Up at 7:30. Made bus reservation for the hour drive back to Independence tomorrow. Made a reservation for a shuttle from Independence to the trail head in Onion Valley. Happy to have that all taken care or.
Took the bus across town to ship a bunch of stuff home: ice axe, socks, Durston Tent, food, spare inhaler, and some misc items. I got rid of 11 ounces of gear.
Took the bus downtown to a coffee shop and worked on blogs until 3:00. Lots of pictures and videos from Forrester to take care of. Walked back to my hotel and made plans for Lake Tahoe. I decided to get off trail 1.5 days south or Tahoe at a paved side road. Pitcrew will pick me up that morning and we will start a 4-day visit. I booked her airline and found us a condo on VRBO. It’s about 20 minutes outside of town. Very glad to have that finally taken care of.
Also took care of a bunch of home financial stuff and called my mom.
Headed out for dinner about 5:40. Brad, Margarita, and I had a nice goodbye dinner in Bishop. We hope to see Margarita again at some point, but unless she skips over 120 miles of the Sierras then she will be 4 days behind us. Maybe we will catch up in Tahoe!
Day 57 Dinner in Bishop
Walked back to the hotel and watched TV until 9:30. Got a big day getting back on trail tomorrow!
Up at 7:30. Walked across the street for a nice breakfast.
Spent several hours replanning the rest of the Sierras. Once that was done, I knew what resupply to buy for the next 6 days into VVR.
Went to the sporting goods store and bought a new tent. It’s 5 oz heavier than my original tent, and it’s semi-freestanding. Similar to the one I used on the AT.
Stopped at the post office to pick up my small resupply box. Mainly my meds.
Took the bus to the grocery store and resupplied for 6 days. I’m trying to pack less weight for this stretch.
Back to the hotel and repackaged all the food and loaded my Bear can. The Fritos don’t fit in the can, but all else did. Practiced setting up the tent. Uploaded 4 days worth of blogs.
Talked to Pitcrew for a while, then had dinner on the way back into town for Hell Yeah’s birthday bash.
Hung out at a pub from 7:30 until 10:00 for the party and karaoke. Still have a ton of chores to do tomorrow. Will be doing a double zero.
Day 56 Bobbie KaraokeDay 56 Bug Dog KaraokeDay 56 Natalie, Jacob, Bonk KaraokeDay 56 Hell Yeah BirthdayDay 56 Karaoke
Wednesday, June 17. Clear and mid-30s going up to 67.
Up at 5:50. I have to be at the Onion Valley trailhead by 11:00 to meet our shuttle to Independence and then at the bus stop by noon to go to Bishop. Steep 1.2 miles to summit Kearsarge Pass. Then 5.5 miles very downhill to Onion Valley. Brad and Margarita have to add about 4 miles to that including the nasty climb I did yesterday late afternoon. On trail at 6:45.
The ascent up to Kearsarge Pass was steep, but not bad.
Day 55 NOBO Into Kearsarge Pass
Summited Kearsarge Pass at 7:20 and 1.2 miles.
Day 55 Lake Near Kearsarge Pass
There is a cool lake just over the summit on the south side of the pass.
Day 55 Lake Near Kearsarge Pass
The 4.5-mile hike down is easy, but I’m not looking forward to hiking back up it in 2 days to get back on the PCT.
I took a break at 8:30, had a snack, and enjoyed a little cell service. Sent Pitcrew some pictures and sent Brad a status in the shuttle and bus.
Day 55 killing time into Onion Valley
I got my first view of civilization as I neared the bottom coming into Onion Valley campground and trailhead.
Day 55 First Civilization In 7 Days
Got to the parking lot at 9:30. Shuttle arrived at 10:45. Thankfully, we saw Brad and Margarita descending the last part of the mountain. Shuttled down another 5,000 feet into 90-degree desert heat in Independence.
Got the bus loaded with about 25 PCT Hikers at 12:25. A bit of a cluster f@&k.
Day 55 Bus Stop in Independence
Drive an hour to Bishop and got dropped off 1.5 hot miles away from my hotel.
Day 55 Bus Stop in Bishop
We walked to our hotels, after a stop for lunch at the bowling alley. I got to my hotel at 4:00 and had to wait for my room. I got checked in, unpacked, and talked to Pitcrew for an hour. Then I jumped on the Kile family Zoom call for an hour. Finally, I showered and went out for a big celebratory dinner at 7:00.
Tell me I don’t look like a homeless person!
Homeless Me
I have a ton of chores tomorrow, including planning the rest of the Sierras hike!
Tuesday, June 16. Clear and mid-40s going up to 65.
After lunch, we still had a minimum of 7 miles to reach a decent campsite for the night.
