Into the Sierra
I'm BACK! This blog post was written three times on trail. Tried to upload about a million times. That's when I had to keep hiking and stop wasting time trying to chase WiFi for hours to upload pictures and stories. I'm going to keep this post as originally wrote on trail. However, from here I to the close of the journey I will be chronicling my walk as recorded in my journals. As written in South Lake Tahoe;
A LOT to catch up on here. I tried to post this when I made it to Yosemite, however my WiFi cut out and decided to delete the whole post... So here we try again.
I left Kennedy Meadows with a huge pack after picking up my bear can, ice axe, microspikes, other cold weather clothing and enough food for 12 days. My pack weighed in at 55 pounds with a liter of water. Woof.
Rather than explain everything in super detail I'm going to hit the main points.
The Passes - when you're going up over mountains a pass is the low part in between the peaks of the mountains. This is how we go through many of the ranges to get from one to the other. On the PCT we had about 8 or so major passes with some smaller ones jumbled in there. My favorite by far was Forester Pass, also, the highest point on the PCT. I think it was my favorite because of the new snow that had fallen in the recent snow storm and covered everything with a fresh new coat.
Here are some pictures of the passes.
I'm definitely missing some. But then I trudged to Vermilion Valley Resort to resupply after 10 days, 175 miles and an insane amount of elevation change.
The Lakes - the lakes were absolutely immaculate. Stuff you see out of a storybook, or in a magazine. I liked to jump in these lakes then bask in the sun while eating lunch, and yes, the water was VERY VERY COLD!
Yard sales happened nearly everyday. ( picture shown below) No one ever came by to buy anything though. I think I need better advertising. On a serious note, the condensation and all of the water would get everything wet, so the afternoon sun (hiker dryer) would get everything nice and crispy again.
The other random pictures - I had the time of my life through the high sierra. I was riding this high of happiness that didn't seem to end until I was watching the snow capped mountains disappear. It's extremely hard to describe that feeling of being so free and in love with life so here's some pictures of me being goofy that hopefully portray that feeling.
Thoughts - Everyone. EVERYONE!! Needs to go spend some weeks travelling through the high sierra. YOU CAN DO IT! If you need help or advice on planning a trip give me a shout, I'd be more than willing to help.
I LOVE snow. However, after traversing miles and miles of snow cups I wouldn't be mad if it melted.
Your shoes are never dry in the sierra.. They're just different stages of wet.
Thanks for the patience in getting this out! There is absolutely no cell service where I was for a huge chunk of time (just ask my parents).
Until next time, happy trails!
-Paddy O'Hulk