing a 10800 ft.
19. June 2003 — Day 55 - South Fork Kings River to 1 mile past Big Peek Meadow - mile 827
Headed up to attack Mother Pass ‘only’ 12,100 ft but steep on both sides. Since it was only something like 3 miles, I got close to the last bit of climbing pretty early. But missed a turn on the trail where it swerves to the right and then approaches the final few switchbacks. So I stumbled/scrambled across some rocks for a good while before I realized I was on the wrong side of the pass. So I had to cross a steep snow field to link up with the trail again. Then the fun started, most of the switchbacks were covered in snow so most people just went straight up - very steep. But I made it and the other side was steep as well and there were tracks going in all directions. So ended up zig-zagging on this snow field and because it was early in the day, the snow was still frozen and hard. So I had to use my ice ax to cut steps to move forward. The trail then followed Palisade Creek down to the Middle Fork of Kings River and started climbing from there. I wanted to get as close to Muir Pass as I could but wasn’t quite sure if there would be any good camp sites that high up. So I camped at a bend in the river. A deer went by my tent about 20 ft away.
20. June 2003 — Day 56 - 1mi. past Big Peek Meadow to 1mi. past Florence Lake Trail#2 - mile 853
Oh well, Muir Pass sure is not that high (11900 ft) but very tiring. I totally misjudged how far it was up there. The trail passed by a few lakes and every lake I came to I thought that’s the one underneath the pass, but it wasn’t. For the last 2000 ft, there was lots of snow and because of the sun and it getting later and later in the day it got really soft. After a long struggle, I reached the top of the pass with Muir Hut at 10.30am. Had a little break up there and started descending at 11am. Basically all the way until shortly above Evolution Lake, nearly 4.5 miles, was snow covered and because it was getting soft, I started post-holing a lot. Sinking into the snow sometimes up to my thigh. My feet got wet and cold but there was no point to change socks. I got so tired and it took until 13.30 to get down. Had to take a break at Evolution Lake - changed socks and just ‘recharged my batteries’. Evolution Valley is amazing - a deep canyon, rugged forest and this deep, wide, clear creek flowing down. Because I wanted to get close to the next pass, I had to haul ass all afternoon. Thank God there was only one major fording to do. I made it about a mile into a 3000 ft climb and then just ‘collapsed’ at the side of the trail at 20.45 (elevation 9400 ft). A hard, hard day.
21. June 2003 — Day 57 - 1 mile past Florence Lake Trail #2 to Mono Creek (VVR) - mile 871
So looking forward to reach Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) the entire day, that most of climbing up to the pass slipped my memory. Coming down from Selden Pass, I had a little mishap. My right foot slipped on a rock and I went flying head first into some rocks at the side of the trail. Banged my shoulder and got a little cut on my knee :( So the bandage strips that my dad got me came in handy. Took a lunch break just before climbing up Bear Ridge and suddenly realized that I had 9 miles to go and only 3.5 hours left while the ferry (to cross Edison Lake) departed or I would have to face a 4.5 mile walk. I made it with time to spare but I was racing down from Bear Ridge all of the 53 switchbacks - I actually counted, just to see if the Book of Lies (the Guidebook) is right or not. Ferry ride is just 15 minutes and there were only two other thru-hikers (I think Airborn & Skittles). VVE is not really a resort. It’s a collection of huts and trailers. It is quite expensive - $5 for shower & laundry, $10 to hold a package. They are not really fussy where you stay as a hiker - they will get your money any way. My bill was $118 for 1.5 day and I didn’t pay for lodging. Lots of people here again, to name a few - Billy Goat, Garlic Man, Yogi, Cupcake, Gottago etc.
22. June 2003 — Day 58 - Mono Creek (VVR) - zero day
No hiking. Really needed it. I had a huge breakfast. A lot of people left this morning on the ferry and only Steven and White Stag were the new arrivals. I don’t know what I did the whole day except eat, talk to people and catch up on my journal. On the afternoon ferry, there was only one thru hiker - Treebeard.
23. June 2003 — Day 59 - Mono Creek (VVR) to Trail to Duck Lake - mile 889
Left VVR on the 9am ferry after another big breaky. Hiked for a while with Yogi’s group (not really ‘her’ group)- Yogi, Cupcake, Gattago, Coach, Yucca Kimber. On the first river ford, I got wet feet. There was a tree across but it was very wobbly so I had to step off it into the freezing water. Left the others behind after the descent from Silver Pass. The route was not very nice - rocky & windy. Clouds came up during the afternoon so I pitched my tent.