Current stop: Mammoth Lakes, CA
The Sierra Nevada section of the PCT continues to be difficult but unbelievably beautiful. The itinerary for most days in the mountains is to clear a mountain pass (usually early in the morning to avoid hiking on the slushy snow). The elevation and ascent/descent each day means hiking is slower going compared to earlier in the PCT but the views (which still don’t seem real) makes it so worth it. This week we hit 900 miles which means we are more than a third of the way through the entire trail and more than half way through California.
Day 50 was spent in Bishop completing the rest of the Town Day chores before trying to get a hitch back to trail. The hitch back to trail (approx. 60 miles) was the most difficult to date. Luckily, after about 90 minutes in the 38°C baking sun, a couple (one of whom had hiked the PCT a decade ago and his partner who was section hiking the following day) took sympathy on us and offered us a lift right back to the trailhead. I elected to stand in the sun on the highway to garner sympathy, which I think worked (or maybe not?).
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Why can’t we get a hitch?
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So with our laden packs carrying six days of food, the three of us jumped into the backseat of the already heavily-loaded Honda Jazz (packs on our laps) and made our way back to the trailhead (aircon sadly off to ensure the Jazz could make its way up the steep incline).
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| Couldn’t fit more food in the bear can |
We woke up early on Day 51 knowing that there were two mountain passes to complete today. In the Sierra section, the trail very rarely intersects towns or resupply stops so you have to leave the PCT and join other side trails that lead to town (these are called ‘Blue Blazes’ and we don’t count these miles as hiked PCT miles).
We crossed Kearsarge Pass (the second time in as many days) at around 7am and were greeted by great sunrise views on the ascent. After about four more miles, we were back on the PCT (feels good!).
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| Early morning on the way up Kearsarge Pass |
Today’s main pass was Glen Pass - other hikers in Bishop had warned us that the descent in the snow was a bit sketchy so we were keen to hit it early. At the time, the descent felt fine (albeit slow), however, looking back up after reaching the base, it definitely seemed more mountaineering than hiking.
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| View from the top of Glen Pass |
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| View from the bottom - choose your own adventure to the bottom |
The plan for Day 52 was to hit both Pinchot Pass and Mather Pass. After pass-ing Pinchot, the approaching thunder made us rethink attempting Mather that day and instead we opted to tackle it early the next morning.
An early ascent of Mather Pass on Day 53 paid off - the snow was crunchy enough that we could jog the descent (probably not the best idea, but fun at the time). After a series of beautiful waterfalls, we reached what was the most impressive meadow on trail to date.
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| Water rock slide |
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| Mather Pass ascent |
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| Mather Pass |
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| Gas canister explosion |
Muir Pass was the pass of the day for Day 54. While the pass was not technically difficult, the approach and descent involved hiking more than 10 miles on slushy snow which was very tiring. At the top of the pass, we were greeted by the Muir Hut and a park ranger (who checked our permits and then skied back down to the base). The Evolution Valley and Lake made the downhill slog worth it.
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| On the ascent to Muir Pass |
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| Muir Pass Summit ft. Muir Hut |
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| Descent from Muir Pass |
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| Evolution Valley |
In August 2023, a bridge on the PCT that crossed the San Joaquin River was destroyed given the record-breaking high snow that year. The “Up and Over” route took about two and a half hours and was a fun challenge. I was glad we elected to take this route; the alternate would have involved skipping a large part of the PCT and having to head back to Bishop and rejoining the PCT further up the trail (no skipping miles allowed!).
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| Bridge has seen better days |
Selden Pass on Day 55 was the easiest pass to date. On the ascent, we were lucky to see a wolf (wolves are extremely rare in Sierra with the first wolf pack only confirmed in 2023). After a swim in the semi-frozen Marie Lake, we headed the few miles to Lake Edison for the night.
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| Descent into Marie Lake (an obligatory semi-frozen lake dip followed) |
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| Lake Edison |
We had heard that the mosquitoes on the PCT can be insane. This was confirmed at Lake Edison where we had to eat dinner dressed in full rain gear, gloves, bug nets, and walking around in circles as being stationary caused the mozzies to swarm. The sandflies in New Zealand have nothing on the tenacious mosquitoes here!
On Day 56, we headed into Vermillion Valley Resort to celebrate Matt’s 30th birthday. We elected to catch the boat on Day 57 back to the PCT instead of hiking the extra six (non-PCT) miles - worth the $20.
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| Lake Edison ferry ft. obligatory US flag |
On Day 58, we hiked through to Mammoth Lakes (a ski town) for our resupply. We decided to take a few ‘zero’ days here to recoup after the busy week in the mountains.
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| En route to Mammoth Lakes |
Although we will be hiking through Yosemite National Park in about a week, the PCT does not enter Yosemite Valley. Given the proximity to Mammoth Lakes, we decided to rent a car for a day trip to Yosemite Valley to check out the sites on Day 59.
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| Half Dome (wearing different clothes for once) |
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| Yosemite Falls and Half Dome |
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| El Capitan ft BB |
Yosemite Valley was beautiful and well worth the detour, however, the number of people, the cars (more than an hour to find a car park and it’s not even high season yet), and commercialisation (Starbucks in the Valley) was a stark reminder that we were certainly no longer in the wilderness. On the drive into Valley, we almost hit a bear that was crossing the road - luckily it was narrowly avoided. It is true that day hikers smell so much better than us PCTers (and the scent of laundry detergent is super strong). After a great day in the Valley, we arrived back in Mammoth at around 9pm. I wish we could have spent longer in the Valley - but will definitely return in the future.
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| Squeezing as many tents into the USFS Campsite to justify the $30 price tag |
Today will involve completing the balance of Town Day jobs before heading back to trail with heavy bear cans and an eagerness to leave civilisation and be back in the wild.
