Sierras

I have gone up and over 6 Mountain passes since Bishop; Glen, Pinchot, Mather, Muir, Selden and Silver. Glen: the day of Glen pass I also hiked over Kearsarge again to get back to the PCT. We got to glissade a bit and sat by some nearly frozen lakes. Cold and cloudy. It had snowed the day before while we were in town thankfully the precipitation stopped right in time for us to get back on trail. Pinchot: this pass was not as pretty as the others but just as hard! Down hill is always fun and the weather warmed up nicely. even though the weather is sunny and worm, with all the river fords I am constantly cold and wet. Mather Pass: probably the sketchiest pass yet! Quite an epic day, 5 miles to the top of the pass... even though the pass was the most obvious one we got a little lost. It was a complete snow bowl. no trail visible at all!. we followed the foot prints around to the right and up the middle which then came to some loose large boulder/ rock hopping, this was the first time I thought that I could have easily slipped and died!. I didnt! but I could have. then there were 2 very long glissades down the back of the Pass. this is my favorite thing! sliding down the back of a steep slope on my tush is SO much fun! going down this pass was great cause for the first time we got below 10,000 feet and the snow disappeared! It was Glorious! walking on Terra Ferma is So so so much better than slippy slide y snow! this was the day we got surrounded by about 5 deer, who were not afraid of us at all. they were coming very close and walking through camp. We should have taken the hint then but didnt and continued cooking dinner when all of a sudden Guthook shouts "Holly sh**! a Bear!" and not more than 20 feet away is a rather large bear walking right for us! So what is the first thing I do? I took a picture of course! then proceeded to bang my pots together loudly, which didnt phase the bear at all. This was not confidence building. It circled us and ran away once Guthook started screaming and waving his arms about. we finished dinner and decided to pack up and walk another mile or so to get away from the food smells. while we were packing I saw another, larger bear, watching us from across the river. we left in a hurry! Muir pass: This was one of the nicest passes I think. there was loads of snow but it was easy walking and very gradual climbing. I got to the top and was greeted by the Muir Hut, which looks like a stone milk bottle. It was warm and dry inside and the weather was sunny. the way down was long and glissadeless. and to finish off the day we forded Evolution Creek. the 3 guys I was hiking with that day tried it on there own and all got washed away in the chest deep water. I on the other hand had the 2 that didnt make it to the other side, make a chain of people and we went over together. Hands on one another hips pushing us down to the bottom of the creek. We got across just fin and none of  my stuff was wet. Selden and silver: these were pretty unaventfull. more snow. more up. more down. Now I am in Mamounth Lake, CA taking a zero day and resting up for Yosemite. the big passes are over not and I am hoping for less snow as the weeks progress.

Bishop

Bishop, has been a nice place but it is time we all roll out. Tomorrow at 7am we will be in a car headed back to the trail. It will be a 7 mile walk just to hit the PCT again but then we will cruise over the next 100 miles or so to Mammouth. Here are some memmorable momments from Bishop.

The High Passes

I left kenneday Meadows, CA about 6 days ago and am now in Bishop, CA. In that time I climbed Mount Whitney, the Tallest Mountain in the lower 48 states, and I went up and over forester pass, a Mountain Pass over 13,000 feet tall. There were snow feilds and rock scrambles, cold mornings and freezing river crossings. One of the hikers, Lakewood, slipped and got carried away by one of the rivers and lost his GPS. He is OK, but was shaken up enough to go into town earlier than he had planned. It has been beautiful out in the Sierras and now I will be hiking in Kings Canyon National park. I dont hike with Treking poles for stability or any kind of traction for my feet. Many peole have both as well as an Ice Axe. I have been hiking through conditions which have made me want all three, but I have perserveared and continue to do just fine without any of them. Bishop is a nice town and I have eaten well here. Especially at the Wiskey Creek Steak house, Oh SO good! Here are some pictures from the last 6 days.

what's new

SO I have come a long way since the last time I wrote. I have walked 700 miles thus far and still have about 1950 miles to go. It is a long trail, but is a lot of fun. I am now in Kennedy Meadows, which is on the edge of the Sierra National Forest. I will be climbing up to 14 thousand feet in a couple of days. Mount Whitney is right around the corner. It is the tallest mountain in the lower forty-eight states. There is said to be a lot of snow up there right now but I am not worried. I am walking with a good crew of people. I have been hiking over 20 miles a day for a while. I have even done a couple of 29 mile days. Currently hanging out at this guy Tom's place and watching Forest Gump with a whole lot of hikers. The weather has been heating up so it is a good thing I am going to gain in elevation in the next couple of days. Leaving tomorrow. will be in Independence CA in 6ish days. hopefully I will be able to write then.

Peace and Love