I need to mention that Margarita was having bad altitude sickness issues since the ascent of Forrester earlier in the day. This became important as we need to be at our exit point for town tomorrow morning by 11:00, and we still have to get up and over Kearsarge Pass between now and then.
Second water crossing. Brad and I used a log.
Day 54 Second Water Crossing
We hiked down from Forrester most of the afternoon. We descended below the tree line and followed a raging river for several hours.
We reached a campsite by the river around 3:00 and had a conference. Margarita was still feeling badly, and we did not want to leave here alone. But I needed to get in contact with our shuttle driver and make sure he would pick us up at 11:00 so we could catch our bus at noon tomorrow. I also wanted to get to the trailhead early tomorrow in case the shuttle was early. I didn’t want him abandoning us. I decided to push up to the Kearsarge summit, and the others would follow starting early tomorrow. Hopefully, Margarita would be feeling better by then.
I started the ascent to the junction for the side trail to Kearsarge Pass around 3:15. The 2.5-mile ascent to the junction was brutal. Steepest thing we have climbed in days! I made it to the junction at 4:44 and left the PCT for the 7.5-mile journey to the trailhead at Onion Valley.
There was no water on the ascent, and I only had 1/2 a liter. My goal was to hike to a small stream about .7 miles from the Kearsarge summit, get water for dinner, and find a place to camp. I hiked about 2.8 miles through some beautiful scenery in the Kearsarge valley to my water source.
Day 54 View From Kearsarge AscentDay 54 View From Kearsarge Ascent
I passed by Bullfrog Lake and got an amazing view down onto it.
Day 54 View From Camp below Kearsarge Pass
I found a crappy tentsite at 5:45. It took 30 minutes tonight to make my tent work. The zippers in the tent are really bad!
Day 54 Bad Tent
Not a bad view from my campsite though!
Day 54 View From Camp below Kearsarge PassDay 54 View From Camp below Kearsarge Pass
There are several lakes with excellent fishing down in the valley below.
I had a nice dinner with an amazing view. This was the first time that I camped alone on the PCT so far.
Side note. One of my battery banks is not working well. It went from 3/4 to zero in two minutes yesterday. I charged my phone on Brad’s battery earlier today so I have power to contact shuttle and others tomorrow on the descent. I did contact the shuttle driver via satellite device this evening and he confirmed an 11:00 pickup and understands our hard schedule for the bus at noon.
I got up around 10:00 pm and checked out the stars. The Milky Way was a clear ribbon across the sky. We are so remote that there is almost zero light pollution!
Really looking forward to one or two zero days starting tomorrow.
Day 54 Part 1 Map – Tyndall Creek Campsite Over Forrester Pass
Technical Notes:
Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein
Tuesday, June 16. Clear and mid-40s going up to 65.
This is such a big and amazing day. I have to split it into two blog entries. I apologize in advance for all the scenery photos. This was the most amazing day on the PCT, and the only thing from the AT that is close is Mount Katahdin. The photos don’t do justice to the awe-inspiring scenery. In my opinion, this even puts the Tetons to shame.
Keep in mind that the only way to see any of this in person is to hike two days in and then two days out. No tourists, no helicopters, no other way to experience this.
Up at 4:30. We have a big day. Up and over Forrester Pass. This is the highest point on the PCT at 13,200 feet. As previously discussed, we need to get up, over, and down before the sun warms up the snow. Margarita, Brad, and I hit the trail at 5:45.
I put together a largish video of the ascent, summit, and descent of Forrester. Thought I would try this as opposed to embedding lots of small video clips. Consider this video foreshadowing of the rest of this blog entry.
We started the 5.5-mile ascent of Forrester about 6:30. We quickly climbed above the tree line into a land of boulders, snow fields, lakes, and little streams or small rivers of melting snow. The first few miles were a long, gentle grade.
Day 54 Margarita, Orange Man, and Karaoke Starting ForresterWaterfall on Forrester Approach
We had to make our first snow traverse at 7:00 a.m. and 11,600 feet. The snow was still frozen and easy to cross without spikes.
Day 54 First Snow Traverse on Forrester
There are several ponds and lakes on the ascent. A few are still sporting a layer of ice.
Day 54 Frozen Lake on Forrester Approach
The view back to where we hiked this morning just kept getting better and better!
Day 54 Looking Back At Forrester Aporoach
Around 8:15, we crossed a broad snow field and an ice bridge before starting the extremely steep switchback ascent up to the actual pass.
Day 54 Snow Field Before Forrester SwitchbacksDay 54 Orange Man on Snow TraverseDay 54 Crossing a Snow Bridge on Forrester Approach
At 8:30, we finally got a good view of the actual pass. Thank god for switchbacks. The final ascent to the pass is almost vertical. And there is a snow traverse right near the top of the climb.
