Month: October 2023

Start: 1758.1

Stop: 1775.3

Today’s miles: 17.2

Total PCT miles: 1627.5

Man, I really need Marquis here to keep me on budget. All it took was one cold boat ride to VVR and I’m paying for a cabin for the night! WHEN THERES FREE CAMPING. Send help.

There was definitely more lightening last night, but it must have been on the other side of the mountains from where I was. It never rained, and if it did thunder, I couldn’t hear or feel it over the sound of the rushing creek nearby. Which, I don’t mind for a second. It was windy enough to keep the condensation from settling, so I was happy to wake up to a dry tent-inside and out! AND the wind didn’t knock down my tent, so it was a successful night!

I was not thrilled as to how I woke up.. at 5:45am someone or someone’s alarm did such a loud “cock a doodle doooo!” That a man in a tent also nearby screamed.. like it scared him so much he literally screamed! I think a normal person would be annoyed and then realize they’re awake and start packing. *I* was so annoyed that I refused to wake up to someone else’s alarm, even if mine also vibrated on my wrist at the same time. I didn’t actually start packing until 6:30, leaving camp around 7.. and there was still a tent left behind! I wasn’t last!! (I think it was the screamer lol).

My morning started with a climb, of course. Same song and dance here people. But, it wasn’t too bad. It was like two rounded off humps, I’d climb awhile, it would sort of level out, then go down, repeat x1. The sun was shining way up higher than where I was walking, clearly not high enough to shine over the massive mountains surrounding me. My one new glove (thank you random stranger & mamoo) kept my right hand nice and warm, so it held my trekking poles and my left hand just had to deal with it.

The views were fantastic, as they’ve been.. in between the two humps were lakes, which were breathtaking. And plenty of water crossings. One that got my feet wet. There I passed a couple putting on camp shoes to cross in and I just plowed through.. no one has time for shoe swapping when there’s a ferry to catch this afternoon! Haha I could tell on their faces they thought I was nuts.

They passed me at some point on the second downhill, and then I caught them again at the bottom, before the big ascent of the day. They were taking a break and I assumed they’d catch me again on the uphill. As I climbed, I passed 3 people before getting half way up. That same couple passed me again when I stopped to filter water. They made a comment about how I just seem to keep going and going without breaking, and she called me the energizer bunny.. I found this hysterical, because I never pass people, especially climbing mountains.

I did pass them again when they stopped for a break about a mile before the top of Silver Pass (10,778 feet, but the high point we crossed over was 10,934 feet), when they stopped for a break. At almost the very top of the high point, there was a chunk of snow to climb. It would have sucked to slip on it, but it didn’t seem overtly dangerous. I didn’t put on microspikes and felt steady. I ate my lunch at the top, and then passed 3 women on the start of the way down.. I’m really liking all these JMT hikers out here making me feel fast! Haha

The descent started off gorgeous, with multiple lakes and shockingly beautiful views. It eventually turned into rock and sand switchbacks which hurt my feet and slowed me down, each step down feeling like a shock to my kneecaps. The couple ended up passing me around here. There were a few waterfalls and a couple creek crossings-water was everywhere. When I finally spotted a good place to pee, without being near any of the water sources, a band of men on horseback came through. I stood up so fast! I don’t think they noticed what I was about to do!

There were at least 6 men and about 8 horses.. the horses without humans on them had some gear packed on their backs. They were headed my same direction, so I waited for them all to get 2-3 switchbacks down, and I finally got to pee in the corner of one of the switchbacks-in full view of anyone coming or going. I just prayed I was fast enough to not put on a show.

At a junction at the bottom of the switchbacks, a side trail split off to take you to Vermillion Valley Ranch. A mile and a half down that side trail, there’s a little sign for the ferry. I met up with the couple again and we walked that last bit together. There were tons of people sitting out on the rocks waiting for the ferry! It was 4pm and the ferry comes around 4:45.. so, I had some sitting to do, and I was quite happy about it!

I even had some service! I was chatting with my friend, Victoria, updating her on my adventure and whatnot-and she sent me money to buy the WiFi at VVR! How freaking sweet! I was so pumped. When the ferry appeared across the glassy blue water, I got to meet Paint, the driver. He was super kind, loaded us all on, packs in the middle.. and said he was going to give the late ones five extra minutes, just in case they’re close by.

