We made it in to Tuolumne and picked up our two days resupply for the next segment.
Smoke cleared out in the morning.
We hitched to Lee Vining to get showers and laundry.
Wind changed. Smoke is terrible again.
Two days ago, Riviera of the Sierras
So. After a beautiful night sleeping on a sandy beach we got out early and hit the trail to get some major climbs out of the way while it was still cool.
5,100+ feet of ascent. That is more than our biggest day on the Appalachian Trail. Some of trail today was very nice, some of it out of the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
While hiking we started to notice a pretty cedar scent. Next thing we realized is that we had smoke from fires from both sides of the trail. Not just the distant fire that is contained, but something else.
We confirmed that there was a second fire. The first being finally contained we had quit worrying about. The new fire is in front of us and is 100% uncontained. Where we are camping tonight smoke covers the sky.
It is thicker than old fashioned smog. I can’t tell if there are any clouds. The mountains across the valley are no longer visible.
We are 12.8 miles from town. We will catch the bus there and flip north, to return when the fires are under control. Luckily Win’s InReach GPS will also give fire updates based on location so we were able to get the information we need.
We climbed over ten thousand feet in elevation today. We were going to stop sooner but with the fires and smoke we climbed up to camp at the top of the final ascent before town.
Climbing with five and a half liters of water at the end of a hard day was a hard finish for the day.
That was a significant water carry for tonight and tomorrow (since it is a ways to the first water when we start) but it is a straight shot over really mild trail to town. We got the climb and last of the rough trail before town out of the way today.
We could have carried less water but then we would have to take time to filter and water up instead of eating breakfast and heading out.
Today we did 17.48 trail miles and an extra half a mile from Benson lake to the trail. We did a solid day for the conditions.
Win rescued a hiker having a panic attack. We talked at length with Stitch whom I am certain is the secret identity of Super SOBO Man—the southbound hiker who led the way for us across so many snow fields and then disappeared.
We were passed by two mule trains. One was a trail maintenance crew. The other was a guy moving quite the load to the northern end of the park.
Win updated the kids about what we are doing and the conditions. The wind is down to 3-5 miles per hour and the fire is on the other side of Tuolumne. The NOBOs should be fine except for the smoke. I expect the park to have someone ahead directing people not to continue south for now.
But being safe. Getting to sleep early.
So doing 14 miles was a day. Benson lake has wind. That keeps the bugs off. Too bad the water is not warmer. We could wade in it and rinse out clothes (all the salt lines are gone from my sun hoodie now) but it was too cold to swim in.
We had three steep climbs, three steep descents. A lot of rock and stone. As the guy said last night, it was just like doing part of the White Mountains on the Appalachian Trail. He did not mean that in a good way.
Another day with no cell service. No news. No email. No contact other than Win using her GPS to send the kids a short message that we are ok. Reminds me of when I was younger and we did not have cell phones.
We saw more NOBOs. They are all under the gun in making it to Washington in time to avoid being snowed out. Some are hiking as if they feel the pressure, others at a speed that they might make it to South Lake Tahoe before it is too late.
I realized I’m only eating 4k to 4.5k calories a day. I need to eat about a thousand calories a day more. I’ve lost a lot of weight, which is great, but I need to slow that loss down. In addition, I hike faster when I’ve eaten more.
Eating too little slows me down until I eat more.
Win is such a strong hiker. She also has such a great attitude. She is like a gazelle.
Tomorrow we go over 10,000 feet and have some substantial climbs. The altitude at around 9,000 feet or so starts to affect us. I’m glad our training took us to 8k sometimes but I should not have believed those who said you acclimate on the trail.
They tell the NOBOs that to encourage them as they come from the high desert chaparral at 4.5k to the Sierras. It takes 10-14 days to acclimate I’ve learned. They don’t until they are almost through this section.
We were hiking and training higher so we have done better. But if I had mixed in a trip to 10k altitude once a week for the last two months before we left this section would have been easier.
We will see how far we get tomorrow. We are setting up our mileage needed on the day after tomorrow. The real goal is to get to Tuolumne Meadows in time to get to Lee Vining by bus while the showers and laundry are open.
We really enjoy the treat of showers and laundry. Otherwise it is a matter of getting 5k calories a day for the days in our next hike to the next resupply.
Kennedy Meadows is now 269.9 miles away. Then we flip north to Washington.
But it is a beautiful afternoon. The lake was worth the half hour walk. It is 5:45 and the sun is closing on the mountains. My goal is to sleep early and a very early start to beat the heat.
