The last two weeks have been magical. I’m finally into the Sierra, after 7 long weeks in the desert. The terrain has changed markedly, going from dry hills filled with sage to big, imposing granite peaks with pines and abundant water.
I also hit some major high points of the trail, climbing both Mt. Whitney (highest point in the lower 48 at 14,505 ft) and Forester Pass (Highest point on the PCT at 13,200 ft). With many other hikers, I did Mt. Whitney at sunrise, leaving Crabtree Meadows at 1:10 am to make the summit at 5:25, just a few minutes before sunrise. Unfortunately, the summit was just barely in some clouds which were lingering around 14,300 ft. The sunrise was still excellent, and coming down in daylight made it feel like a totally different hike than the way up in the dark.
Forester Pass was equally impressive, a tiny notch in a rocky cliff face. The trail was hewn out of the granite and is a feat of trail engineering – perfectly graded and easy walking despite the location.
Beyond Forester, I did Kearsarge (twice), Glen, Pinchot, Mather, Muir, Selden, and Silver passes. Each was between 3,000 and 4,000 feet of climbing, and all except Kearsarge had some snow travel, though it was usually limited to a few big patches.
The streams are another big part of Sierra travel – in a normal snow year. This was not a normal snow year – the snowpack was something like 30 or 40 percent of average. The stream crossings, despite some hot weather causing significant snowmelt, were fairly benign. Almost all were rock-hoppable, and the few fords never went above my knees.
The hard terrain leads to shorter mileage days, we usually did 15 miles a day compared to 20. This gave us some extra time to hang out at water sources, lakes, or at lunch. This extra time, coupled with the longer than usual time out of town made the Sierra feel like a really deep wilderness experience. Except for the crowds – the passes bunched hikers up and definitely detracted from the experience.
All in all, the Sierra have been excellent, and I’m looking forward to the second half towards Lake Tahoe!
