Muir Pass, the Evolution Basin, and Muir Ranch - Mile 852 and 859.5 - 7/5-6

Going up Muir Pass was a tougher hike than the most recent passes. It was a very rocky hike up to the pass with cairns that gave you some indication of where the trail was in certain spots. On top of Muir was a vast view of big lakes and mountains with a decent amount of snow on them(the most snow seen at any pass). The pass also has an emergency shelter made from stone at the top which provided me an opportunity to climb up and see a little further from a little higher. The long downhill through Evolution Basin was a gradual and gorgeous view of huge lakes, massive rock formations, and plenty of greenery. It was tempting to call it a day around Evolution Lake but I continued on past the lake and further down to a campsite with ample firewood next to a river.

The next day was an important one. Spins and I have wanted to eat voraciously due to the harder terrain but the problem was that we were not physically able to carry out enough food from Independence to Mammoth so we had to skimp on food and were running short...very short. We stopped down at Muir Ranch, a resupply pack station and resort which was rumored to have an impressive hiker box of food for starving PCT hikers. When I got there the hiker box was pretty slim but some JMT hikers gave me a few meals as well as other people almost finished with their trip who loaded us up with dehydrated meals, dried fruit, and nut mixes. Jackpot! Right behind the ranch are natural hot springs as well as a 'warm' lake which had some hot spots from the springs so we took the rest of the day there and relaxed in natural hot springs.

Mather Pass, Palisade Lakes, and the Base of Muir Pass - Miles 820.5 and 835.3 - 7/3-4

So condensation this morning was in the form of ice on my tent. It got pretty cold over the night but up and over Mather was this mornings goal. It wasnt a terribly difficult pass and on the way down Mather around mid-morning I stopped at Palisade Lakes to jump in the water and cool off. The lake was surrounded by massive mountains on all sides and had an impressive waterfall feeding the river swerving down the valley. It was a sweet spot and I searched around finding a great campsite on a large rock next to the mouth of the lake and waterfall. Hiking day over. I spent the rest of the day exploring around the area and checking out spots near the lake including close to the waterfall and climbing up and around a small boulder field. Around late afternoon the mosquitoes came in full force and the day was over. Small hiking days and playing around in very pretty areas, in my opinion, is better than an extra day in town, you can't spend money and you get to explore areas most PCT hikers walk right by and never experience.

In the morning I ran into Voodoo and Twinkletoes, two hikers I haven't seen since the Saufleys. They got hung up due to illness and were getting back into the Sierras after time off and it was nice to see familiar faces, especially after a few hundred miles. I followed the river down the carved out and weathered granite valley and then started my way up towards Muir Pass. At the end of the day heading up near Muir Pass I passed a JMT hiker who suggested a good campsite right before the pass so I figured it would be a good spot to sleep for the night. Heading up to Muir was pretty steep and higher up so it had me breathing pretty hard. When I reached the campspot I was pretty tired, made dinner and called it a night.

Glen Pass and Pinchot Pass - Mile 800 and 815.5 - 7/1-2

Got up late covered on condensation from Bullfrog Lake and got back on the PCT to go over Glen Pass. The pass was a rocky loose set of switchbacks. I met a girl out for a few days and chatted with her about this hike and the Appalachian Trail as well and she took my picture which is on here somewhere. I really enjoy the passes for the reason that it's a meeting place where people stop and relax. You get to meet and talk to people from all over and it's a wonderful part of this whole experience! I went down Glen Pass quickly until I was stopped by the beauty of Rae Lakes. The first thing to catch my eye was the cliffs that hung off down into deep enough water to jump in. I met a couple from Palm Springs doing the JMT, Matt and Kim. Matt was down to jump off the cliffs as well so we both jumped into the cold water. After that enjoyable break I trucked down the rest of the mountain to a suspension bridge with campsite where I slept that night.

In the morning it was uphill again to tackle Pinchot Pass. I followed a river up the valley and it was full of greenery and windflowers. The pass was a slight constant uphill so it wasn't a terribly difficult pass. Up at the pass I noticed a way up the the summit of the mountain to the left. So I left my pack down at the pass and climbed up to the top for the hell of it. It was a cool perspective to see the pass from above and looking at both sides of the pass. After going down I started back up until getting a mile before the top of Mather Pass. Going up towards Mather I followed a river as well and was similar to going up Pinchot. Camping up at 11,500 feet had a spectacular view and sunset but was going to be cold overnight being up that high.

