Category: PCT Sierras

At mile 1092.3. Hiked 5 miles today.

I was at my desk in Atlanta working for AT&T on March 26th. The next day, March 27th at 5:00 PM, a Border Patrol Agent dropped me off at the PCT monument on the Mexican Border. A long fence with a broad swath of carefully plowed “no man’s land” between the fence and a metal border wall stretched in front of me. I was all by myself. I added a quick entry to the trail register that was hidden in a cubbyhole of the monument and I snapped a few inadequate selfies to mark the occasion. At 5:10 pm, with the sun dropping, I started hiking toward Canada. I was all alone and the last PCT hiker to start on March 27, 2018.

On August 16th, I crossed over a hill to another linear border swath, this one not plowed, but clear cut from Northern Cascades forest and extended across steep mountains. This was the Canadian border. This time I had a lot of company.  I celebrated by posing on the northern monument, playing music, and dancing. In between these markers were many achieved milestones, but I wasn’t done yet. Having taken 4 weeks to travel home, then skipping 440 miles from Walker Pass in the Southern California desert to Echo Lake and Chalet above Lake Tahoe, I traveled back to the desert to proceed north over the challenging climbs of high Sierra passes.

Today, having returned to Echo Lake where I started hiking north on May 29th, 109 days earlier, I am truly at the end of the line. I’ve completed a 2652 mile journey that I had first planned 5 years earlier.

Here I am at the end of the line, but as Hannah Montana sings “there’s always gonna be another mountain to climb”, I’ll seek out more adventures.

The day was like any other on the PCT. I started hiking with views of Lake Tahoe. Here is the sunrise.

I planned an easy 5 mile walk to allow plenty of time to hike back to the highway and to hitch a 2 hour ride to Sacramento where I had a flight booked to Atlanta the next day. The PCT has its surprises. I had one of my more difficult creek crossings within a mile of the finish. Since I had to hike a mile and a half back to Highway 50, I actually had to cross this creek twice.

I found a log, but the water was splashing up on it so I needed to take care not to slip.

For my part, it required intense dedication and desire to complete this long hike. Truly, there was never an easy day, but that is life. It’s about the climb, not what’s on the other side. It is also about the people. Those I met along the way and those at home that supported me and cheered me on whether it was sending a resupply or simply checking my progress by reading my blog or following me on Instagram. Some of you also supported my JDRF fundraiser. Along the trail there were countless trail angels. There was David in Idyllwild. When I felt lost in this tourist town, David drove me around on all my errands. Dropping me off at the trail, his  last act was to give me a roll of lifesavers. Over the next week, as the day drew to a close and my legs were tired and feet sore, I would pop a lifesaver in my mouth and be encouraged by those that supported me. These people were the lifesavers.

There were dedicated trail angels like David, but also random strangers that on very little information other than my appearance had enough faith to give me a ride. These people gave me the gift of trust. I rode in their cars and trucks and I told my story and listened to whatever they wanted to share. Along the way there were trail angel surprises. Sometimes it was a cooler full of soft drinks and snacks with a sign that said “help yourself”. It was Nate who was at  Lake Olallie cooking breakfast for hikers or the men at McGiver cabin sharing their breakfast with PCT hikers.

There was family that I never knew until I set out on this hike. My 2nd cousins in California and Alabama supported me in every way possible. I’ll always remember cousin Margaret meeting me at Hikertown with a Burger King Whopper and fries. No Whooper ever tasted so good.

At least one person on the trail became a good friend and helped in a huge way. Cache22 had me over to his house and drove me to Walker Pass the next day. As we hiked together, he was great company and very encouraging. He offered great advice and I took it. Without his advice, to bring my broad brimmed  sun hat to the Sierra, my head would have been surely cooked. Also, his advice led me to carriy significantly leas weight in the Sierra. I mimimized weight by resupplying as often as possible and carrying a small bear vault.

At home my  daughter Maura and wife supported me by mailing resupply packages. With my frequently changing plans, this turned out to be more work than intended.

Finally, my biggest fan, my wife, Sandra, helped me achieve my life long dream to complete a thru-hike. This despite months of separation that it involved. It wasn’t always easy on Sandra, but she supported me without complaint.

 

At mile 1087.3. Hiked 21.6 miles today.

Today was my last full day of hiking so I took another PCT’ers advice to savor it. 