It was a 30 ish minute ride across a massive Lake Edison. Mountains surround the lake and my God, it’s just gorgeous. I sat beside a man named Gary, who comes here with his buddies every year to fish up in the mountains.. they were the ones on horseback that passed me earlier! The guys leading the horses dropped the men off at the ferry, and they rode the horses the 7 miles back to VVR. How neat.

When we got off the boat, we had a little welcome by a sweet lady calling herself the greeter. She explained how the resort worked and then lead us up to the store. We each got one free drink, beer or soda or whatever. They create a tab for each person and you pay for everything when leaving. I was able to snag this cabin, the last bed available.

I asked the details of the WiFi: $25, only works at the store/restaurant (so not at my cabin or the laundry house), and all power shuts off from 10pm to 7am regardless, WiFi router included. It was already almost 6! I still had all my chores to do, eat dinner.. there was just no way I was going to pay that and basically only get to use it for maybe an hour, two at best. Dammit. So, I decided I’ll venmo Victoria her money back, since I didn’t use it for what she intended me to. The gesture is seriously so damn kind though.

Anyway, I ordered my food: a double cheeseburger and fries. They didn’t have many options. But it was delicious all the same. I ate quick, then went to my cabin, plugged in my power bank: if power shuts off at 10pm, I need that baby full! I’m about to walk into 7 full days of hiking and no bail out spots-I need power!

I showered, and loved every single second of it. I think I’ll take another one in the morning before I leave. I put on my puffy jacket and my leggings and headed off to do laundry. Luckily, a washer was open so I didn’t have to wait. While everything was washing, I did my resupply, but as I’m here thinking about it, I’m pretty sure I didn’t buy any lunch food.. I’ll have to rectify that in the morning. I put everything in the cabin, then went to put all my clothes in the dryer. While clothes were drying, I sat around the bonfire outside and chatted with some other hikers and folks just visiting the area.

I kid you not, the second my clothes were dry, I was saying goodnight and walking to my cabin. It’s right on the water and it’s beautiful and rustic. It’s 9:05 and Im barely able to keep my eyes open anymore. The bed is super comfy and the top cover feels maybe like a weighted blanket. Im pooped, but overall today was a great day!

Tomorrow, I plan to get up and shower again, pack all my stuff up-figure out the lunch situation, eat breakfast at the restaurant, and catch the 9am ferry back to the ferry dock. I’ll have to rehike the 1.5 miles to the junction, then continue south..
I’ll go over Selden Pass tomorrow and I want to get as close to the river crossing as I can before camping-so I can do it first thing in the morning. It’ll be cold as hell then, BUT it’ll also be the lowest it will be all day, so hopefully it won’t come up to my stomach like a girl at the bonfire said it did on her.. YIKES. She’s got a couple inches on me too. I’m nervous, y’all. But that’s a day after tomorrow problem, so no reason to worry about it now I guess. Ok, goodnight!

Start: 1775.3

Stop: 1790.3

Today’s miles: 15

Total PCT miles: 1642.5

It would be so wonderful if it would quit raining on me when I’m trying to get over mountain passes! Sheesh.. Mother Nature.

I slept pretty dang good, in my queen bed with the heavy blanket.. Although I still tossed and turned and even got up to go to the bathroom at 2am. Weird. The power went off at 10:15 last night, and I was fast asleep seconds afterwards. I purposefully left the bedside lamp on and my stuff plugged in, so when it flipped back on at 6:45am, I was woken up (I rolled back over lol), and my battery bank could hopefully finish charging.

I got up at 7 and immediately took another shower. This time making the effort to shave my legs since I found real shaving cream in the hiker box last night. What a time to be alive! Once out, I slowly packed and looked through my food. Yep-definitely not enough calories for a day.. so, instead of putting everything in my pack as it goes, I left it mostly packed and went up to the store to figure out what else I could buy.

