Author Archives: Jake

17 Miles (Muir Pass)

Muir Pass was the first part of the day. We got started around 8:15, and ran into Trashman at the first stream crossing. We filled up and talked about the next resupply in Mammoth Lakes. His group was going to skip VVR and push through to Mammoth by doing 17’s everyday. We had planned to hit VVR and do a quick nearo with a small resupply to Mammoth. Their plan sounded better. We just have to do a few extra miles each day and we’ll be in Mammoth by Thursday night. So, it was a great stop and chat because we wound up switching plans to get to town sooner. We have enough food to do it, so it should be good. We climbed on, leapfrogging with Trashman for awhile before reaching the pass/hut. Hung out with Shade, Studio 54, Trashman, Patches, and a few others I didn’t know. Good times up there. The rest of the day was descending. Right before we stopped for camp, we crossed Evolution Creek. Finally, the first river we had to ford. It was easy enough, even late in the day when flow would have been highest. This drought year has at least one advantage. We got to camp and saw Pepe was already here and a couple of older JMT hikers. We got water and soaked our feet in the ice cold river next to our campsite. The downhills are tough on the joints, and this river is glorious.

16 Miles

Slow and steady today. No passes, but we did hike the rest of the descent from Mather Pass and half of the ascent for Muir Pass. The hike started with lots of switchbacks through somewhat loose rock. It required attention and tedious foot placement. We got down to a nice spot along Palisade Creek and decided to have an early lunch and hang out by the water. We both had clothes to rinse out and getting into the water was very refreshing. The trail near that point was a burn area so little shade. The water chilled our feet and we could wash off some of the built-up dirt. The rest of the day was spent working our way across a valley between the passes. It’s always fun to look back and see how far you’ve gone. We finished the day at one of the last spots before the climb up Muir. There are a bunch of hikers staying here tonight, but still plenty of spots available. We seem to have the same itinerary as Shade, Studio 54, and Trashman since they’re camped here too.

17 Miles (Pinchot Pass, Mather Pass)

Lots of climbing today. First, we were the last to leave camp at 8. The other hikers were all good about noise because I didn’t hear anyone packing up. The mosquitos were already swarming so teardown was quick. We then started climbing up to Pinchot Pass. When we stopped to get water, Shade caught up to us. Chatted a bit and learned that they were headed to the same spot we were so they also intended to do both passes. We continued on and climbed up and over Pinchot, which has an amazing red-colored mountain to the west. We dropped down the other side until we got to a nice shady spot near a lake. After lunch we descended to the river. It took some scouting a viable path, but we were able to rock-hop across. The climb up Mather is similar to the others, gradual ascent until the last mile when you switchback up the wall. The view from the top was incredible. We hung out for a few minutes and then started down towards camp. We headed for the tent sites above Palisade Lake. We passed Pepe on the way down, he was glad to be away from the mosquitos tonight. Finally at camp we could eat and get off our feet. Studio 54 showed up about an hour later. Shade and Trashman arrived about half an hour after Studio. Not much talking tonight, everyone seems tired and ready for bed.

13 Miles (Glen Pass)

Woke up to light drizzle and overcast sky. No one is moving fast this morning, but that’s okay. We got going around 9:15, super late. Climbed Glen Pass and went down the other side. Passed lots of people going up while we were descending. We figure they are probably out for a long weekend. They picked a great spot. The Rae Lakes area is top notch, even with the swarms of mosquitos. At one point I thought I heard a drone flying overhead, but it was just thousands of mosquitos nearby. We ran into Pepe, Shade, Studio 54, Lego, and Maverick at the first big lake after the pass. We stopped for a quick snack. We leafrogged Studio and Shade before stopping for lunch near a lower lake. Afterwards we finished descending and made it to a suspension bridge. It was wobbly, but seemed safe enough. The river below wasn’t too far down. A short climb later we saw the water slide, which looked fun although dangerous. More climbing to our campsite, but it means less that we’ll have to do tomorrow. We are going to shoot for two passes in one day.