Day 54 First Clear View Of Forrester PassDay 54 Switchbacks Near Forrester Summit
I reached the summit at 9:00. What a rush! The views are spectacular, and the thrill of climbing up here is indescribable. Who cares if there is no oxygen!
Day 54 Orange Man at Forrester SummitDay 54 Orange Man at Forrester SummitDay 54 Tramily at Forrester Summit
The view back south where we came from is great, but the view going north is spectacular.
Day 54 View Back From Forrester SummitDay 54 Looking North From Forrester Summit
Now that we are up here, we have to get down across a large, steep snowfield. Who knows the term “glissade”?
We had a multi-mile hike through wet, slushy snow after the glissade. We wore our spikes. I potholed several times up to my knees and hips. Some slipping and falling as well. The goal is to stay in the old boot tracks and hope they are semi-frozen.
Day 54 Snow Field Traverse Descending from Forrester SummitDay 54 Margarita, Orange Man, Karaoke Descending Forrester
We got out of the big snow field around 10:00. We had more snow to descend through, but nothing like the last hour. Lots of rivers and ponds on this side of the pass from the snow melt too.
Day 64 Orange Man on Forrester DescentDay 54 Ice Pool on Forrester Descent
We took a long lunch break at noon. How about that view for lunch!
Day 54 Lunchtime on Forrester DescentDay 54 Lunchtime on Forrester Descent
And this is a good place to break the blog into two parts!
Monday, June 15. Clear and mid-40s going up to mid-60s.
Up at 7:10. Slept well thanks to a full Xanax. Margarita and I got on the trail at 8:15. We have a short 8.5 miles today. Brad will join us later in the day.
Nice day. My breathing seems better today, but it was not a hard or long day. Margarita and I move at a similar slow pace.
First water crossing today, used a log.
Day 53 First Water Crossing
Second water crossing, used my camp shoes.
Day 53 Second Water Crossing
Some amazing Sierra views today.
Day 53 Sierra ViewDay 53 in SierrasDay 53 Sierra ViewDay 53 Sierra View from a Meadow
Third water crossing, used a log.
Day 53 Third Water CrossingDay 53 Third Water Crossing With a Dog
We crossed the Bighorn Plateau in the afternoon. There is an alpine lake in the middle of the plateau. Possibly the best scenery of the trip so far!
Day 53 Bighorn PlateauDay 53 Bighorn PlateauDay 53 Bighorn PlateauMargarita at lake on Bighorn Plateau
We reached camp at Tyndall Creek Campsite around 1:45. We were the first ones here. We set up camp and ate lunch. Brad arrived while we were eating. We also met Corey, a fire chief from Olympia, who started on May 2. He is doing huge mileage.
Day 53 Camp
There is a pond about 200 yards from camp. Margarita, Brad, Corey, and I took a dip after lunch around 3:00. The water is coming right off the melting snow.
Day 53 Swimming in Tyndall Frog PondDay 53 Swimming in Tyndall Frog Pond
As expected, the rest of the Mount Whitney crew filtered in all late afternoon.
Day 53 Camp – Margarita, Brad, Yelnats, Emmett, Mash, Corey
The start of the ascent to Forester Pass (13,120 feet) is .8 miles away and the summit is 5.5 miles total from camp. We plan to leave camp at 5:30, which SHOULD get us across the summit before the snow gets too soft.
I communicated with Pitcrew via my satellite device yesterday evening. She got me a room at the Days Inn for 2 nights and managed to book us a shuttle from Onion Valley Campground to Independence, CA for Wednesday. From Independence we will hitch or take a bus north to Bishop. You go girl!
I’m still contemplating a double zero in Bishop. It depends how the hiking goes tomorrow and Wednesday. If I’m still having ANY breathing problems, then I’m taking a good rest.
Day 53 Map – Mount Whitney Base to Tyndall Creek Campsite Mile 775.9
Technical Notes:
Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein
Sunday, June 14. Clear and mid-40s going up to mid-60s.
Did not feel great last night. Breathing issues. My asthma is back. Hence why I have been struggling so much. Damn it!
Up at 6:00. Everything is damp. We are in no rush today as we need to stage ourselves to summit Mount Whitney. On trail at 7:20.
Time for the first water crossing. Most people crossed like this. Brad and I crossed on a log about 3 feet above the water just a bit downstream.
Day 52 First Water Crossing
Had a steep climb to start the day. It was 10,100 feet at the top of the climb and it took me 2 hours to go 2.84 miles. Ugh.
I’m really having breathing issues again today. Combination of altitude and asthma, I think. Not good.
Stopped to dry my tent and rearrange my pack at 10:00 and 3.6 miles. Nice spot.