The day was cool and breezy without the strong gusts of the last two days and the trail continued to be easy on the feet. Nice for the countdown to the end.

Captain Travis on leave is hiking on the PCT in photo below.

The the trail passed through fields of golden grass.The 

And reds.

Here is a lake that I think might be Blue Lake.

About a mile before Carson Pass, I stopped at Frog Lake for lunch. Here is my lunch spot.

 

I sat in a log and dangled my feet in this marshy Pond. I relaxed here a long time, watching a giant dragon fly struggle in the water, I watched a bird that called out at me with fury. It must be protecting young. Soon I heard cheeps of fledglings, but could not find the well hidden nest in overgrowth on the edge of the pond. Here is my pond resting spot.

Here is shower lake. I saw the trail sign with an arrow and the word Shower. Thought there might be hot showers available. 🙂 Looking more closely, the sign said Shower Lake. I swam in Shower Lake. My last swim on this PCT hike and the coldest water yet. 

And other moments savored as I moved deliberately through the wide open penultimate.

At mile 1065.7. Hiked 26.4 miles today.

I felt like I needed to put in the miles in order for my last day on the PCT to be a short day, allowing plenty of time to hitch a ride to Sacramento. The trail cooperated with a smooth and even path. I’d already planned out my last campsite two more days out. It would make my last day a short 5 miles.

The morning light was incredible, or maybe the double hot coffee that put my brain on “enjoy mode”. I had not been having hot food in the morning, but now I was trying to use up my extra fuel. I can’t take it home on the plane and I don’t want to carry the weight if I’m not going to use it.

It was still the magic of morning and I could already tell that it would be a big day for photos. Normally, I take 3 times the photos that I end up using for that day’s blog.

With skies like this, I couldn’t stop clicking. 

Wierd lava formations were all over. This day of PCT is one of my favorites. Not to be missed.

The area from Blue Lakes Road to Ebbetts Pass, then to Carson Pass and on toward Tahoe should be near the top of your list for hiking. There are a lot of open spaces and variety. It is an area with several trailheads onto the PCT. Some of the PCT here is also the Tahoe Rim Trail. The Tahoe Rim Trail or TRT in California and Nevada is a 165-mile loop around Lake Tahoe.

The dusty trail is shown below.

Bluffs set against the blue sky.

Giant monolithic volcanic boulders sit just above the trail.

The trail winds through the volcanic landscape.

Wide-open spaces; wide-open trail. Endless sky.

The clouds move in.

More photos…

The clouds paint the sky.

This seems like a monument to an epic hike.

Beautiful!

At mile 1039.3. Hiked 22.3 miles today.

Since I spent the night at North Kennedy Meadows and had the Cowboy Breakfast, I didn’t start hiking until 9:10 am. Even with the late start and carrying 4 day food supply, I made pretty good mileage. 

There were two reasons for the good mileage. First, I see the end in sight. Next, by early afternoon it became apparent that I was walking toward a wildfire, that I was downwind from the fire, that the winds were very strong, and finally, I had not seen any other hikers in a very long time. This made me wonder whether the Donnell fire escaped its containment and whether the trail closed shortly after I had started hiking. I started looking around for safe spots. There were a number of open non combustible areas. I made a mental note whenever I saw one. As example, the trail passes close to a large mountain of volcanic rubble without a single tree or blade of grass.

Here is a view of one of the volcanic rubble safe spot of which I made mental note.

I also started hiking faster. I was still downwind and the trail was leading me in the general line of fire. I began to run some on the downhills. I filled my 2 liter with water and with the added weight began a brutal climb. I thought having extra water couldn’t hurt. One good sign was that there were no firemen in sight and no aerial activity on the fire. By the way, that could be a bad sign also. Eventually, I made my way upwind of the fire and I relaxed and had a late lunch of tuna wraps.

It was a windy day. Not Tehachapi windy, but enough to push you two steps to your left. At one point with a strong wind against my back and facing a short steep rise, I had fun letting the wind push me up. I only lifted my legs, never pushing with them. I let the wind do the work.

Later, with my mind on the fire, a tree fell down. This wasn’t part of the tree. This was an entire large tree coming apart from the base of the trunk and crashing in the woods. Yes, it was windy.

Some of the views after I topped out and began a long walk down a valley or Canyon.

Another view. There were strange clouds in the distance that made me think snow, but I think they were smoke related.