0 (+8) Miles (Kearsarge Pass)

Our bus to Independence wasn’t until 1:15 so after packing up our now super heavy bear cans, we went to the park across the street from the bakery. We had way too much food after realizing we could make it to VVR in 7 days instead of 8. We also wouldn’t need some of today’s food since we could eat town food until we hit the trail later in the day. We gave the excess to other hikers who were walking by the park on the way to do their own resupply. We got breakfast sandwiches again from Schat’s Bakery. Walked over to our bus stop where a couple other hikers were waiting. The bus showed up, we all piled in, and before I knew it we got dropped off in Independence. I might have snoozed a bit. I was dragging and unmotivated so we I got some pop with caffeine at the gas station. We walked over to the obvious hitch spot and stuck our thumbs out. We knew it was gonna be questionable to get a hitch this late in the day (most people would be leaving by now, instead of heading up toward the mountains). We got lucky though and a couple who were headed up for a short evening hike had an empty mini-van. They picked all 4 of us up and took us back to Onion Valley Trailhead. We briefly saw Lego and Maverick before they sped up towards Kearsarge Pass. We saw storm clouds on the south ridge, but our pass was west. We had to dig our rain gear out from the bottom of our packs since we never use them, but might need them for this hike back to the PCT. Only a few sprinkles on the way up, but the clouds were moving toward our pass. Not good. We kept hiking, getting closer to tree-line before making the final decision to push on and try to get over the pass before the storm got there. It was risky, but we made it. On the way down, we passed a couple of hikers who clearly didn’t have any concern about the storm so we made sure to say something in hopes they would treat the danger appropriately. Above tree-line is no place to be during a storm. As we made our fast descent the rain started, followed shortly by claps of thunder and lightning. Officially a bad time to be this high up. We were getting back into the trees when the rain became light sleet, so we stopped to wait it out in a clearing that could be a campsite. We debated just staying there for the night. The storm cleared off about 15 minutes later so we made our move down to a campsite that was just short of where we planned to go. Lego and Maverick had already setup near the same spot. Somehow we struggled to get the pitch right on the tent, but eventually got it standing. The sky looked calm so we skipped some of the guylines and dove into the tent to warm up, eat, and crash. Unfortunately, another storm moved in and around 1:30 I had to get out and tighten the stakes and put in the extra ones to keep the tent from being whipped around. About an hour later the skies calmed again.

0 Miles

Started the day by heading towards the outfitters. Ran into Jim, Pricepoint, Honeybear, and Candy Corn eating on the bakery patio. After picking up some things at the outfitter, we circled back to the bakery to get breakfast sandwiches, lunch sandwiches, a donut, and a cinnamon roll. We took it all to the room and ate while our laundry was washing. We hung out in the room most of the day, trying to stay off our feet. Eventually, we finished our laundry and other town chores. We went to Mountain Rambler Brewery to have a beer and figure out where we wanted to eat dinner. Decided to just get Chinese food. Picked it up on the way back to the room and called it a night.

0 (+8) Miles (Kearsarge Pass)

We were last to leave camp, but it was chilly so we were fine to stay in the warmth of our quilts a little longer. Great views the whole day, which seems like it will be the case for this entire section. It’s incredibly beautiful. The climb out to our ride first took us to Bull Frog Lake trail, then up and over Kearsarge pass, and then down to Onion Valley trailhead. Along the way we were passed by Maverick and then immediately ran into Melania, our wonderful AirBnB host from Ridgecrest. She already had plans to camp at Onion Valley and when she found out we were looking for a ride from there to Bishop, she offered to take us. Such a great person and we couldn’t be more thankful. Melania, her friend Maria, and dog Axel continued on their hike up while we continued down to hang out at their campsite and await their return. Melania drove us all the way to Bishop and dropped us off at our hotel. Many, many thanks to her. We checked in, got our resupply, and picked up pizza and wings before crashing.

