June 18-24
Miles 702-789
Kennedy meadows to Kearsarge pass/lone pine
Day 44 - Why rush?
Since we had to wait for the store to open at 9 to close our tab, we slept in. We experimented a little more with packing our bear cans and our packs, got some ice cream, closed the tab, and headed out. It was still very desert like for a couple miles and we even passed another burn section.
We took a break on an awesome rock and laid in the sun with a mountain breeze.
We reached the top of a climb and came to a beautiful meadow. It was incredible.
When we got to the south fork of the kern river, about 14.5 miles in to the day, Tom was there with trail magic. There was plenty of camping, a campfire, beer, and a great river to wash our hands in! There were about 10 other hikers there and we couldn't resist staying the night.
Day 45 - Good Company
We had another relaxing and scenic Sierra day. We leapfrogged and hiked with more people than we ever have. Nimble foot, sparrow and the barracuda, hello kitty, and Magellan all stayed with us at toms trail magic and we ended up camping at the same spot near death canyon creek. These guys were all fun to talk to. Barracuda is 7 years old and such an awesome kid. He remembers everyone's name the first time, loves and talks to everyone, and will listen to anyone who tries to teach him something intently. We are so glad to take shorter days. There is a reason everyone does low miles in the Sierra- its so pretty and amazing!
Day 46 - gear failures
Everyone that camped with us got going pretty early. We left last because it was cold and we knew a 6 mile uphill was coming which we love. When we finally did get going, we passed everyone on the uphill. It was fun leapfrogging with them all again. Sparrow and barracuda were excited because they were going to meet their husband/dad the next day and he was going to hike with them till whites pass in Washington. When we were taking a break a man walked up and said he was barracudas dad and he came a day early to surprise them. Magellan and nimble foot were there when they first saw each other and said it was so cool to be able to witness. Nimble foot said he felt like he was intruding on something personal yet he was so lucky to witness it. The three will take a few days off the trail so they will be behind and we hope they catch us by the end. Our water filter has been slowly leaking. It has gotten to the point where we can no longer use it. We were stuck in the Sierra with no form of water disinfection. We really had 2 options: not treat any water until kearsarge pass in 4-5 days (a lot of people dont treat water in the high sierra) or hitch into lone pine early with sparrow, barracuda, and barracudas dad. We were mulling it over when Petre, another thru hiker, came up and said he had extra iodine we could use! We were so happy! However, iodine tastes so gross and looks even worse.
We are excited to get our aquamira in tuolumne meadows! In addition, the zipper on our tent broke. We ended the day above 11000 ft. To one of the coolest sunsets we have seen yet. I was so cold but i made myself get out of the tent to take pictures because it was so awesome!
Day 47 - Stairway to heaven
We saw a lot of day hikers and weekend backpackers today because we entered the mt. Whitney area. We wanted to hike mt. Whitney the next day before the sun rose so we planned to get to Crabtree meadows early so that we could get up early. The hike was very peaceful and steady. At one point we experienced the steepest climb for the longest period of time yet. We stopped in the middle and just looked at each other and smiled because we were having so much fun!
We got to Crabtree meadows at about 2:30 and set up camp. It was so pretty and Scallywag came up to us and asked if we had all made it to heaven.
We went to bed super early to get up at 1:00 am for our sunrise summit.
Day 48 - Whitney Wonderfulness
We got hiking by 1:20 am. Mt. Whitney is the highest mountain in the contiguous united states at 14,508 ft. The mt. Whitney trail is not on the official pct, so we slack packed. This is when you keep camp set up and only hike with water, food, and absolute essentials, basically like a day hike. We didn't even bring backpacks, but stuffed all of what we brought for the 17 miles in our pockets. It was really cold but we made good time for the first 4 miles of the mt. Whitney trail. As soon as the steep uphill switchbacks started, everything started going downhill. First, my headlamp stopped working. I was stuck on a steep cliff in pitch black darkness. And my night vision is terrible. Nate used his headlamp to guide him and me up the trail and this was slow going. Because we were moving so slow, we got cold. We had each brought a pair of thermals so we stopped to huddle under a rock and put our thermal layer on and to get out of the biting wind. Those of you who know me know that when I get cold everything shuts down. From that point on I was weak, had trouble breathing, and couldn't get warm. We summitted just after sunset and still managed to get good pictures. It was the most incredible view. At the top in the sun, it was 31 degrees F.
We took our time hiking back to camp and took a 4 hour nap when we got back. We woke up to cook dinner and immediately went back to bed for the night.
Day 49 - Flying up Forester
While Mt. Whitney is he highest point in the contiguous US, Forster pass is the highest point on the PCT. In high snow years this can take all day and is very intimidating. We were expecting the worst and boy were we wrong. From far away, the pass looks intimidating and steep, but the views are so amazing.
We were so surprised how easy this pass was. We realize it is much harder when there is snow, but it was still surprisingly easy, and was definitely one of my favorite experiences so far. I just couldn't stop saying, "isn't this SO cool!"
The hike down was relaxing and still so awesome.
The water situation is so nice. From here to Tuolumne Meadows, there is water almost every mile and it flows directly from mostly non contaminated sources. It's like, "oh hello beautiful stream, you have some pure, clear, cold water for me...why yes I would love some!"
We camped at upper vidette meadow with Taka, Flower, and Flatlander.
Day 50 - Overwhelming Senses
For 7 days we have been in the ultimate backcountry. No access roads, no cell service, nothing but peace and serenity. Entering back into society was a bit of a shock for us both. We hiked the 7.5 mile detour over kearsarge pass to gain access to Indepencence, CA. The trail was scenic and beautiful, but very crowded.
When we got to the trailhead, uberbitch and bristlecone were there with magic! We got onion soup, candy, and a place to sit. They were giving rides to Independence but they only had room for 4, and 3 people got there before us. We tried to hitch for about an hour when a Korean Mountaineering hobby group said they would give us a ride when they left. They gave us watermelon that was so good! Before they left however, bristlecone came back and gave us a ride down. Independence, however, did not have everything we needed to fix our tent, headlamp, and filter issues so we started waiting for a hard hitch into Lone Pine. We were so lucky because within 10 minutes Randy pulled up and offered us a ride! He was ice climbing in Tuolumne this weekend and was on his way back to LA. We took care of the most important thing first, pizza for Nate and shakes for me! We did laundry, fixed all of our gear issues, showered, and are staying at the Whitney Portal Hostel. We don't want to take a zero here so we stayed up until 1:00 taking care of things. Town stops are so stressful for us. We can't focus and our minds become fuzzy. I would not have thought this kind of transformation would happen after only 50 days. It makes me wonder, is it just that we have become used to the wilderness or are our minds always this cloudy and it is just not apparent till you have experienced something else? Its always weird, whatever the reason. We did manage to read this article while in town though.
Tomorrow we will upload pictures, videos, update our thank you page and blog. On a side note, I found a restaurant named after me! Ironically, It advertises foods I don't like.
Great town and excited to get back on trail!
- Jenna
-Be Free
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