Rebecca Jean's Back! (in and out of Independence, Ca) - Mile 789.1 - 6/29-30

After Forester Pass I continued down an then very steeply up to the Bullfrog Lake Trail which connects to the Kearsarge Trail that leads to Independence, Ca. Bullfrog lake was very beautiful just like the people I met around Mt. Whitney said and I planned to camp there when I leave town. At the pass, I saw how they get food and gear to the ranger station, a pack animal train. The man on the main horse must really trust the horse to be on the edge of a gravelish mountain because watching him ride up made me nervous an I wasn't even the person doing it. The trail down was very steep and at the base was a campground that Tom from Kennedy Meadows was trail angeling at. He gave us a ride down thousands of feet to the desert town of Independence. I got my resupply box from the PO and got a room for the night. Marvin, Debbie and her daughter drove up to hang out with Spins, myself, Heavy and Cheers. They brought a grill and whipped up sone fantastic carne asada and veggie burritos and beer as well as fruit. They stuffed us full of food and we all had a great time till late in the night. Thanks Again you guys!

The next morning I got some subway to pack out and we planned out meeting Marvin and Debbie again in South Lake Tahoe which is going to be a lot of fun. We all got a picture together and they took off in Rebecca Jean (Marvin's big ass truck). Tom picked us up and drove us back up to the trailhead and I hoofed it up with a super heavy pack to camp around Bullfrog Lake.

20 Mile Day Up and Over Forester Pass - Mile 786.1 - 6/28

Waking up after climbing Whitney, I still had the mental rush from doing something so spectacular and was ready to go hike to the highest point on the PCT. After a short hike on the John Muir Trail I was back on the PCT and coasted over two uphills. The last uphill was a vast valley which was pretty barren except for a cluster of pine trees. On the way up I was passed by two guys heading south who told me to take time to smell the flowers. I thought yeah man sweet metaphor that's pretty much how I hike but he was like, No seriously there are a bunch of wonderfully smelling flowers growing on the mountains by the pass. I bet they were waiting for someone heading north to say a literal metaphor I had a good laugh out of it. I thought Forester Pass was directly ahead but while going up I took a sharp left over the ridge to the next chain of mountains. Heading up towards the pass the snow-fed lakes were extremely low due to the lack of a winter but their colors were still just as vivid. I took a break to eat and drink before the uphill of the pass started. The switchbacks went from long to short and steep and when I reached the chute (which actually had some snow on it) I thought I was there but the trail wound to the other side and went up one more round of small steep switchbacks. When I reached the top I was greeted with a massive canyon valley with cerulean blue lakes, rushing streams connecting them and the treeline of pine forest far off in the distance. Then it hit me, this strong floral aromatic intoxicant. I looked up to my left and the mountain was covered in these purple lavender-like scented flowers. Their name I later found out is Sky Pilot. I climbed up there and was immersed in their scent and looked over into the valley, it was so surreal. Heading down the pass was just as beautiful, passing the bluest lakes I have ever seen, crossing cold and crisp snowmelt water, and seeing for miles in this fishbowl-esc canyon. The streams connected and grew larger as you continued down until it was a raging river covered in boulders and downed trees from a massive windstorm late last year. When I got down to treeline (10,000 ft) I smelt campfire and I knew I was close to home for the night. At the fire was a JMT hiker from Germany who was quite nice and good company but that guy was not terribly prepared for the cold nights of the Sierras. His 45 degree sleeping bag did not cut it so he made a fire to keep "warm" at night. Heavy and Cheers, a couple I've hiked around for a few hundred miles showed up later. At the end if the night it was over 20 miles hiked with a 13,200 foot pass completed, ahhh the perks of no snow in the Sierras otherwise just going up and over Forester would have taken a whole day itself!

