Bishop via Kearsarge Pass (Mile 788.5) to Mammoth Lakes (Mile 906.6)

Before I start this post I want to address concerns from some unruly fans (my sister). I never explained cowboy camping and I apologize, it’s camping without setting up a tent.

The Sierra views have been awesome, stunning, and inspiring, but this last section was an absolute ass-kicker. Mileage has been slow and my group that I hiked with for 800 miles is fragmented. Here are some reasons the Sierra has been difficult with the all the snow this year:

⁃ Stream crossings – With the amount of snowfall in the Sierra, and the current snow melt, the stream crossings have been serious. Upon arrival at crossings, recon is necessary to find the safest crossing route. Some crossings are possible with downed logs/trees, but many are not, instead requiring knee- to waist-deep crossings.

⁃ Passes – The PCT goes through a series of mountain passes in the Sierra. (This section included Glen, Pinchot, Mather, Muir, Selden and Silver.) These passes are consistent in that they have an ascent, pass through a mountain, and then a descent. They all differ in their level of difficulty, how steep they are, and how long their ascent/descent last.

⁃ Navigation – With all of the snow cover, significant parts of the trail are under snow. This has made following the trail impossible at times. There are generally some boot tracks to follow but those tracks don’t always lead the right way. You could stop and check Guthook (an app used for navigation) every few steps but that’s no fun. The best way I’ve found is a combination of following boot tracks in a general direction checking Guthook periodically.

⁃ Wet feet – Starting from when you begin hiking for the day to when you make it to camp your feet are constantly wet. Whether it’s trudging through snow or crossing thigh-high streams there is little refuge from wet socks and trail runners.

⁃ Food Carries – There are few resupply options in the Sierra and the available options have been inconvenient. (For example: leaving the PCT, hiking 9 miles off trail over Kearsarge Pass, hitching to independence, hitching to bishop, resupplying, hitching back, and hiking the additional 9 miles back over Kearsarge Pass to the PCT.) This means we’ve been carrying a lot of food over the passes and through streams and slushy snow.

These factors have made miles challenging. Here’s how we arrived in Mammoth, physically and mentally exhausted:

After an evening in Bishop in which Nacho, Dino, Hot Wheels and I shared a very cheap, very smelly motel room, the next morning we resupplied and the amoeba set back off for Kearsarge Pass. Waypoint and Pusher left early in the morning to get back on trail, then Dino and Nacho got a hitch back, then myself and hot wheels. While attempting to hitch we ran into Walkie and Sarge and the four of us got a hitch from Bishop to Independence. The hitch from Independence to the trailhead to Kearsarge Pass took significantly longer, and the four of us didn’t start hiking until about 2:00 pm.

Waypoint and Pusher planned to make it over Kearsarge Pass, then Glen Pass, and then camp near Rae Lakes. I knew this wasn’t going to be in the cards for me given my late start. I ended up camping with Hot Wheels a couple miles shy of Glen Pass, with no sign of the others.

Day 49: Hot Wheels and I ascended Glen Pass and reached the summit around 9:00 am. The ensuing descent was steep, icy, and a bit treacherous for a snow novice like myself. After descending and continuing on we eventually ran into Dino, Walkie and Sarge in the afternoon. The three others continued on soon after we arrived and after a break Hot Wheels and I did the same, eventually camping at mile 802.6.

Day 50: Fifty days on trail! My pack was getting a bit lighter as I decided to start crushing all of my food instead of carrying it around. Hot wheels and I ascended and descended Pinchot Pass in the morning with ease and took a long break in the afternoon after a difficult stream crossing. We ran into Walkie and Sarge, who were chilling there for the rest of the day because Sarge had been puking and feeling sick. We continued to mile 813.5, a very short day, where we set up camp and Songbird found us soon after.

Day 51: Hot Wheels, Songbird and I set off early to ascend Mather Pass, one of the more notoriously difficult passes. Guthook comments were frightening, stating the only time to do the ascent was early morning while the snow was frozen and likened the rock scrambling portions to “V2 bouldering.” While challenging, we found the pass easier than the comments and agreed we were successfully fear-mongered. I found myself in a 15 hiker bottleneck on the final push to the top of the pass and upon arrival at the peak found more hikers than the total population of some of the towns we’ve hiked through. It was strange.

The descent was easy and we lost significant elevation quickly via the Golden Staircase. The snow-free miles in the afternoon were some of my favorite on trail, following along a beautiful meandering river. Eventually the three of us set up camp at mile 833.3 with hopes to find more of the amoeba the next day. I woke up in the middle of the night and had a beautiful view of the stars and Milky Way. Did my best to capture a picture, but it doesn’t do it justice. One of the benefits of cowboy camping every night!

Went for a swim, was very cold

Day 52: We were camped about ten miles shy of Muir Pass and I ripped the miles to get to the top as fast as possible. It paid off, as I crested the top of the pass I saw Dino’s distinctive cowboy hat chilling underneath the Muir Pass Shelter. We briefly caught up, discussed how the Sierra was kicking our asses, hypothesized how far ahead Pusher, Waypoint and Nacho were, and waited for Hot Wheels and Songbird. The four of us then set out on a long, snowy seven mile descent in which Dino, Hot Wheels and I ended up off trail and bushwhacked our way back to trail. After another stunningly beautiful afternoon stretch along McClure Meadows we set up camp along a river at mile 855.7 and started a fire, my first fire of the PCT!

Muir Pass Shelter

Day 53: Another day, another morning pass, this one Selden Pass. After ascending, and running low on food, we decided we’d attempt to make it to the Vermillion Valley Resort ferry location by the last call at 4:45 pm, an ambitious 14 miles away. A tough afternoon featuring the most difficult stream crossing yet, Bear Creek, lots of mosquitos, and a waterfall on the trail where I slipped on a log and cut up my shin. We fell short of the ferry location by a mile and a half and camped at mile 878.7.

Day 54: We woke up late and took the morning ferry into VVR. A much needed relaxing, morale booster of a day spent eating, drinking beer, and buying enough snacks to make the additional 28 miles to Mammoth. Caught the afternoon ferry back and hiked a few miles up trail to mile 881.1.

Day 55: Happy Fourth of July! Woke up early and ascended Silver Pass, potentially the easiest ascent yet. The descent wasn’t as easy. I opted to try and walk down instead of glissading and ended up falling several times. After getting out of the snow fields we walked through a forest with patches of snow where I constantly lost trail and kept falling down. Then I took a wrong turn and walked a half mile off trail. When I finally made it back on trail and caught up with my group I was livid, and very ready for a break from the hiking and the snow. We camped at mile 901.1, 5.5 miles south of the junction to take us into Mammoth, offering civilization and a break from the trail.

The next morning we woke up and pushed the final miles to the junction, walked to Red’s Meadow, and caught the shuttle to Mammoth. The amount of people in Mammoth was jarring and a bit much to handle. I hadn’t been around this many people in a long time. But overall I was glad to be back in civilization for a bit and excited to crush some actual meals.

This title works a couple different ways. I fell about a thousand times this section and also saw about a thousand waterfalls!