Welp. I got a couple more power bars, just typing that makes me nauseous, but the alternative was tuna packets-and that idea almost had me throwing up in the aisle. I’ll remind my stomach of this protestation when it’s growling and I don’t have anything else to eat! So, extra bars in hand, I went to the register and ordered my breakfast and paid my tab for the last 12 hours. 2 meals, a resupply, lodging, and a ferry boat ride round trip.. it was a small fortune.. so I grabbed a diet Coke for good measure.

I ate an enormous breakfast sandwich: eggs, cheese, bacon, apparently hash browns and some gravy too. Plus, a side of gravy. Wow! The sandwich was superb and I think I shocked some of the staff with how easy I put it away. Around 8:30 I ran back down to my cabin (which the girl working this morning called it the boat house.. neat!) and finished packing. I sat outside at a picnic table and talked with another hiker doing the JMT. We have the same pack. She was so nice to chat with.

Eventually, 9 am rolled around and it was time to get on the ferry. It was 9:40 when we arrived and I spent the next 20 minutes getting my shoes on and talking to mom before I’d lose service again. I started moving at 10am, and felt overall pretty dang good. After the first mile and a half which was the side trail to the ferry, the PCT went over a bridge and then up a massive amount of switchbacks.

I ended up passing 19 people today headed in my same direction. I never pass people! They pass me! Two guys were chit chatting as we went up and it cracked me up when they slowly started falling back. They passed me when I sat to filter water later, but then I passed them again once I started moving. One girl I passed remembered me from yesterday, she said I passed her in the morning on the climb up to Silver Pass. We talked a little while getting water, she’s on her 3rd day of the JMT!

I passed some others that were on the ferry, and then one guy that remembers meeting me before, somewhere on trail, but neither one of us can remember where.. he and I ended up doing the most leapfrogging of the day. After a small descent from the switchbacks, the trail went up and over Selden Pass (10,913 feet). It was gradual and there was tons of water. One spot I took my socks and shoes off to cross in my crocs-because magically, my feet were still dry!

Then. The clouds. I knew it was going to rain, I just knew it. All my hard work to keep my feet dry was wasted, because around 3pm, it started to sprinkle. As I climbed up this mountain to the pass, it just got heavier and heavier. I never saw lightening, but heard distant thunder.. so, I put my umbrella up. It was coming down hard at the lake 1/2 mile from the top of the pass, hailing even. I was in all my rain gear and had the umbrella up, moving pretty quick because I was cold. It was during all of this stopping to get on rain gear that me and John kept meeting up. He made me feel better knowing I was going over the pass with him nearby.

The views were epic from the top, and the rain slowly stopped. It was cold, so I kept moving, now after 5:30. I was planning to go all the way down the descent, but the trail was wet and slippery with big rock steps and tons of water crossings. So, instead of 5 more miles, I was wrapping my head around 2 more miles-but constantly going back and forth. Do I night hike? Do I just try to get up early tomorrow and make up the miles? Do I make an entirely new plan with the food I have?

I passed heart lake during all of this inner dialogue. I laughed because I could see the rock Andrea and I sat on to eat lunch one day when we did the JMT in 2018-and then the sky dropped out of nowhere on us and we had to scramble.. it was a mess. But it was just as beautiful today as it was in 2018. I rounded the corner still smiling, thinking about our trip, and remembering that these two lakes I was now walking between were so gorgeous on that trip, that Andrea and I made the comment that we wished we could have camped there.

I was considering it, just setting up shop, but I talked myself out of it. I had another mile and then I’d be to that 2 mile mark.. that is, until I saw a hiker up ahead getting water from the lake outlet.. I strained a little to see: STRIDER! She had her tent up already and is camping here tonight. We talked a bit and then I decided to just set up camp here, too. There’s several other hikers around, I think John is somewhere here too.

Strider and I plan to get hiking by 6am so we can cross the sketchy river together, the one where the bridge is out from the snow damage. I like this idea.. well, not the 6am bit, but the having someone I trust to cross with bit. And then we’ll get most of the way up Muir Pass, but camp 5 miles shy of the pass, since the other side has some pretty questionable snow still. We don’t want to do that in the evening, so first thing in the morning will hopefully go smoother. Plus I think changing my itinerary like this makes it to where I can climb in the afternoons, but camp before the passes and go over easier in the mornings.. hopefully with no storms. At least, I’m praying.