Now it is just after six. The sun is less than half a finger’s width from the mountain. The wind is shifting. Water continues to filter.
Tomorrow morning is closer.
Recently when we start it is cold. I use a buff and my hat and put my hood up. My hands stay cold for some time but in half an hour or so I can put the buff up.
It is better than using a fleece since it takes less time to take off. I’ll need my fleece for hiking later when it is colder still—right now it is part of my pillow.
But the less transition while hiking, the better. I’m learning to just be cold for the first hour. That works out well for me.
First. Had my permit checked by a park ranger after we hiked 19.7 miles and did a couple river crossings, one where I was knee deep.
About nine miles of today was hiking a long valley alongside Falls Creek. Tomorrow will have some rigged ups and downs. The roughest thing today was the trail appeared to go to the left around a pond. Many lovely campsites and then a dead end with phalanges of mosquitoes.
That was the ambush at Harriet Lake.
We escaped back to the trail after an almost five thousand foot misadventure (could have been worse. We could have been lost for miles rather that 2500 or so feet we then had to backtrack). We both took some pretty pictures though this has overall been the least scenic part of the Sierras.
We are camped with a lot of NOBOs—as many as we’ve seen today. The number has really dropped off and they are all under the gun to get north before the snow falls and closes Hart’s Pass in Washington.
Several of those here had planned on going SOBO but the weather derailed them so they started at Kennedy Meadows South. That is a run north then they will flip back assuming they make it to Canada in time.
Saw a deer, the usual chipmunks and a marmot. Saw many bright blue dragonflies.
Saw my first Tarptent rainbow tent in “the wild.” It is sharp. Glad we did not encounter it earlier as the Triplex is better for our needs—lighter and larger.
Talked with the other hikers and received some feedback on trail towns and resupply. I was glad the advice fit our plans so we don’t need to make changes.
One camper uses incense to drive away mosquitoes. I hope it works but it smells very good.
We are camping at a beautiful lake. Many campers went swimming.
Wilma lake was very mild in temperature and so clear. Tomorrow we get up early for the rough climb. With warning weather we will want to make the best of the cooler early morning.
Win has been inspiring.
The trail was not “the worst section on the PCT” as a NOBO told us at lunch at Kennedy Meadows North. But it was some work and really took it out of me. We changed up carrying the bear canisters and mine needed some adjustments after the change.
We started at 1630.4 so our day was about 16.7 miles. We also caught the shuttle into KMN, ate breakfast and late lunch and bought resupply and ice cream.
The shuttle driver was delightful. He added to the gossip some NOBOs had given us (which I won’t repeat), and had lots of local lore and history.
Showers and laundry were great. I got my fleece and my Black Diamond sun hoody. The Rab, washed, went in the hiker box rather than home. Someone immediately grabbed it. I just wasn’t happy with the way it snarled and snagged.
No outfitters at KMN, though the tourist ranch has about a hundred employees. Just a general store and a restaurant to go with the horses cabins that are reserved about 2-3 years in advance.
They report 4-5 times as many hikers coming through as came through in the last years. We saw only about ten or less in the Thru-Hiker area.
Then hiking out at 2:30 we saw only one NOBO on the trail and then passed a couple tenting. The bubble seems to have passed.
Usually people count on fifteen mile days in the Sierras. We bought food on that benchmark. But to our campsite we ended up with with more and will shoot for twenty tomorrow as we will have a full day and not a Nero.
The scenery is dramatic. We have some great pictures I plan to add once I have them reduced.
No internet at KMN (unless you pay extra). The Sierras are mostly out of service areas. I’ll have to upload pictures (and blog posts) as I can.
So much time above ten thousand feet today. One evil sign. New. Clear. Points the wrong way. We figured it out and there is even a secondary trail cut by people turning around and heading back to the right trail.
Tried lukotape on my ankle bruise. Seemed to help.
Now to sleep. Morning comes early and it is colder at higher altitudes.
We had a beautiful day and the views have been incredible. We hiked about eighteen miles, including getting to the trail from where we camped.
The altitude has made it harder work as we acclimate to it and the last summit had a forecast of potential thunderstorms so we stopped here for dinner and camping.
Kennedy Meadows North is 6.3 miles from our campsite.
We passed less than forty NOBOs today. It looks like we have passed through the heart of the bubble.
The report we get from other hikers is that snow is almost completely gone from the Sierras and the river/stream crossings are down to two or three that are ankle deep.
