At mile 794.3. Hiked 5.4 PCT miles today. Returned to PCT via Kearsage Pass Trail by hiking additional 7.2 miles. I bought 2  breakfast burritos at the Shell Station in Independence to carry with me for lunch. The person working in the store seemed strange. When I asked how much my food cost he seemed to just make up an obviously inflated price. Then he quickly reduced it by a dollar. Observing this pricing system, I asked how much the Cliff Bars were. Again, he threw out a price,...

At mile 788.5. Here is a view of Mt Whitney from a booth at McDonald's in Lone Pine. Whitney is the peak just to the left of the lamppost. Because it is set back, it isn’t prominent on the skyline above Lone Pine. I stayed at the Dolly Villa again and the big excitement of the day was a purchase of a new Montbell down parka. The post office lost my bounce box with my warm clothing and the nights are getting colder.  (Note: Months later I received my bounce box...

At mile 788.5. Hiked 15.8 PCT miles plus 7 miles on Kearsage Pass Trail to Onion Valley parking lot. Today I climbed 2 passes including Forester Pass at over 13,000 feet, the highest point on the PCT. I came across many families of Marmots. This is an adult. The babies are cuter.  Here is the climb up Forester Pass. You can see the notch that is the pass. Here is the view looking back (south) from Forester Pass. A lake after the initial descent from Forester Pass. Just one of the countless views, all...

At mile 772.7. Hiked 6.4 PCT miles today plus 15 miles to Mt Whitney summit and back plus 0.8 miles to return to the PCT. Total distance hiked today was 22.2 miles. I was cold in the sleeping bag when I awoke to see that the ground had frozen. I was up at 3:35 am and on the trail to Mt Whitney just after 4 am. There was a nearly full moon so I left my headlamp turned off most of the time. Without the headlamp beam, I could actually see...