The Passes
One of the most dominating features of hiking the PCT through the Sierras are the passes. A pass is a low point between two mountains and the passes of note that the PCT crosses will typically separate one watershed from another. Lets imagine we are starting from the top of one pass. In most years it would be loaded with snow you could glissade or slide down if it were gradual or would have to very carefully work your way down to avoid plummeting to the boulders below on steep snow fields. Then after the steepest parts you begin to enter a region of crystal clear alpine lakes that shine the brightest blues you have ever seen. They may also have little streams connecting them with marmots and pikas hopping around gathering food. Eventually these lakes will start to enter the timberline and you will start seeing trees again. Typically this is where those small streams connecting the lakes start to build in size and drop down some quite steep cliffs you will have to switchback down. Some of these waterfalls cascade down 20 to 30 feet while others may slide down smooth rock forming awesome waterslides. I was never brave enough to try due to the rocks waiting below and the frigid temperatures of the streams. This will continue for a while dropping and dropping and dropping until all the sudden everything goes flat and you get to ramble through a nice soft forest floor of pine needles and firm mud that feels great to walk on after those rocky switchbacks. Amazingly that torrential stream that just dropped down rapids and waterfalls will smooth out into beautiful meadows with the brightest greens and yellows you have ever seen and deer all around. As you continue down, now usually at a easier grade, the river builds in size and you hope you don't need to ford across where it gets too deep. Then you finally reach the bottom of the pass where your stream/creek/river converges with the stream/creek/river coming down from the next pass you are going to climb. Now you get to climb up the 3,000-4,000 feet up to the top of the next pass and keep repeating this transition over and over. While I have generalized here please know that each pass is different which makes it more and more exciting to see what the next on has in store for you. I had such a great time exploring all of the passes and can't wait for the opportunity to see more in the future.
Water Water Everywhere
One of my favorite parts of finally getting into the Sierras was how much water there was. No longer did we have to rely on water reports or carry more than a liter with us because you can stop and filter almost any time you want a break. I am usually a big stickler on always filtering my water because I don't want to get giardia, but even I would sip straight from the tops of those alpine streams coming right off the snow melt. It is such an awesome feeling to just dip your cup in the stream and take a drink of that cool refreshing water without having to worry. I must say though even at night it never got too foggy and I didn't have to set up my tent so I can't say if Sierra mist actually tastes like the pop.
Water also meant opportunities to go swimming and with the crystal clear water you are always tempted.I must admit I only swam a couple of time though because for the most part the water is very cold and quickly numbs the body and the temperatures up in the high Sierras never get too hot that you are dying for a swim even when hiking up a mountain. It certainly helps to be able to wash all your clothes and gear as you go and I felt quite a bit cleaner even when I went 11 straight days without a shower wearing the same clothes everyday.
Scavenging for Food
One of the difficulties of being so remote in the high Sierras is that it is not easy to resupply when you have 200 miles where the trail doesn't even come close to a road. I chose the difficult approach too of not taking a side trail out Kearsarge Pass midway through the trek and carried 11 days worth of food with me. That is a lot of extra baggage and I left Kennedy Meadows with my heaviest pack yet weighing in at 57 lbs (way over the max rating of 35 lbs for my Circuit which is the weight I am normally carrying). The other difficulty is trying to fit all of this food into my bear canister. A bear canister is a thick plastic cylinder that keeps bears (and many mornings myself as I struggle to open it) from tearing through your food. They are required in the national parks and all food must either be stowed in a bear canister or a bear box that the park service leaves at certain campsites. I think I had to camp where there were bear boxes for the first 5 or 6 days because I had so much spillover that couldn't all fit in my bear canister. Even with all the food I brought I still had to ration my way through the Sierras which isn't ideal when you are burning through so many calories with all those climbs. I am afraid to step on a scale to see how much weight I have lost but I'm looking quite skinny and think I've dropped below 200 lbs for the first time in a long time.