Really looking forward to the next leg of our adventure.
We are sharing our tent site with a bunch of tents now. Good to be social. Found out that Red Riding Hood, a hiker we met who does 45 mile days, had been on track for an fkt (fastest known time) until she started vomiting blood.
She had three days off trail and is still going to finish. Explains why she started when she did and her 16 liter water carry at one point. Perfect timing to avoid being slowed down by snow or having to deal with fires.
We have gotten really updated news on the snow in the Sierras (pretty much all gone) and the water crossings (the latest hiker had one where they were ankle deep and took off their shoes and could have gone upstream to a log and crossed dry).
As all the snow melts the streams that are snow fed all drop down and are easier to cross.
Sent out a group email to family to update them before we drop out of cell service:
Hello all:
It is July 19th as I send this out and we are camped at Mile 1630.4 on the Pacific Crest Trail (the PCT”) at over 9000 feet above sea level.
Win and I will get to Kennedy Meadows North tomorrow on the 20th of July for showers, laundry, picking up some gear and resupply food for five days.
Kennedy Meadows is usually talked about as the gateway to the Sierras for those going North to South on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Tuolomne Meadows will be about 75 miles and five days from there. That is where we resupply next. We usually hike about twenty miles a day but are prepared to be slower in the mountains.
Then it is Red’s Meadows (for the bus to town and getting food again), Vermillion Valley and Bishop/Independence, California. Then we take the big section to Kennedy Meadows South and finish the Sierras.
The sierras end 321 miles from where we are at Kennedy Meadows South. That will probably take us about twenty or twenty-one days from tomorrow, with a rest day or two. August 11th or 12th is when we expect to be at KMSouth and trying to find a hitch or a shuttle to “civilization.”
After KMSouth when we get to where busses and airplanes work, we will then head back to Oregon/Washington to hike the parts of the trail that were snowed in earlier. We will also mail our bear canisters home at that point.
When we go north, Win and I are discussing whether to start at the border of Canada or somewhere else and will probably make up our minds depending on how the weather is.
So far we have been really lucky with the weather. Northern California did not get really hot. The snow has melted in the Sierras and the river crossings are now ankle deep instead of deeper.
However, we do want to finish the north before snow comes and blocks Canada.
Once the north is completed we will return south and do the desert after it has cooled off. At our current rate we should finish at Campo at the border of Mexico just outside of San Diego in November.
I’m writing this email with a lot of detail because for the next 300+ miles cell service is really poor and in hopes you all are interested in how things are going and how they have worked out.
My hiking blog at http://adrr.com/d20 will probably get even less regular until we get to Kennedy Meadows South.
But Win and I are doing well. The hike has been really good for us so far and we are being careful. We are grateful for those we are able to meet up with and hope everyone is doing well.
Love,
Steve.
(“Miles” are mileposts with the Canadian border as mile 0)
My letter updating family.
Other notes.
I’m really pleased to have switched out my tent stakes for MSR groundhogs. The ground is hard and I find that I need to pound the stakes in. I managed to break one of the titanium v-stakes and the shepherds hooks just don’t handle that.
The set up I had was great for the Appalachian Trail and did just fine north of Sierra City or so, but since the change the dirt has needed what I’ve ended up with in Truckee.
Not that I planned it or did it on purpose but I’ve been noticing as I set the tent up every night.
Looking forward to my package. I’ll have my Timmermade fleece for the cold and my Black Diamond sun hoody that has InsectShield treatment. My current sun hoody that I got in Shasta has really not worn well and the darker blue color really heats up in direct sunlight.
I’m like a lot of hikers. Living day and night in my sun hoody as a combination base layer/shirt. I’m even wearing shorts all the time as my legs adjust to the sunlight. Wear my long pants as a base layer at night.
I’m curious how much weight I’ve lost. Win figures at least five-six pounds or more. It is surprising to me but we haven’t run into a reliable scale yet.
I’ll find out when I find out. The more we lose the easier it is to carry our backpacks.
Looking forward to Kennedy Meadows North. Getting clean. Eating town food. Throwing my trash out. Don’t plan on staying the night there. $50 for a bed in a bunkhouse or paying $40 for a tent site I can have for free on the trail does not really appeal to me.
Especially since the triplex is so comfortable. The pole caps we use to increase the interior volume are such a game changer. I’m surprised at how much I like the text after over a month of constant use.