17 Miles (Forester Pass)

Got some good sleep next to the creek. Mosquitos don’t care if you’re crapping, they will bite anytime. Not fun. However, the rest of the day was. We climbed a bunch, but the views were always worth it. Ran into Pricepoint, Honeybear, and Jim at the water source, which was also where we took our morning break. Ran into them again at the water source/lunch spot. We started up the Forester Pass approach and just kept moving up switchbacks. The infamous chute was nearly melted out. Standing at the top was incredible because on one side is the awesome view of Sequoia National Park, and on the other side of the pass is the awesome view of Kings Canyon National Park. There were a few patches of snow coming down the north side, but nothing sketchy. Still haven’t put microspikes on, and may not have to ahead. We descended to an alpine lake to grab some water for the rest of the way to camp. Pricepoint, Honeybear, Jim, Tahel, Ru, and Candy Corn were already hanging out there. We chatted for a bit, gathered water. Lego, Full Moon, Polkadot, and Shade eventually joined us. It was a fun group to celebrate with having completed our first pass (the highest point on the PCT too). The rest of the way down to camp went smoothly and talk mainly focused on town food options. Tomorrow we’ll take Kearsarge Pass out to our resupply/zero day in Bishop.

4 (+16) Miles (Mt. Whitney)

Woke up a couple times around midnight from groups of hikers walking by the tent. They were headed up to catch sunrise from the summit. We got up around 3, trying to be quiet since there were a bunch of other hikers around and they weren’t planning to leave until 7. We slackpacked up, leaving the tent and some gear inside under some rocks. Starting with our headlamps on, we climbed up above Guitar Lake. It was great to watch the sun come up and gently light the valley. Eventually the far peaks were dipped in light. Up the switchbacks and across the shelves and talus, we summited. A couple had thought ahead and brought canned champagne and plastic champagne flutes to toast each other at the top. We eventually started down and reached camp around 1. Took about 4.5 hours up, an hour of hanging out on the summit, and then 3.5 hours down. We soaked our feet in the creek and then ate lunch under a tree. Naps in the sun-baked tent followed. Wanting to get closer to Forester Pass, our obstacle for tomorrow, we hiked another 4 miles to Wallace Creek. 20 miles with 4000ft. of gain & loss has us exhausted. Our campsite was nice, but swarming with mosquitos. We dealt with them with more layers and staying inside the tent as much as possible. A hiker we hadn’t met before offered us extra food because he was trying to cut some weight out of his pack, I accepted without even questioning what the food was (Peanut M&M’s).

17 Miles

Although somewhat awake already, the weekenders woke up the rest of camp by yelling, “Everybody, there’s hot water!”. I’m glad their group had water for coffee, but I would have rather had another hour of silence. The lake was nice for having water in the morning, and for doing some rinsing of clothes. After we got started, we ran into Studio 54. He was shooting for a water source a little closer than the one we had in mind. He sped off and we made our way down to Rock Creek. We stopped to eat a snack and Shade caught up to us. Chatted with him for a bit about the next couple days and the Bishop resupply. Made it to Rock Creek, then immediately climbed up out to Guyot Creek for lunch. The afternoon hiking was smooth, but still arrived at camp exhausted. We passed Treetrunk, Tiger Blood, and some other hikers coming off of summiting Whitney and putting in a few late miles. We made camp just above Whitney Creek, later joined by most of the hikers we’ve been around the past couple days: Studio 54, Full Moon, Polkadot, Lego, Maverick, Shade. Going to try to get to sleep early tonight so we can start the climb up Whitney before the sun gets brutal.

18 Miles

Another casual morning and sleeping in until 7. On trail at 8:15, we passed Shade, Studio 54, Lego, and one other hiker in their group. Took a break around 9:30 after we finished the first short climb of the day. Excellent views and comfortable weather. I could get used to this. Downhill to lunch and our next water source. Filled up and found a spot to eat. Soon after we were joined by Shade, Maverick, and two others (I still don’t know their names, but seem to be part of Shade’s group). The afternoon and evening were spent climbing to the first alpine lake on the trail, Chicken Spring Lake. It’s a Friday so there are day/weekend hikers out here too. They stay up chatting past hiker midnight, which is a dead giveaway.

