Tyndall creek mile 775 to Kearsarge pass trail mile 789
Hiked 14 miles + 7 Kearsarge trail = 21miles
I woke up as planed 4am and was on the trail at 5:30am. everyone else was sleeping... I am on a mission get to Independence before 4p.
The morning is cold and everything is frozen when I get closer to Forester. I can see Forester in the distance. I'm a little intimidated I must admit. I don't know what to expect. I have only heard bad things about the high mountain passes. Most years hikers need spikes and ice axes to go over the pass due to ice and snow. This is a very low snow year so I didn't even buy either of those. The view is incredible, I am really enjoying the trail so far.
I can see the pass in the distance...
Getting Closer...
Closer to the pass the wind is super icy cold just like on Whitney.
Haha got to love a wet foot.
Here is it. I have to go over that? It's crazy looking it's like straight up and down. There is no sign of a trail. Looks like I will have to climb it. I didn't bring my climbing gear. Oh wait I don't own any...
Just kidding there is totally a trail.
I'm entering Kings Canyon.
Yummy look at the water. I call it Glacier water.
I just basically ran though Kings Canyon which was a shame it was really nice through there. Beautiful Canyon actually, wish I wasn't in such a hurry. I didn't take any pictures. I can see a lot of people camped in really nice places. There is a lot JMT hikers. There is 3 things that you can look for to know they are JMT hiker. 1st there are most likely going south. 2nd they camp in the middle of the day. 3rd you can tell a JMT campsite from a PCT Hiker campsite cause of the Clothes line lol. JMTers seem to all (at least quite a few) have cloths lines they set up to dry cloths and what not lol. N E ways...
I flew up Kearsarge pass.
Found some more Glacier water.
The Kearsarge trail after the pass feels like it is forever down hill to get to the camp ground where I will need to hitch hike into town.
I ran into HappyMan! He was heading back into the wild. He told me there was Trail Angels in the camp ground. Doing trail magic and giving rides into town!
I'm running now. My pack is light. Hardly any water and no food. I drank most of the glacier water I collected at forester. I passed a bunch of other hikers I know as they where heading back out.
I can see the camp ground below. (Feels like a hour later) What the heck? I can see the camp ground again from the trail and How come I'm not there yet? Mind games. It feels like I've been running for hours. The trail is messing with my mind as descend the longest mile ( last mile of the day)
I finely made it to the camp ground!
My brain is fried. My face is fried and burnt from the wind. I have been working so hard to get here I can hardly make conversation or focus. It's kind is funny actually. BristleCone and UberBitch are the trail angels that are hosting us! They hiked last year and are here for a couple weeks or so doing this for us hiker trash. They are so awesome. I enjoy a Gatorade and beer as I decompress from what I just did. Everyone seems surprised I came over both passes today and before 4pm. It was pretty hard I guess. I'm just happy to be here.
They took 4 of is into town. I realized my 3 boxes are at the Chevron and not the Post Office. Haha which means I didn't have to push so hard to get here by 4. Oh well I'm here and it feels great.
The bus stop is near by and SlowGin is there! I met him at the Lone Pine hostel. I decided to go to Bishop cause there isn't much here in Independence.
I got a text from Tink. Her, Drew and DangerSpoon where at the hostel. Awesome, I haven't seen them in a while. I called the hostel and they where full. :( SlowGin and I decide to share a room at the Econolodge. It was an alright place. Not the worst place I've stayed at.
I went to the laundry mat to wash my cloths after a shower of course. I bought a McDonalds salad and a small fry as I walked by so I could eat something while I wait for cloths. There is a ton of hikers in this town. I see them all over the place. Bishop seems like a pretty good town for hikers. It has everything we need even a couple outfitters.
After laundry, back to the room and I went through my resupply boxes and realized I only have 6 days of food and my next resupply is Tuolumne, 8 days/150 miles, crap. I checked PCT Planner and realized I planned on stopping in Mammoth to resupply for last couple days. Ok that makes since now. I think most people go into Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) or to Muir Ranch. I wasn't going to do either. Muir Ranch Isnt very hiker friendly I hear. VVR is like going to professional sports game and paying $20+ for parking $6 for basic hotdog and $10 beers. I hate supporting exorbitant priced establishments.
It was nice being able to talk to Jordan again. We are making our plans for when she is coming out visit me on my birthday week. July 1st is my 30th birthday we planed to spend almost a week together in South Lake Tahoe. The problem, I'm 5-6 days behind schedule... Which puts me at Mammoth Lakes when she would be here and not Tahoe. Which I think is going to be ok Mammoth lakes looks like a pretty good town. They have a brewery! That's all I care about haha. So Mammoth it is.
I went to the Von's to add some more snacks. I bought 2 avocados, 5 cliff bars(1st cliff bars on the trail), jar of peanut butter, via Starbucks packets, bar of dark chocolate, Quakers individual granola packets, and package of tortillas. Bought me a couple bags of chips, salsa and hummus to eat tonight. It was 1am by the time me and SlowGin got back to the hotel room from Von's we had to walk almost a mile carrying our food.
We ate and talked a bit. SlowGin has lived a pretty interesting life the last few years. He is originally from Korea. A year ago he rode his bike from New York to San Diego. Then just stayed in San Diego got a job and has been living there ever since. He's now hiking the PCT and he told me he plans to find a job and somewhere to stay in Washington or Portland after he is done. Such an interesting way to live. Just traveling around living and doing what he wants. Pretty cool.
Off to dream land for me and back to the trail tomorrow.
- Posted from my iPhone
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