So, I set up camp and ate my ramen noodles for dinner. It’s cold. I think I’m going to look at my mileage business and then get some sleep. 5:30 will come way too damn early!

Start: 1790.3

Stop: 1810.8

Today’s miles: 20.5

Total PCT miles: 1663

Well, I don’t think I’ve made it to camp this early in a long time! We made it to our stopping point by 5:20! The panicky side of me thought we should keep going, since it was so early-the common sense part of me saw the storm clouds ahead and was already getting cold: aka-don’t be dumb and go over a mountain pass 5 miles away right before dark.. and then have snow and rain to contend with on the other side..

Today was stunning! We crossed into Kings Canyon National Park! Our 6th park of the trail 🙂 Again I had moments of remembering certain areas from when Andrea and I came through on the JMT. It was all still just as beautiful and breathtaking today as it was the first time I saw it.

I actually got up at 5:30am, packed, and was walking to Strider’s tentsite just a few minutes after 6. She was putting her tent in her pack and a couple minutes later we were on the trail. I still had to use my headlamp for maybe 15-20 minutes, and then the sun started to light the sky enough to see where to place our feet. It was cold, but we were able to move quickly because the terrain was smooth and easy going. Thank goodness!

We had 9 miles to get to the first sketchy water crossing we’ve all been hearing horror stories about. The bridge over a part of the San Juaquin River was out because of the snow-so this is usually a river we’d never have to walk through, just over-but with the bridge gone and no easy way around-through we went! Earlier in the season it was entirely too dangerous to cross it, so the national park service was making people detour around, which added over 15 miles and they were forced to skip the iconic Muir Pass because of it.

We made it to this crossing by 10:30am, and a woman doing the JMT was there waiting for us, so we could cross together. Strider went first, then me, then her. It was COLD. It moved fast but it was honestly like every other cold water crossing we’ve gone through so far. The water only came above my knee in one spot and otherwise stayed right below. I think the river crossing that I forded with Heidi, Marquis, and Margot was way sketchier.. so this made me pretty happy! I have been so worried about it!

The trail started slowly climb upwards, surrounded by raging creeks and huge mountains. We got to Evolution Meadow and crossed Evolution Creek, another water crossing known to be potentially fatal if you fall in it when the water is high-mainly because right after the crossing spot, the water goes down some waterfalls-and that water was raging! Thankfully, it too only came to my knee and I felt very stable crossing it. We waited to go until after we ate lunch though.

The 7 ish miles after that creek crossing were a slow and steady climb towards Muir Pass, with one of those miles being less than gentle. It was sunny at the start, and buggy as hell, but then the bugs stayed and the sun departed for storm clouds around 2pm. We kept moving, praying it wouldn’t rain. The temperature as we climbed only got cooler, but the views became more and more epic. It was astonishing how quickly you can go from wooded forest to alpine lakes and scattered rocks.

We had to cross over a bit of snow, I slipped and landed hard on my left hip in a very easy section.. just goes to show you how much I dislike the snow! Lol-but, the really long snow field was absolutely fine.. even though there was a huge hole at one point and I almost panicked when I realized I was on a snow bridge and everything under me was melting out.

We got to where we wanted to camp and looked ahead at the sky: angry clouds were swirling in the exact direction of the pass. We knew we made the right call to not cross the pass in the late afternoon. There’s apparently more snow on the other side and we didn’t want to risk navigating that in bad weather or with the sun setting.. and then have to find a camp site too. No thanks!

So, we set up our tents on Evolution Lake, the upper part-which im pretty sure is where Andrea and I camped in 2018. Pretty neat. We unpacked and got water and ate dinner-all while shivering. I started out with a vestibule open, it’s closed now and I’m all bundled up. Tomorrow we’ll go over Muir Pass first thing, then down and mostly up Mather Pass, and camp just before like we did today. Again, I’m anxious over the snow, but there’s nothing worrying will do.

I think it’s time for some sleep (at 7:10pm!! Heck yeah!). We’ll try to get up early again tomorrow and leave around 6 to have a longer day of getting the miles in. Pray it goes smoothly! Goodnight y’all!