17 Miles

The night was cold, and left a thin layer of frost on our bear cans. We got up slowly knowing we wouldn’t have to rush to beat the heat. We made our way down to the bridge where we could get water. There we saw Shade, Studio 54, Maverick, and a few other hikers I hadn’t met. We leapfrogged with them most of the morning and eventually stopped for lunch. It was nice to have shade, but for the first time we wanted to be in the sun for the warmth. The weather is so different so quickly. The hiking is perfect. Cool, breezy, gradual inclines, shady, in tree-filled forest. Plenty of water, almost no bugs, clear skies. Unmatched views, great campsites, wildlife. Just perfection. On our way to the last water source for the day, we passed two different hikers with campfires burning. California in the summer during a draught is not a place to have a fire. We let it go, but it struck us as risky for no reason. We got to our campsite just before sunset, and were joined by a few other hikers after a few minutes of setting up the tent. Lego, Full Moon, Polka Dot, and one other dude I haven’t gotten the name of yet. He’s been leapfrogging us the past two days, but doesn’t talk much (Later chatted with him and his name was Andy. He’s involved with research in Antarctica and was on leave).

13 Miles

We got around in the morning and eventually made the drive up to Triple Crown Outfitters around 9:45. Before we left Melania, offered us a ride for when we get to our next resupply stop. A huge favor to ask of anyone, but she seemed up for it. That will be a huge help to us. At the outfitter, we got to talk to Yogi, the owner, who wrote a guidebook for the PCT. Very nice and knowledgeable, she was truly a hiker trying to help other hikers while running a store. We got repacked and then drove over to the trailhead to start hiking again. Mom, Keri, and Helaina joined us for a couple miles and then turned around back to the car. It was nice to spend time with them and get to show them a small portion of the trail before we had to continue on our journey. We knocked out the next 11 miles, stopping for water one time. When we came back from getting water we ran into Studio 54, which was surprising. We thought he was far ahead of us. He and his tramily were heading just a bit further than us. We had the whole camp area to ourselves so we tried to pick the most wind-protected spot. It’s much colder already!

0 Miles

Our second zero with mom was spent eating and relaxing. Slept in, ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast, potato tacos for lunch, and pizza for dinner. Melania got us a large bin for us to wash some of the grime and smell off of our backpacks. I walked with mom back to the post office for a larger flat rate box so we could replace our bounce box. Sat for more Normatec sessions and watching TV. Just relaxing and catching up with mom. It was a great time hearing stories about my grandpa. With bags and bear cans all packed up, I was excited to get back on trail. However, a few more days of relaxing in a house could be nice too.

0 Miles

Mom pampered us with laundry, home-cooked meals, and all sorts of recovery. Normatec sessions, ice baths, a foam roller, epsom salt foot baths. Living large! Picked up the bounce box and our REI shipment at the post office (we now have new shoes, replacement tent stakes, and new pants for me). Chatted a bit with our AirBnB host, Melania, who told us stories of her military days. She’s a very interesting person to talk with, and an accommodating host. Getting our resupply was easy because we could use the rental car and didn’t have to carry groceries across town to our hotel room like we typically would on a town stop. Learned that packing the bear can as full as possible barely fits 6 days of food. Gonna have to figure out a way to carry it comfortably since the side of the can is going to press on my back. Trading out old problems for new ones as we go into this next section.

19 Miles

Around 1:30 we awoke to music and singing and light being shown in our tent. Admittedly, we had camped only a couple feet off the trail. Getting to camp late and forgetting to set an alarm, we overslept a bit. We needed to do 19 to the road where we could then roadwalk a bit to the general store. We took short breaks along the way and got out a bit early. We leapfrogged a few times with Endless & QB, finally at the river. The two miles after the 700 mile marker and the road flew by. A trail angel was taxiing hikers to the store and Grumpys, but we declined her offer multiple times. The general store was full of hikers. Some hanging out, some eating from the BBQ spot, and others packing/unpacking boxes and backpacks. We celebrated with cold root beer and iced tea, burgers, and beers. Right as we were finishing our drinks, my mom, Keri, and Helaina arrived to pick us up. Mom gave me a big hug and we piled into the rental car to drive down to the AirBnB in Ridgecrest.

18 Miles

Slow to get up after a late night, but the ridgeline above us saved us from baking in the tent for at least an extra hour. On trail around 8. A fair amount of climbing throughout the day, but all fairly moderate grades. Our siesta at the top of the hill was nice; shaded and scenic. The descent afterwards was also scenic and moderate. We met Lado and Southern Hospitality at the second, and last, water source for the day. SoHo is another hiker who has the Dan Durston setup (DD40 backpack and X-Mid tent, same as me). We chatted a bit about the minor issues we’ve had with the gear, but overall happy with it. Those two took off as we were getting setup to cook dinner. We ate our ramen, filled bottles for the hike tomorrow, and then started the climb up to where we intended to camp. After about a mile we needed headlamps, but it was only another mile to go. We finished the day setting up the tent and diving into our quilts, exhausted. Tomorrow is the last day of the desert section! Not gonna be easy though, we need to knock out 19 miles as early as we can because my mom is picking us up at the general store. I’m so excited!