Speechless (Mt. Whitney Summit) - 6/27

So how does one feel the morning of climbing the highest mountain in the continental US: VERY worried! It wasn't the altitude, it wasn't the climb, it was waking up with a pain in my chest when taking a full breath. I tried breathing fully but it hurt and "Oh shit! how do I climb to 14,505 feet without being able to fully breathe" repeated in my head. After a few minutes and some stretching it went away, thank god. I started hiking up taking only my pack, some food and water, and my jacket while leaving the test of my gear in my tent down at the basecamp.

The first few miles had a gradual elevation gain passing two lakes, one being Guitar Lake shaped like...you guessed it, a guitar. I spent some time hanging around this neat spot watching the marmots scurry around. After Guitar Lake and two smaller lakes the serious hiking started. The first set of switchbacks might as well have been strait the hell up covering over 1000 feet in a little under a mile. That took a bit of wind out of me and I stopped at the Whitney Portal/Summit junction for a breather and some food. I was high at this point, around 12-13 thousand feet and had two miles more of up to get to the top. The climb after those hellish switchbacks wasn't to terrible but the altitude sure made me work for those last two miles. Being the afternoon, most of the dayhikers were heading down and talking to plenty of them provided a chance to catch my breath heading up but after I reached 14,000 feet my legs were spent as well as my lungs. I could see the stone shelter on the summit but had to stop every few hundred yards to catch my breath...torture. It's like when someone takes a $100 bill and ties it to a string, as you walk close and think you're going to get it, it gets pulled away tormenting you. I wanted the top but my lungs wouldn't get me there in one breakless stretch. So I stopped a few times and had to stare at the top as I caught my breath.

When I finally summited, there were two people puking, a group of people reading scripture, and a guys sending texts on his phone...what?!?! It seemed like nobody was taking in the view surrounding them; we're on top of the freaking United States people!

Personally I could care less about those around me, I was plenty distracted by the 360 degree view of everything as far as I could see. I got as close to the edge of multiple corners and looked down all the way down... If you fell you'd be dead before you hit the ground. I went behind the shelter and looked over the edge to see climbers heading up. Well shit I thought hiking up Whitney was badass and there are a group climbing strait up the opposite side. They made it up and we chatted for a bit. I was impressed by their feat and they were just, if not more, impressed of my journey. It was a cool moment.

I started my decent down Whitney and took in the view as I got closer down towards Guitar Lake. At Guitar Lake I ran into two former PCT'ers from 2010 and they said to camp by Bullfrog Lake and to hit the hot springs by Muir Ranch, check and check. This 16 mile round trip off the PCT to do Whitney was something that will be burned into my brain as long as I live. I was quite proud of myself and went to sleep with ease. Tomorrow I climb over Forester Pass, the highest point on the PCT, one milestone after another!

Chickenspring Lake and Airplanes - Mile 651 - 6/25

It was cold and very windy and I still had the rest of the mountain to go up. I was not a happy camper! Luckily the day looked relatively flat...or so it seemed. I finished the mountain in my morning daze and headed to water, 3/10ths of a mike off trail. It was slightly downhill and led to an open meadow with a flowing spring. It was cold wonderful water and soaked in the sun for second breakfast. I hiked until a caravan of horses and donkeys passed by going south. Park service employees were hauling goods to another station. At the campsite/water shortly after a bunch of hikers were having lunch. One lady was particularly friendly and asked if I had a bear can which I replied that I did. She said good because she was with the park service and worked on implementing bear can discounts for PCT hikers. Her park service shirt was hidden under a sun shirt, very sneaky. Nonetheless I talked to her for a bit and headed up a mile to water and lunch.

After lunch I got some delicious spring water from Poison Meadow spring, strait out of the mountain at 10,800 feet, nope didn't treat it. Funny that the only water I didn't treat that day was from a spring named Poison Meadow. The end of the day was up to the official entrance of the Sierras, Cottonwood Pass, at just over 11,000 feet and .7 further camped at the beautiful Chickenspring Lake, surrounded by an retired mountain. Now I was having trouble with altitude adjustment but Spins was struggling even more. From Cottonwood Pass to the lake she got dizzy and disoriented to the point where a gust of wind blew her jacket open and she proclaimed "I'm a airplane!" the occasional psssshhhhhhh noise of liftoff would be followed by the lifting of her arms and trekking poles.