61 miles – 6/9/18 – 6/13/18
While in Independence, which was not much of a town at all, I the bus back to Lone Pine to resupply and revisit some of my “old stomping grounds” since I spent so much time there. Since the bus only ran three times a day and resupplying doesn’t take that long, I stopped by the Frosty Chalet for a milkshake before trying to hitch hike back to Independence. On my way I noticed a large group of hikers trying to hitch hike and figured that it would probably take me a while to get a ride as they would intercept any rides. However, it turns out that people who give rides also like milkshakes. Right as I started to hitch a couple that I saw inside the Frosty Chalet pulled out and offered a ride. Turns out that they were a couple from Tennessee that were road tripping across the united states, hiking and climbing along the way.
Before heading back to the trial I had some amazing french toast for breakfast in a make shift restaurant inside a co-op which was only open a few days a week . I then hitchhiked back to the trail that would take me back to the PCT, I ended up getting a ride from a really friendly guy that shared a lot of history about the area.
The climb back up Kearsarge Pass was easier than expected, it seemed like it was gong to be hard going as I was coming down a few days earlier. Once I got to the top it got a bit windy, so windy that it my hat got blown off my head and carried over the peak. I spent a good 10 minutes looking for it trying not to side down towards the lake below. I eventually found it around the other side. I hiked a bit further to the junction with the PCT and set up camp for the night ready to go over Glen Pass in the morning.
The hike up Glen pass was fairly easy, just the random bits of snow to deal with along the way as the trail passed a few small lakes.
However, coming down the other side was a bit challenging. While I could tell where the trail was the switchbacks were buried in snow. Instead, the easiest path down followed a ridge of exposed rock, which wasn’t too difficult to move through except the parts that really icy with frozen melt water. I slipped and fell on my ass twice, luckily my backpack helped break my fall.
As I continued down a found a great stretch of snow to glissade down. I was exited to slide down the snow like a penguin, except on my butt instead of my belly. I was so exited in fact I forgot that I needed to use my ice axe to control my speed. I ended up going too fast and having to bail out with only my hands to stop me. which ended up getting scrapped up.
Once I cleared the snow I made it to Rae Lakes, which were really beautiful. At one point I was greeted by a surprise water crossing where one lake drained into another.
As I continued on I had a couple more water crossings. Luckily one river had a suspension bridge over it. The bridge itself was limited to one person crossing at the time and swayed about when crossed. After crossing the bridge I started to climb back up and continued up a couple miles, past the 800 mile marker, to get a jump on Pinchot Pass.
In hindsight I wish I would have gotten a bit closer to Pinchot Pass the day before. While the climb up to the pass started as expected it became hard to follow as I hit the snow fields . The path in the snow field would go in what seemed like the right direction but you would then spot an exposed portion of the trail further up or down from where you were, which made for some annoying transitions between the two.
Once at the top descent was easy with micro-spikes. There were random patches of snow as the trail passed a handful of lakes.
As the trail continued down it crossed a couple large creeks and a full on river at the bottom. The river was the trickiest water crossing yet but I obviously made it across.
I climbed up a few more miles and crossed a few more streams before setting up camp a couple miles from Mather Pass (are you seeing a pattern here?), which has a reputation of being somewhat terrifying because of its large head wall. As I was in my tent trying to fall asleep I saw a helicopter come in from the west. It flew up into the mountains and then back down, circling before dropping down out of sight. It seemed to be back by there river I crossed earlier in the day. Suddenly the possibility of serious injury came to the front of my mind and the thought of Mather Pass made my anxiety kick in.
Luckily Mather Pass was nothing to be afraid off, it was mostly snow free and while the switchbacks were tight I at no point felt a fear of heights. The way down was a bit tricky as it was still pretty snow covered, following one set of boot prints in the snow would lead to a melted out section where I had to scramble down.
As the trail cleared it winded down next down to some lakes and a creek that would eventually join to become the middle fork of the king river. All was well until I hit a series of switchbacks which seemed like they would never end. After getting to the bottom of the switch backs there were a number of interesting water crossings due to snow melt. I hit the low point before starting the climb back up towards the next pass. However, instead of continuing on I would be taking Bishop pass out to the city of Bishop where I would take a bus to Reno to meet up with Cristina. I continued on to the ranger station (which wasn’t manned) at the junction with Bishop Pass. I thought about calling it a day but decided to push up the pass a couple miles to get a jump on the following day as Bishop Pass was a little more substantial than the previous bail out points.
In the morning I was greeted by an immediate water crossing, nothing like wet feet as you get ready to hike in the snow. The steep switchbacks gave way to an amazing alpine area with small ponds before hitting more snow on the way to the top of the pass.
The drop down from the top was manageable with a few scrambles due to snow cover and the hike out had some breathtaking views and stunning lakes. The closer I got to the trailhead the more day hikers I saw. Shortly after arriving at the parking lot I was able to catch a ride down into Bishop which was extremely hot, at least to me.
A few days later, after sampling the restaurants in Bishop, I hopped on the bus to Reno where I’d meet up with Cristina. However, I also had to say to my hiking partner Sisse, her visa was up and she had to return to Denmark. The following day Cristina arrived and we enjoyed a couple days at the Peppermill Casino which included a much needed spa day and a massage.