Running the Gauntlet

So we climbed Whitney. We are badasses. It's true. What would life after Whitney be like? Boring? Ha!... Far from it...

After the mindnumbing hike down Whitney we stayed at Crabtree Meadows again. It was just Shelly, Heather, and I because the boys had gone to Lone Pine via the Whitney portal.  That night we feasted on salami, cheese, and wheat thins and went straight to bed. We had climbed a pretty large mountain after all. 

The section of the Sierras after Whitney is intense. It features several high passes (one of which is the highest point on the PCT), lots of elevation change, and frequent thunderstorms. The upside of all this intensity is the trail goes through some of the most beautiful and striking landscapes in California. 

The day after Whitney was the start of the gauntlet: Forester Pass. This is the highest point on the PCT at about 13000 feet. Good thing we had fresh legs! Oh, wait... 

The morning was grey and it stayed that way all day. We slowly started climbing in elevation as we headed towards the pass. Along the way we met David, another thruhiker. We leap frogged with him until we got within a few miles of the pass and then he paused and we continued. About two miles from the top the tree line broke and we entered an exposed grassy expanse. It was a fairly pleasant hike up through steam-filled meadows. It seemed like we were hiking into a giant bowl. On the way we ran into Janessa and Gabe again! They were being chastised by a ranger for having their dog Lilly in the park. We felt pretty bad but they still seemed to be in good spirits. About a half mile from the top the switchbacks started. My legs were already tired from the day before so these switchbacks just killed. And to top it off a storm was rolling in so I really had to hustle to the top. When I summited the pass I was looking into an even scarier thunderstorm cloud. Awesome...As we started down the other side a giant bolt of lightning flashed in the distance in front of us. But we started walking into the storm because we had no choice. 

The first few miles were nice, however, the rain started to fall as we filtered our water. And it continued to fall. And soon we were soaked. And cold and miserable. We tromped down and found a decent campsite and set up tent as quickly as possible. We spent the next couple hours trying to dry off and warm up, with little success. After a few hours though the sun came out and we were treated to a gorgeous Sierra sunset. Nature's fireworks. It was the Fourth of July. 

The morning brought a beautiful bluebird day and we quickly broke camp and headed for the Kearsarge Pass trail junction. We were almost out of food and we needed to get off trail to resupply in Independence. This meant climbing Kearsarge Pass and descending out of the mountains. It was a fun walk through the valley and then up to towards the pass. Along the way, Shelly and I jumped in Bullfrog Lake. It was glorious. The water was absurdly refreshing. 

After our dip we hustled up the pass and started running down the other side towards town. 

After we zeroed in Independence we got back on trail. Up Kearsarge, down Kearsarge, then up Glen Pass (named for Glen H. Crow-look him up). 

The views at the top and on the descent were spectacular. The trail meandered through a series of crystal blue alpine lakes until we reached a nice camp spot near a river. Sleep time. 

The next pass on our agenda was Pinchot Pass (named for Gifford Pinchot-look him up). We left camp, descended a few more miles down the valley, crossed a super cool bridge, and started the climb. Right after the bridge we reached 800 miles! Woot! We quickly celebrated and kept going. A short way up the trail Shelly and Nathan lost the trail and wandered towards and uncross able river. They missed the EXTREMELY obvious rock stairs leading the other direction. I was very amused by this. Anyways a couple hours of slow elevation gain got us mostly up the pass. We reached a high alpine stream where we filtered some water and took in the view. This area was gorgeous. Green meadows with blooming wildflowers and bubbling streams. It was beautiful. 

Hydration taken care of we saddled up for the pass. About 30 minutes of switchbacks later and we were at the top! Boom, another pass bites the dust. That night we stayed at Kings River and went to bed to the pitter patter of rain on the tent. 

The next day we were due to go up Mather Pass (named for Stephen Mather-look him up). It was a grey drizzly morning but we broke camp and started up the trail. About two miles from the pass the snow started to fall. By the time we were hitting the switchbacks it was a whiteout with 2-3 inches on the ground. We summited as quickly as possible and started the descent in 3-4 inches of fresh snow. The way down was tricky and very very cold so we stopped at the tree line and set up tent. All three of us piled in my tiny Big Agnes UL Flycreek two person. It was a tight squeeze.. Anyhow we made hot coca and tried to warm up.

A couple hours later we were finally vaguely warm and the sun came out. So we took down the tent and headed down Lake PCT. The melting snow made the trail a river. The Palisade Lakes area was beautiful but it was hard to focus when you are dodging small rivers and streams constantly. After clearing the meadow we descended the Golden Staircase and came into a lower valley. Shelly and I had to navigate a tricky stream crossing where she nearly lost Sven (her backpack) in the river. I've never seen her move so fast! Luckily Sven was wearing his rain cover so he came out of the river mostly dry. After that sketchy crossing we walked another mile and shared a camp and a fire with some nice JMTers. 

The next pass was Muir Pass (named for John Muir-you know the drill). This was the last one between us and Muir Trail Ranch (a place rumored to have buckets of free food). We gained a lot of elevation getting out of the valley and up to the summit. This pass was different from the others this far because we were climbing up a rocky canyon for most of the way. The climb up was rocky but spectacular. We crested about a mile before the pass at Helen Lake and then gained a little more elevation up to the summit. At the top we chilled in a stone hut built by the Sierra Club. It was chilly but way cool. 

The sky looked stormy so we rushed down the other side to a wind-sheltered lake. Another pass down. Home stretch to Muir Trail Ranch. 

The next day we woke up to ice on our tent. ICE. Wow it was cold. Putting away the tent took several minutes because all of our fingers were frozen. But we struggled through and got out of there. The next 15ish miles flew by as we rushed down canyons and valleys to MTR. We arrived mid afternoon and found the rumors to be true! BUCKETS OF FOOD! Huzzah! We grabbed lots of grub and then took some more from JMT hikers who overpacked. They even gave me Nutella! We took our food to a campsite close by and pigged out like the glorified homeless people we are. It was lovely. 

We awoke the next morning to a wonderful sunny day. We had finished most of the high passes. We had been battered by wind rain and hail but we had gotten through the high Sierras. On to the next challenge!

-Smokey