Author: Lon Cooper

Photo: Snow covers the Pacific Crest Trail north of Forester Pass

Day 61: Pacific Crest Trail to Independence, CA via Kearsarge Pass

Today we hiked 7.5 miles down a side trail over Kearsarge Pass to a place called Onion Valley. Then we got a ride 13 miles down the road to Independence, CA. It really is amazing how a short 7.5 mile (return) hike from a paved road can put you right in the middle of the Sierra (although you do have to climb 2,700 over Kearsarge Pass to get there).

We are staying in the Courthouse Motel, which is a small hiker-friendly establishment. Not much to this town actually — the motel, two gas stations, post office, and two restaurants. It is the county seat of Inyo County, so there is a big courthouse across the street. 

We plan on taking a rest day here tomorrow and start the next leg of our hike to Vermillion Valley Resort on  Wednesday. 

Mileage: 6/10 mile on PCT, then 7.5 off trail  

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Day 60: Mile 778.2 to Bullfrog Lake trail junction

It was a chilly morning as we made breakfast and gathered up our cold weather gear (waterproof socks, tall gaiters, snow baskets for our trekking poles). We were camping as close as we could to the base of Forester Pass because the snow would be hard in the morning but become soft and slushy in the warmth of the afternoon. 

There was quite a lot of snow at the base of Forester Pass but we were able to find the trail and the switchbacks. The climb did not require the use of our crampons and ice axes; we were able to keep traction with just our hiking shoes and poles.

But once on top of Forester, we could see that our downhill trail to the north was buried under snow for at least a mile. We followed snow prints made by other hikers down to the actual Pacific Crest Trail. We wanted to glissade part of the way but no path was clear of exposed boulders.

Part of the rest of the day we traveled on wet muddy trail, since all the snowmelt is following the same trail down until the trail dropped to about 10,000 feet in elevation. Then the trail followed the lovely Bubbs Creek through a wonderful forest and Vidette Meadow. We can see the snow covered mountains that we just walked through in the distance and they are very beautiful. 

Mileage: 10.3

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Day 59: Crabtree Meadow to Mile 778.2

We are camped tonight below Forester Pass at 12,200 feet. Tomorrow morning we will hike over the pass which is the highest point on the Pacific Crest Trail. We encountered our first real snow about 1.5 miles south of here, but it was easy to cross. Nearby lakes are still frozen.
 
Overall we had a relaxing day (! Deb says lots of climbing still !!) with a long stop this afternoon at Tyndall Creek, the third water crossing getting our feet wet today. Deb is finding it difficult to stop carrying more than one liter of water at a  time despite the plentiful water here, a carryover from our dry hiking days of only a week ago.

Mileage: 11.2

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Day 58: Mile 747.2 to Crabtree Meadow

This morning was cold since we were cowboy-camped above 10,000 feet. This does not deter Lon from setting the alarm for 5:10 a.m. Brrrrr. Deb has to hike chasing the sun in the mornings nowadays.

Once we reached Chicken Spring Lake, we were in the Sierra we both admire and remember fondly: expansive views of surrounding mountains and meadows, granite cliffs, big steps made of boulders and tree stumps/branches, bigger and bigger climbs, rocky trails, and numerous streams to step over. It was fun to finally be above treeline at times. We climbed above 11,300 feet, we think more than once.

We are now cowboy-camped at Crabtree Meadow, tired after 19 miles today. No snow encountered on the Pacific Crest Trail yet but we see small patches infrequently. We are watching the deer in the meadow and guarding our food from the marmots.

Mileage: 19.1

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Day 57: Death Canyon to Mile 747.2

The Pacific Crest Trail keeps climbing and gaining elevation as we hike northward. Our day was full of ups, small downs, and even higher uphills – it challenges us both physically and mentally. The trail likes to cling to the mountainsides at this point, giving us only brief glimpses through the trees of the green valley below.

We are camped tonight at 10,800 feet. We are expecting a chilly night. Tomorrow morning we will cross 11,000 foot Cottonwood Pass. 

Mileage: 16.4

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Day 56: Mile 719.2 to Death Canyon

We have been gaining elevation and it was chilly last night. We stayed warm in our sleeping bags, but Deb was slow to wake up. 

The hike today reached almost 10,500 feet, the highest elevation so far for this hike. We are feeling the effects of the elevation and decided to make this a short day to adjust to the altitude. Death Canyon, where we are camping, is actually pretty nice despite the name. 

We’ve been treated to spectacular scenery and we know this is just the beginning for the climbs to come. Interestingly, we have also been treated to low-flying military fighter jets whizzing by in these canyons – their supersonic sounds echo loudly overhead.

Mileage: 11.6

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Day 55: Kennedy Meadows to Mile 719.2

We left Kennedy Meadows powered by our new breakfast choice: hot and creamy polenta – yep, we are eating this wonder food for this entire week! This is also the first week that we stop sharing dinners. As a result, our packs are heavier with food. Still we managed to keep our mileage respectable today. The first part of the day had us walking the high desert; sadly, some of it another burn area. Next we climbed into beautiful pine forest and then dropped into a huge meadow and eventually down to the South Kern River where we soaked our tired feet and then made dinner. We hiked on for another 2.7 miles to cowboy camp in the pines at 8200 feet – brrrr, a little chilly tonight.

Mileage: 17 miles

It was just a short eight mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail to Kennedy Meadows which soon will become the center of the hiking universe for the next month or so.

We both had sent resupply packages to the Kennedy Meadows General Store and spent a zero day organizing gear and supplies. We will be entering the Sierra in a few days and will hike up Mount Whitney and shortly after that hike over Forrester Pass, the highest point on the PCT.

