Sierra Nevada From Kennedy Meadows To Mammoth

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After leaving Kennedy Meadows, the trail kept on climbing into the Sierra Nevada. The landscapes slowly changed and it took about two days until the transition was complete.

Desert View

I had added my ice ax, spikes, bear proof food canister and food for 10 days to my pack. The added weight and the relentless ascent caused my daily mileage to drop, but I had anticipated that. What I didn’t anticipate was the back pain and the broken hip strap that the added weight caused. I still enjoyed the hiking and, above all, the spectacular scenery during these first days. I knew that my pack was getting a little lighter every day as I consumed my provisions. 

Sequoia Trees

It’s hard to overstate the beauty of this place, especially once I reached Sequoia National Park. Here I took a side trip to camp at Soldier Lake and day hike to the amazing Miter Basin and Sky Blue Lake.






Another side trip took me to Crabtree Lakes. Despite their beauty they get very few visitors as most people who come to Crabtree are focused on climbing Mount Whitney.



And that’s what I did the following day. I was extremely lucky with the weather. It had been sunny and warmer than usual, so the views were absolutely spectacular.





After adding these side excursions my food supply dwindled quickly and I had to stretch my 10 days worth of supply to last 13 days. Luckily I had met a group of hikers on Soldier Lake who had brought too much to carry and offered some of their snacks to me. That helped, but still I couldn’t afford any additional side trips, so I stuck to the PCT for the reminder of this stretch.



This wasn’t really an issue as the PCT joined the extremely scenic John Muir Trail.

Near Forester Pass

Every day brought new highlights. The day after I summited Whitney I crossed the even more spectacular Forester Pass, which marks the boundary between Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.



Hiking into Kings Canyon from the pass I found a campsite overlooking the canyon as the sun was about to set.




The following day was just as amazing as I crossed Glen Pass and hiked through the beautiful Rae Lakes.



First Pinchot Pass, then Mather Pass one day later. The weather held and I could enjoy the scenery under blue skies, although there was a bit of haze from a prescribed burn in the air.




The weather started to turn the next day and it got significantly colder. There was no high mountain pass that day and my legs got a much needed break as I was ambling through pretty Palisade Lakes and along the LaConte canyon.




I hiked until I reached a beautiful meadow with a nice campsite a few miles before Muir Pass. I woke up to storm clouds the next morning and packed up quickly to tackle the pass before the weather would get worse. 

That plan didn’t quite work out as the clouds grew darker and the wind stronger. By the time I reached Muir Pass it had started to snow and I was grateful for the Muir Hut that provides shelter on the pass.


There were already quite a few hikers in there and we started chatting and making hot beverages. Someone actually brought margarita mix and let it circle among as all. When I mentioned that it was my birthday, everyone spontaneously sang me a happy birthday song and one hiker actually had a candle that he lit for me to blow out! Then we continued our hike, before the blizzard could erase the trail. What an amazing day!


The next day was my last before getting to resupply. My legs were tired and my energy level low, probably due to the limited amount of food I had left. It was a 10 mile long ascent up to Selden Pass and it took me a long time to go up there. I still enjoyed the scenery, especially the view of Marie Lake from the pass.



It had stayed pretty cold since Muir Pass and when I camped on a ridge, about 6 miles from Vermillion Valley Resort, my resupply point, there was an icy wind coming over from the Vermilion Cliffs. As this wind made it through my tent wall, through my sleeping bag, through my clothes, through my skin and eventually into my bones I knew that it was high time for a night or two in a real bed and for my first Zero Day.*

* PCT speak for a rest day spent completely without hiking

Comments

  1. Dan HuffJune 23, 2022 at 12:41 PM

    And you saw sheep! Very cool. Good luck with the pack repairs

    ReplyDelete

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