Day 89 to 97: High Sierras, rivers and meadows.

Day 89

‌2 July 2019

Mi 1092.3 - 1087.2

A short day as usual when I get out of town. I had really nice Mexican food at a restaurant I had already been to during the road trip with my parents in May.

I bought a lot of food as I wanted to tackle the next 10 days without having to resupply at the very expensive resort ahead of me. I think this is the heaviest my pack has been with the bear canister, micro spikes, and all the food.

After a relatively long Uber ride I was back on trail excited to tackle the high Sierras!

Day 90

‌3 July 2019

1087.2 - 1063.0

As I was saying a few days ago I have been seeing a lot of northbound hikers on trail. This also means that I got to see some old friends. From people I hiked with very early on or people I parted ways with just before I flipped it was nice to see that they were still at it and doing well.

I got to Carson Pass today, a popular trailhead for day hikers with a visitor center run by volunteers. They were super nice and offered us free drinks and snacks while we took a break. They also had a scale so for the first time since I started I weighted myself. And the results are... I didn’t lose a single pound! In fact I’m at the same exact weight I started at. This is surprising as most hikers around me had lost at least 15 pounds (~6.8kg).

Day 91

4 July 2019

Mi 1063 - 1033.7

After an early start I got some more trail magic today! After 15 miles I arrived at Ebbets toad and “Chipmunk” who hiked the PCT previously offered us eggs, beans, cereals and soda. The perfect way to take a break mid day.

I left after half an hour and enjoyed telling hikers going north that they had trail magic ahead. Their faces lit up with excitement every time I would tell them! It felt like I had some sort of super power.

Day 92

‌5 July 2019

Mi 1033.7 - 1016.9

Some more trail magic! I finally accomplished the ever wanted hat-trick of trail magic. Previous PCT finishers had set up at Sonora Pass, the end of the high Sierras for northbounders. They had the best homemade cookies I ever had, as well as watermelon, beers and all sorts of goodness.

I had enough food to go on but needed batteries for my headlamp so I hitched to Kennedy Meadows north, a nearby resort with a well stocked but expensive general store.

After charging my batteries and and getting French fries at the restaurant I hitched my way back to Sonora pass and decided to camp here along with other hikers, all very excited to be done with the High Sierras.

It was perhaps the most interesting hitch I got since I started. It was a dad and his son on their way to Colorado to tackle 14er, aka summits with at least 14000 feet of elevation. His son was 11 and he was already trail running and doing all sorts of incredible feats. The dad, Pat Ward, was a long distance athlete who had complete Race across America 6 times. Race across America is a cycling race from the west to the east coast of the US. He told me it takes on average 8 days to do, the race being about 3000 miles (it changes every year). It means that they do about 375 miles (600km) every day. The Tour de France seems like a cake walk in comparison. Truly insane.

Day 93

‌6 July 2019

Mi 1016.9 - 990

I got up early to tackle Sonora Pass when the snow was still hard. I decided to go straight up instead of blazing my own switchbacks. As not many people are going south I often have to decide wether I want to cut my own steps or follow the ones people have cut on their way down going north which are as you can imagine pretty much straight down, but in my case that’s straight up.

I met a few hikers going north and most notably gave food to two very hungry ones. They looked miserable and told me they had been rationing their food for a while now. One of them a French 40 years old ultra marathoner told me this section was the hardest thing he had done so in terms of physical challenge in his life. He looked really out of it. I wished them good luck and kept going afraid and excited about what was ahead.

The trail is what I would call in a transitional state right now. It’s either snow patches, completely flooded or snow free. It changes dramatically depending on where the mountain is facing.

At 2:34pm I unfortunately broke my water filter. I didn’t want to go back to Sonora so I decided to keep going and just not filter my water for the next stretch. It’s like playing Russian roulette every time I drink water except the outcome isn’t dying it’s severe diarrhea. Fun!

I tackled two relatively easy passes and found a nice spot for the night.

Day 94

‌7 July 2019

Mi 990 - 962.4

I got up early as I knew I had a treacherous river crossing. It’s best to hit them in the morning as the melt is not significant yet. I met a group of four going in the other direction. The water got up to our waist. It wasn’t too bad but definitely woke me right up as the water was so cold.

The rest of the day was very nice as I made my way into Yosemite valley I met a lot of day hikers and hippies (yes they still exist although seem to be endangered). It reminded me of the two excellent movies Free Solo and Valley uprising.

Day 95

‌8 July 2019

Mi 962.4 - 931.7

Another day with absolutely breathtaking views. Alternating between meadows and passes high up in the mountain consistently above 9000 feet is taxing but worth it! The Sierras seem to take everything out of you but give it back ten times!

On another note my food has been consisting mostly of cereal bars these past 7 days, it’s efficient nutritionally but does have an effect on digestion let’s just say that.

Day 96

Mi 931.7 - 906.6

I tackled Donohue Pass, my highest pass yet at 11074 feet (3375 meters), early in the morning and headed down the valley towards Red’s Meadow where I could exit the trail to get some food.

The mosquitoes were out and about for most of the decent but they were no match to my DEET spray. Having DEET all over you feels like peeking over Tchernobyl’s reactor and breathing fumes but keeps mosquitoes at bay, worth it.

I arrived at Reds meadows resort at 5pm and got on a bus with other hikers to Mammoth Lake where I enjoyed a stupid amount of pizza.

Day 97

‌10 July 2019

I decided to take a break in Mammoth. I did the usual errands, at this point you should know what comes next, laundry, food and buy miscellaneous broken gear.