The trail and I’m upwind from the fire now.

Out of the smoke.

I’m more relaxed as I hike and happy that I have good mileage on the start of this 75 mile final leg. I had made flight reservations for the 16th while at KMN so now I am on a schedule.

As I hiked on, I heard distant cowbells. Before long I started seeing deer,’then cows. Do deer like to hangout near cows? This cow was in the middle of the trail and kept moving up the trail as I walked behind it. It led me to my planned campsite. It was nice to have cows with gently clanging bells for company as I camped this night. The next morning as I began hiking, I continued to hear cowbells and see cows. That morning a herd seemed to chase after me for a minute. They didn’t  know that I didn’t have food to spare.

 

 

At mile 1016.9.  Hiked 14.5 miles today.

Last night I camped at Walker River on a site near the footbridge. After a short climb up a canyon, the landscape changed to a high open volcanic expanse. It became windy and cool.

Working my way up to higher and more exposed elevations.

I continue to climb. This is an exciting difference to what I had seen on elsewhere on the PCT.

Barren volcanic views. Only a few spots where low and bent White Bark Pines grew.

I made my way up to the notch seen on the right side of this photo. I’m guessing the approach near the notch was where early hikers needed their Ice Axes. Even without ice, I stepped carefully to avoid sliding on sandy soil and over a precipice.

Closer look at the notch. 

Other side with some Nor’east facing snow patch.

By midday I reached Sonora Pass where I hitched a ride to North Kennedy Meadow Guest Ranch in time for a hot Roast Beef aus Jus sandwich and fries. I stayed at the bunkhouse with shower and laundry included and I shopped the well supplied store for my very last resupply all of the way to Echo Lake & Chalet, 75 miles away. I enjoyed looking out the window of the bunkhouse to the corral where it seemed 50 horses and mules were kept. This is a big packing operation. I’d love to go backcountry on horseback with a mule in tow. These packers are cool cowboy types and seem to be tough and hard working. KM-North has reasonable prices and is a great stop. 

People: I met Golden at KM Ranch. He is 60 something and is also NOBO Thru-hiker. He is back doing a skipped section. He finishes at Sierra City, 100 miles north of where I finish and seemed to be having more of a struggle on this last leg of his hike with sore feet. I wish him well.

At mile 1002.4. Hiked 25.8 miles today.

The miles I hiked in the morning were over some of the most difficult I have encountered on the PCT. Actually this difficult stretch includes some of the miles that I hiked late the day before. There were steep ups and downs with rocky and washed out surfaces. This made the hiking even slower downhill than uphill. One time my foot rolled sideways on a round stone so that the upper side of my shoe slammed into an embedded dagger-like rock. The top of my foot momentarily seared with pain. Needless to say, my spirits were low. A SOBO informed me that the PCT closure for the Donnell fire had been lifted over the weekend. Oh, great! Now 32 more miles to hike.

At midday I met Freebird (3 time PCT thruhiker) and Raven. The trail had gotten much better but I didn’t trust it to last. Freebird told me that the part I had just hiked was some of the worst around, but the trail would be  good from here on out. This really lifted my spirits. Also, I had just had a nice lunch break, a 2nd cold coffee, and a couple of Advil. Things were looking up. 

Here is Wilma Lake where I ate lunch.

Another view of Wilma Lake.

Freebird had turned out to be right. In fact, the trail became much easier than typical. I started to make good time as I started to think about how I would handle resupply given that 32 more miles of trail were open. I exited Yosemite and celebrated that milestone in my head. I also reached the 1000 mile marker and drew down my miles remaining to less than 100, then less than 90. The end is drawing near.

Jack Main Canyon was a long beautiful walk along Falls Creek as it meandered through grassy meadows and as the trail disappeared into pockets of secret forests. Jack Main was actually Jack Mean, but they got his name wrong when they named the canyon.

The lakes sometimes reflected like mirrors.

Here is Dorothy Lake just before reaching Dorothy Pass where I crossed the Yosemite Park Boundary.

Looking back at Dorothy Lake as I begin the climb up Dorothy Pass.

Another lake.

Some snow on mountain above lake. Now over Dorothy Pass I’m on north facing slopes which mean some lingering snow patches.

Crossing a pass meant not only new vistas, but also new terrains. 

People: I have seen the following SOBO’s. Zebra, Pringle, Pippin, Easy Road, and Jaybird.