Well. It is after 8:17 pm. Time to go to sleep for tomorrow. 5:00 am is coming soon. ??. We have a steep climb up the mountain. Three miles to climb up to over 10,500 feet and a total of 6.3 miles to the shuttle at 9,649 feet.
Today started at mile 1592. It was a beautiful campsite but the mosquitoes were out early so we were on the trail by 5:50 am and camped with everything set up by 5:00 pm at a spring fed lake.
We had pepperoni, stuffing mix and olive oil for dinner with a tortilla and some candy for dessert. Last night we had mashed potatoes, bacon bits and cheese for dinner.
We got our water from a reservoir pond not on Far Out. It was closer than the stream.
Speaking of water, many of the water sources in Guthooks (Far Out) were dry today including ones listed as reliable. On the other hand, there were several strongly flowing streams not in the app. The low water year has really affected things.
Today we had a lot of open ridge hiking up and down to passes or divides. Some very strong wind. We are getting a good amount of altitude exposure. I’ve been hiking with shorts and sleeping with my pants for pajamas.
I’m thinking of replacing both with some light approach pants or wind pants. My goal is to be protected from mosquitoes but also have a light layer. With the weight I’ve lost my pants are too loose other than for sleeping on.
At day’s end we arrived at a spring fed pond with some shelter from trees and a hillside and a 10% chance of thunderstorms. That dropped to 1% as we updated the weather after dinner.
It has been over a month and we have not been rained on yet. On the PCT that is normal. On the AT I would expect to be rained on a little almost daily and really rained on once or twice a week.
Our next target is the official gateway to the regulated part of the Sierras, Kennedy Meadows North.
Kennedy Meadows North is about 24 miles (mile 1636.7) and then a hitch or a shuttle away. Our next resupply after that will be at mile 1711.
The Sierras have been pleasant as we approach the gateway. We have been going over 9500 feet in elevation, with good trail, and easy water. We are carrying extra because the wind sucks the water out of us, even with cool weather and we are being cautious.
Tomorrow may be our first day over ten thousand feet.
I’m finally getting my trail feet so my feet aren’t hurting all night and day. It sure makes hiking more pleasant.
As our immediate plans go, we will get up early, hike out and then camp somewhere with ten miles of the trail head and get into Kennedy Meadows North on Wednesday morning with the 10:30 am shuttle.
Observation. Most PCT camping is done within fifty feet of the trail. I’ve seen a lot of people camping within ten feet and tents set up so that they touch the trail.
Appalachian Trail style .3 miles from the trail seems unheard of rather than normal.
Another factor is that it is so dry that you can camp next to a spring, pond or stream and be completely dry in the morning. Dew is extremely rare, to the point I notice it if I’m hiking at daybreak and there is dew. You don’t need distance between yourself and the water.
We are camped at Mile 1592 SOBO. It was quite a day.
We started at 5:16 and were on the trail before 6:00. That gets us out ahead of the heat.
We got about 20.82 or 21 miles trail miles today. Video of the trail near Kit Carson pass. Most of today was exposed and there was a lot of wind.
By the time we climbed Forestdale Divide (pass) the wind was fifty mph or more.
Tonight we are 30.75 miles from Echo Lake. We have 44.6 miles to reach Kennedy Meadows North. Food will be perfect and we are well on track.
Many of the younger hikers hike late into the evening and we see their tents in the mornings as we hike down the trail. I really prefer getting to sleep early and getting up while it is still cool.
Then we can hike, break for lunch at ten miles and take a nap in the shade somewhere and cool off.
I’m amazed at how much I sleep.
Yesterday was July 15th. The trail past Echo Lake and Aloha lake through the Desolation Wilderness was like doing a twenty mile day through the Whites on the Appalachian Trail.
The area has increasing bear activity and a park ranger to greet hikers as they come off the trail. Starting Monday bear canisters are mandatory. Many NOBOs who sent their canisters home at Kennedy Meadows North are unhappy.
On the area we hiked I’ve not seen so many miles of rock scree and talus and shards on the PCT before.
Yesterday there was so much exposed vertical climb and so very many rocks until we got to the Chalet and a hitch to South Lake Tahoe. Then we left the rocks behind for Mellow Mountain Hostel.
Getting back to bears, there is a lot of talk about the “PCT bear hang” but I’ve yet to see an appropriate tree for doing one. That makes me doubt the stories of bears getting into properly hung food, but not that bears are getting food.
I’m carrying a canister. My wife and I now own five of them.
On yesterday’s hike I tried a water taxi. After we connected at the Echo Lake Chalet & Post Office, we caught a ride into town with a very gallant trail Angel and we camped out at the hostel.