We each sent new shoes in our resupply boxes to replace worn out ones. Bear proof canisters are required for our food in this section, so we have added those to our gear. We may encounter snow, so we will be carrying ice axes and crampons.

We also fattened up on the lunches and dinners offered by the general store and enjoyed catching up with new and old hiking acquaintances we have encountered over the last 7 weeks.

Photo: Deb organizes gear and supplies in Kennedy Meadows.

Trail Date: May 25-26th

Mileage: 8.7 miles

Shortly after we departed our campsite this morning, we had the thrill of the day – a solo bear strolling on the same Pacific Crest Trail right in front of us, maybe 20 yards ahead! We stopped and watched him for half a minute before he caught wind of us and galloped away. Deb has hiked the John Muir Trail twice since 2009 and was disappointed by no bear sightings so she is beyond happy today.

Trail Date: Saturday, May 24th

Mileage: 17.4 miles

A small monument created by a hiker at mile 665 reminded us today that we are one quarter of the way to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail.

That’s one quarter by distance, but about one third of our expected time on the PCT has passed. The reason for the difference is we expect to hike faster the more days we hike.

We created a “schedule” before we started that was heavily influenced by this document.

We are currently about a day ahead of the schedule, but we don’t refer to it often as we are in no hurry to reach Canada. We only use the schedule to help figure out resupplies and to reassure ourselves that we are on track as we watch the younger faster hikers zip by.

The schedule has us finishing on September 12th for a total of 162 days hiking on the PCT. We have no idea if this will be accurate and there is nothing special about September 12th. If we finish earlier or later that’s OK, although Northern Washington can have bad weather in late September.

Meanwhile, this section G has surprised us with its unexpected bountiful panoramas and big mountains. We have been perched on the upper sides of mountains for miles and miles – we are at the mercy of the trail to spit us down the mountains to water occasionally, but pay for the water privileges with another climb right back up.

Photo: A monument at mile 665 marks the first quarter of the trail.

Trail Date: Friday, May 23rd

Mileage: 20.1 miles

As the sun was setting yesterday several small storms formed around us making dramatic cloud formations. When the rain came a few minutes later we were warm and dry in our well sheltered campsite.

Mount Jenkins is named after a guidebook author who sadly died at a young age in 1979.

We just completed Pacific Crest Trail Section F, which is the section of trail from Tehachapi to Walker Pass. Deb thinks Section F is a test for hikers to see if they are ready to continue on.

It’s 85 miles (136 if you go straight through to Kennedy Meadows) with no resupply options, so it’s the most food we have had to carry, so far.

Section F is probably the driest PCT section, with frequent 20 mile stretches between water and one 32 mile waterless stretch.

Section F can be really hot, but a surprise change in the weather brought cold, wind and rain.

Section F is really beautiful, with amazing panoramic views.

Here is a brief day by day rundown to catch up our blog readers:

Day 46
Sunday May 18th
Tehachapi Pass to Mile 583.9
We had a very pleasant zero day at the Best Western. Rather deluxe compared to the hotels we have been using recently, but we both felt like the splurge was worth it.

We met Sam and Claudia, local trail angels, while having breakfast in the motel and they offered to return us to the trailhead.

It was pretty windy at Tehachapi Pass, which made it a big struggle at times to make it up the big climb but we made the 17.5 miles to Golden Oak Spring, where we found good water.

Day 47
Monday May 19th
Mile 583.9 to Mile 603.9
We got an early start and made good time as we hiked past wind farms, through a burn area, over Hamp Williams Pass to excellent water at Robin Bird Spring. We continued about two miles past the spring to camp.

Day 48
Tuesday, May 20th
Mile 603.9 to Mile 622.5
We passed several good water sources early in the day and Deb even found time to rinse out some clothes using a zip lock bag as a wash basin at Landers Camp. Here we also met Forrest of the PCTA, who was scouting out the camp conditions for a work crew.

The water situation in this section changes dramatically around mile 616. In the past water caches have been maintained at mile 616 and mile 631, but the person doing that is no longer able to continue this. Water caches aren’t absolutely necessary, but they can make hiking dry sections of the trail easier. Anyway, the water cache at mile 616 was empty, so we hiked to the water two miles off the trail near mile 620. We decided to carry enough water to reach Walker Pass in 32 miles (13 liters between the two of us).

When we made it back to the trail it was incredibly windy, but we were lucky to find a place to camp sheltered by a large boulder and Joshua Trees.

Day 49
Wednesday, May 21st
Mile 622.5 to Mile 641.2
Cool windy weather continued this morning. The trail was sandy, and deep sand at times, one of the many features making this trail section a final performance test before entering the Sierra. Turns out there was water at Bird Spring Pass, but we didn’t need any because we were carrying enough. It rained several times in the afternoon, and also as we were setting up the tent for the night.

Day 50
Thursday, May 22nd
Mile 641.2 to 656
We packed up our wet tent and other gear, and headed down the PCT to Walker Pass. We had arranged to meet Dal who was going to collect the data from the GPS trail logger and change the case to a waterproof one. Dal also resupplied us with the 2.5 days of food we had bought in Tehachapi, so we could hike on to Kennedy Meadows without having to go into Lake Isabella to resupply.

We were also surprised by awesome trail magic at the Walker Pass campground, thanks Yogi.

We spent a few hours at the campground, and only hiked four miles past Walker Pass to a very nice campsite where we made an early camp and relaxed the rest of the day.