However I ran into some of the best trail magic of the trip even out in the wilderness of the high Sierras. On my second day in I was hiking with Shepard and we ran into a group who was just out for the weekend. They unloaded trail mix, pistachios, oatmeal, sunflower seeds, tuna, and rice mix on us which gave me a whole extra day's rations.
There are also two locations very close to the trail you can hike out to; the Muir Trail Ranch and Vermilion Valley Resort. Many hikers choose to send food to these resupply spots but this is expensive and they are fairly close to Mammoth Lakes anyways so I also didn't do this. However I did plan on stopping by to check out the hiker boxes. A hiker box is where hikers leave extra food or supplies when they have sent/bought too much and don't want to carry it through the woods anymore. Past hikers have told me that both of these stops often have abundant hiker boxes due to the fact that many south bound John Muir Trail hikers send too much food and are tired of carrying it all. However I am currently approaching the center of the PCT herd so there are many PCT hikers just a day or two ahead of me who got to a lot of that food first. I made a lucky call and stopped by Muir Trail Ranch (where there also are some hot springs in a meadow nearby that were great) and raided that hiker box which still had some great meals in it. Then to make things even better three section hikers stopped by on their way out of the Sierra and just kept unloading tons of great food on me. I heard the people who tried to snag food from the VVR hiker box were not so luck and it was completely empty. My last two days in the high Sierras I ate like a king and it felt great. I just wish I wouldn't have rationed so heavily on some of those first few days.
What Kept Me Grounded
As I mentioned before there were many times I questioned whether or not I had simply died and gone off to heaven but there were a few things that were rough going through this part of the trip. I think the most prevalent was breaking into my new shoes. I got some Montrail Sabinos sent to me in Kennedy Meadows to replace my New Balance shoes I had simply loved into the ground. My left foot accepted the transition no problem but the right foot had a few complaints. Really the only issue was I developed a blister on the back of my heel but this blister was the largest nastiest blister I have ever had in my life. It was about 2 inches in diameter of just raw flesh that got tugged at every time I took a step and I dealt with this, and I am still dealing with it (although much has callused over) now.
This blister then led to my second ailment shin splints and bad knees. As I tried to keep on walking with my blister I developed what I liked to call my zombie walk. The zombie walk occurs every morning when I first put on my shoe and half walk, half drag my right foot forward. It eventually would evolve into a more regular stride but since I was not walking properly I am pretty sure this led to me developing minor shin splits in my leg. I certainly never had a terrible case like many people who had to get off trail but I could feel that little air bubble in my shin. Then the next day the shin splints were gone but my compensating had led to some minor knee issues. I have been trying to elevate my legs at night now and take it a bit easier (will be taking a full zero here in Mammoth) and it has been working, but these are the first issues I have had the whole trip.
The final downside of the Sierras is when you have such abundant water you also have abundant mosquitoes. I must also confess I hear from many hikers who had been through the Sierras before that this year hasn't been too bad and the worse is yet to come farther north but this was my first introduction to everyone's favorite summer pest. It is especially hard since I am cowboy camping without a tent to protect me. Instead when I get into camp I don my mosquito suit. This suit consists of long pants, a jacket they cannot bite through, gloves, wool socks and my head net. One of the best means of prevention is carefully choosing a campsite that is not close to water and higher in elevation (but I will get less and less of those options as I go). When you choose a bad site through I find they can be really bad and swarm you constantly and with big enough numbers that eventually one of them will find and exposed surface or somewhere they can penetrate through my mosquito suit. When I sleep the sleeping bag covers me well but the tiny hole I breathe out of lets them get at my face still unless I when my headnet to bed (which isn't fun). One night I finally caved in and just sprayed my face with DEET but I could just feel all the terrible chemicals absorbing into my skin. However the true battle with these bugs is yet to come and I am preparing myself for the rest of those swarms all the way to Canada.
Hiking through the high Sierras has been such an amazing experience and I can't wait to come back and check out more of the area. However I still have plenty of the Sierras to go through as I travel up through Yosemite and all the way up to Lake Tahoe. Can't wait to report on more of my adventures and hopefully can stay away from the bugs and bears the rest of the way in central California.
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