It is impressive how quickly the mood on the trail can change and today was proof of that. We left Mammoth Lakes today to start on some of the last miles in the Sierra. First we had to get back to where we left from and to do that we first took the bus a short stretch and then started walking towards the trailhead. We tried to hitch with every car that passed us and quickly got a ride with a nice guy who drove us all the way to the gate to the trailhead. ...
Lovely view over a lake on the way to the trailhead The last days in the Sierra have been pretty tough so both Avocado and I were looking forward to a break in Mammoth Lakes for resupplying. We camped right near the junction with Horseshoe Lake Trail which is about 3.5 miles long and leads to Horseshoe Lake. Horseshoe Lake is near Mammoth Lakes and a very popular trailhead so getting a hitch to town should be possible. ...
Today was another day where the Sierra showed us who is the boss. The plan was to pass Silver Pass and get close to the trail junction to Mammoth Lakes so we can get to town early tomorrow. The first stream crossing of the day which was right after getting started. We once again planned to start at 0600 but I was slow and delayed us a bit which annoys me greatly. We started at 0605 and immediately had to cross a stream so we could harbor no illusion of dry feet today either. ...
Today we passed Selden Pass which is usually a fairly easy pass, however today was anything but usual. Today was one of those days I do not want to have many of on the PCT. During the night and in the morning I awoke to the sad sound of rain hitting my tarp. So far on the PCT I have not had to hike in real rain for more than a few minutes and was kinda hoping it would stay like that. I packed up everything but the tarp while under the tarp and donned my rain gear. After packing up the tarp and eating breakfast I was ready to leave at 0600 which has become our customary pass starting time. ...
Today we passed Muir Pass and we had read that there usually is a lot of snow before and after the pass because the climb and ascent is gentle. So we were hoping for good snow and were both anxious to get past the snow. During the night and in the morning we had felt cold temperatures that seemed like freezing. We were happy with this as we needed the snow to be frozen until about noon when we expected to be off the snow. ...
Today we were passing Mather Pass which is considered one of the most difficult on the trail. We had camped pretty much as close as possible to the pass to make climbing the pass easier. Early morning hiking between the snow patches We got started around 0600 to hopefully hike most of the day on good snow. To our horror we discovered that the snow has not frozen during the night and we started post holing straight away. ...
Today was to be a short day as we planned to do Pinchot Pass and then camp to make ready for Mather Pass the next day. It is very difficult to do more than once pass a day because once the sun is up it is like a timer is started indicating when you will start post holing. Because of this the goal each day generally is to get off the snow before post holing starts. The only real way to affect this is by getting up earlier and hiking more hours early in the day. ...
Today we are doing the first of the PCT passes of this section, Glenn Pass. We were camped just 2 miles from the top of the pass and had planned an easy 13 miles for the day. Making our way on the snow towards the pass We started hiking late at 0700 and made it to the pass in good time as it was easy going. We did not expect to meet anyone else on the way there but met Smiley on the way to the pass. Once at the top of the pass we to our surprise saw another hiker descending the north side of the pass. He seemed to be struggling a lot and looked to be almost crawling down. ...
After our zero yesterday it was time to get back to the trail. In order to get back we had to get from Bishop to Independence and from Independence to the trailhead and finally hike the 8 miles back to the PCT. This was the days plan. We wanted to catch the 0845 bus from Bishop to Independence as this would leave us plenty of time in the morning for showering, eating breakfast, getting packed and getting to the bus stop. ...
Today we had all finally agreed to zero in Bishop which I was happy with since it had been my wish for some time. We all felt like we deserved it after some amazing but tough days in the Sierra. My plans for the day were to resupply with food for the next stretch of seven days, replace a few items and peruse the gear stores all the while consuming lots of town food. ...