13 Miles

Lazy morning knowing we wouldn’t be hiking until the evening to avoid the heat. At one point the owner of the motel came into our room not realizing we were still using it. Our check out time was still an hour away so we packed up, showered one more time, and then headed to brunch. Ate at Cheryl’s again and then hung out in the park by the river while waiting for our bus to Lake Isabella. The bus didn’t show at the agreed upon time so we had to request another one. That one did show and took us to some other stop because we never would have made our transfer in Isabella. Back at the trail at 6 we knew we would be night-hiking if we wanted to do the full miles we had planned. The climb up was easy enough and we got to watch the sunset from the ridge. We ate a snack with Endless and QB at their campsite before pressing on. Around 8:45 we needed headlamps and the trail got much harder to navigate without tripping. Night-hiking is not fun, but we did see a bunch of scorpions, a couple black widows, bats, and some mice. Arriving at our campsite around midnight we had done the full mileage, but crashed hard. Two days to Kennedy Meadows!

0 Miles

I slept in, but Marie was up early today. We got breakfast at Cheryl’s Diner late in the morning. Not wanting to do much on our zero, we quickly got our laundry and resupply done. Ate lunch at the brewery and then hit the motel pool. Dinner was with Pricepoint and Honeybear at the Eddy Out, which was great. We hadn’t gotten to really hang out with them in a non-trail setting so that was nice. They’re another couple and it was refreshing to hear that they’re having the same social experience with the hiker bubbles. Like us, they don’t push bigger days unless they want to, but it seems the solo hikers will tend to do whatever mileage keeps them with their tramily. That’s cool too, but we like doing our own thing.

22 Miles

We woke up at 3, tore down the tent, and topped off at the cache before starting. On trail at 3:45, we needed headlamps for the climb out of Bird Spring Pass. We took a short break towards the top to watch the sunrise. We rushed through most of the miles today trying to get to the road so we could catch the bus into town. One short break around 11 to eat and get off our feet momentarily. The last 6 miles took us all the way down to Walker’s Pass Campground. We were doing good on time so we took another short break just short of the campground. While we sat there, a Navy helicopter swooped through the canyon and we got worried they were looking for an injured hiker. We started walking again and could see them lower a guy down out of the chopper, but couldn’t tell what was going on. When we got to the campground there was a trail angel setup and they confirmed it was just training exercises, whew! The trail angel was serving up all kinds of food and drinks, but we couldn’t stay for long. We grabbed Pepsi’s, chatted with them for a bit, and then continued on to the road. We didn’t miss the bus, but the schedule the bus was following was not the same as any of the schedules we had found online. Marie called the dispatch and they confirmed the bus would stop for us and it would be around 3, so we had an hour to kill in the 100-degree heat. Found some shade, booked our motel for Kernville, waited, and eventually it showed up. While on the bus, the driver told us he would take us to Lake Isabella, but not Kernville. We would need to get a dial-a-ride bus to go the rest of the way. Hmmm, dispatch and all schedules we found said this bus would take us to Kernville. Seemed odd. Marie quickly called for the dial-a-ride, but it would be another hour of waiting before it could pick us up. So, again, we found shade and waited. The dial-a-ride did show and took us to Kernville, right to our motel. Success! But then the motel had no attendant so we couldn’t check in until I got a call back to see what room we were assigned. Finally, I heard back and we went up to drop our bags and while I was trying to get the door unlocked, Pricepoint and Honeybear showed up. They had planned to go to Ridgecrest instead of Kernville for their zero so we hadn’t expected to see them. Especially not at the same, tiny motel. We got pizza and beer, went up to the room, and chowed down. Up at 3, 22 miles, and then logistical issues had all taken a toll. We were exhausted, but happy to have a shower.