Camping let us still have access to showers and laundry and given it is another hostel without air conditioning it was much cooler.
Win also cleaned up the common area and one of the hiker boxes.
We went to a grocery store and bought resupply. At the hostel we picked up my new shoes and new metatarsal support pads.
Today, the 16th, we found a replacement mosquito head-net for Win. Two stores were sold out. We also did some other shopping that was futile. We used the free bus system which took us all over.
We started for the trail after lunch.
No one was hungry so we didn’t have much town food other than milk and red berry Special K for dinner and breakfast and a McDonald’s ice cream for lunch.
Shared some food with a Swiss hiker who finally has hiker hunger. I eat so much on the trail but when I stop hiking my appetite just drops off.
We skipped dinner when stopped for the night today because we didn’t do enough miles to have an appetite.
The trail today was much better with less rock. We did get over nine thousand feet. Where we are camping it is “down” to 8653 feet above sea level.
We got a ride to the trail quickly. We started in the heat of the day but we still got some miles in and stopped for water and sleep miles in instead of taking a zero in town and trying to shuttle out in the morning.
Tomorrow will be a real hiking day.
Beautiful day.
We did not sleep well last night. Our room in the hotel annex had all the hot air in the hostel trying to migrate out through it.
The sunrise was beautiful though.
We got on to the trail by 7:15 am after breakfast at the hostel (cereal and milk I bought yesterday) and Mark (the trail Angel) picking us up. My first ride in a Tesla.
We started with “trail out of Maine.”* Broken granite and scree and talus. Almost the full time we hiked we spent exposed and in the sun and wind. Our first section was an over eight mile water carry from start to first water.
We are getting more and more long water carrying stretches. Early morning and cool weather it isn’t bad.
So much of it all is desert dry. Where it is not bleak and exposed, much of it is overgrown. I had my first fall on this trail where the trail was overgrown and head high.
A small part of the trail collapsed away and I ended up sitting on the trail.
No injury or problem, just kind of sudden.
Got to Mile 1517.8 (SOBO) —five lakes creek and tent site—and we were done. Met a Swiss hiker, Skippy. In the morning there were six or so other campers. Great campsites.
Fell asleep early. The two town days we didn’t get solid sleep due to how warm the rooms were. The night of the thirteenth we really slept well.
Note bear problems have really taken off. We ended up buying two bear canisters—bv 500s. Took us three outfitters to find the right gear.
Honestly, we would have paid the extra for carbon fiber canisters to save the weight.
Cancelled our rental but now we own five canisters.
*a reference to trail that is rough, filled with broken rock and very slow. Properly should be a New Hampshire or Appalachian Trail reference but ends up what it is.
No internet to upload so this post will cover two days.
On July 14 we did 23.15 miles. Camped just before water, away from the bugs. Trail was muchly more of the same, a lot of exposed hiking, first really heavy bug encounters.
More fields of mountain sunflowers (Mule Ears) and a beautiful blue flower with a wonderful scent. We’ve had hundred of miles of these flowers.
Camped at 1540.9. Had cornbread stuffing and homemade beef jerky for dinner. I had licorice for dessert and Win had a tortilla. We also had electrolytes for our after dinner apéritif.
We are camped near a veterinarian. She had lost her tent pegs. When I replaced all of ours with groundhogs I kept the three titanium shepherd hooks. Gave the three to her which gives her enough tent pegs for her zPacks “half tent”.
I’m amazed at how close people camp to the trail. I’d say most campsites are within 100 feet and often within 10-20 feet.
Realized that while I think of our AT hike as being done at 10-12 miles a day, the “12+” mile days were often 15s. The hundred mile wilderness, for example. We averaged over 14 miles a day, finishing in Monson on day 7.
Here we are generally doing 20-25 miles a day. Occasionally a 17, once a 29-30 mile day.
While the ascent per mile is lower than the AT, two ten mile days at 2500 feet each makes for 5000 done as one 20. We are getting a fair amount of vertical on many days.
There are so many changes that come when the basic day moves from 10-12 to 20-25.
I find that I plan food by the mile rather than day or the clock. Lunch is at ten miles. A break at 14. Camp at 20-25. Sleep before 8:00 pm so we can be up by 5:30 and on the trail before it gets hot.
Tomorrow it is South Lake Tahoe and my new shoes, resupply and the gateway to more bears and the Sierras.
Today (the 14th) starts our second month on the trail.