Day 52 Sierras View
Made my second water crossing of the day here. Sandy bottom and no more than knee-deep. Crossed barefoot.
Day 52 Second Water Crossing
Saw this guy on the way to camp near Crabtree Meadows.
Day 52 Yellow-bellied Marmot
Made my third water crossing of the day. Narrow, knee-deep, very fast water. Wore my hiking shoes on this one due to the rock and rapid water.
Day 52 Third Water Crossing
Reached camp at 12:15 and 8 miles. I’m a mess. Back hurts, breathing issues are bad, and my stomach is bugging me a bit. That last maybe due to my tight hip belt.
Brad and Margarita were here. A ton of people are camping here in order to summit Whitney starting at 1:00 a.m. tonight. 25-mile round trip. They should be back by 11:00 a.m. I counted at least 70 tents here.
Day 52 Tent City
It thunderstormed with hail from 4:00 to 6:30 on and off. The temperature dropped a lot. We all hid in our tents trying to stay warm and dry.
Day 52 Hail
Now for the bad news. Our goal was to get to Mount Whitney around noon and then summit Sunday night / Monday morning (night hike). I have finally gotten it through my head that I have been struggling a lot lately due to a combination of altitude and my breathing issues….again.
There is no way I can safely climb up 4,000 feet to summit Whitney. I either need to turn around and go back to Cottonwood Pass or push on past Forester Pass and then exit via Kearsarge Pass. It’s 21 miles back to Cottonwood or 31 miles to exit via Kearsarge Pass.
I took some oral steroids and a second hit of the steroid inhaler and rested the rest of the afternoon. I will repeat that in the morning. I plan to try for Kearsarge Pass with Brad and Margarita instead of hiking backwards solo.
We have to cross our first of many high mountain passes tomorrow. These passes have snow above 11,000 feet approximately. You can safely cross the snow when it is mostly frozen, but when it heats up and gets slushy it becomes difficult to cross. You start to posthole, which means your foot and leg punch through the snow crust. There are tree tops, limbs, and other junk hiding under that snow. It’s painful, slow, and not recommended to cross snow like this.
Tomorrow Margarita and I will hike 8.6 miles to Tyndall Creek Campsite at 11,041 feet. Brad will join us later in the day after the rest from his Whitney Summit night hike. This stages us to start climbing Forester Pass (13,120 feet) early the following day. We have to go up 4.8 miles, and then down the other side about 4 miles as early as possible to get through the snow fields while they are solid. After that we have about another 6 miles to reach our staging campsite to exit at Kearsarge Pass the day after that.
The exit via Kearsarge Pass (11,791) is 7.5 miles ending at Onion Valley Campground. We will need to hitch out of there to the main road about 15 miles away. From the main road, we will hitch or shuttle or bus north 40 miles to the town of Bishop for a zero day.
Technical Notes:
Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein
Saturday, June 13, 2026. Clear and mid-40s going up to low 70s.
Up at 5:30. Packed and ready to go at 6:40, but Brad hurt his back this morning somehow. Probably a pulled muscle. We are going to wait a while and see if it gets good enough to hike with. We can always bail out to Cottonwood Pass and get a hitch to Lone Pine, CA. That exit point is 4 miles away followed by a 4.5-mile hike to a campground.
We got on trail at 7:25. Brad is taking it slow today to try to help his back. We have a 10-mile climb that mellows out after the first 3 miles.
Hiked past the bailout point for Lone Pine.
Day 51 First Bailout Option
Filtered water at 5.18 miles from a fast-flowing stream from snow melt higher up the mountains. Very clean, cold water!
One of several high alpine meadows.
Day 51 High Sierra Meadow
This is the view into Cottonwood Pass. Note the snow. This route provides access to civilization in the form of a small road that leads to CA 395 about 15 miles away. Need to hitch from here if bailing.
Day 51 View of Cottonwood Pass
We stopped at Chicken Springs Lake (11,218 feet) at 12:15 and 9.44 miles. Frozen less than a month ago. Several people swam, but I wasn’t interested. The water was VERY cold.
Day 51 Chicken Spring LakeDay 51 Chicken Spring LakeDay 51 Chicken Spring Lake
Late afternoon thunderstorms and hail. Lasted a few hours.
Day 51 Storms Rolling InDay 51 Late Afternoon Rain
Reached camp at 5:45. Another long, hard day. It was a struggle. Most of my gear is damp from the rain. Will dry it all out tomorrow.
We only have an 8-mile hike tomorrow to get to Crabtree Meadows at the base of Mount Whitney. From there, it is a 15-mile slack pack up and back to summit Whitney. There is minimal snow up there this year, so hiking it during the day is a viable option as opposed to most years when you really need to complete the round trip before noon.
Day 51 Map – Mile 742.9 to Mile 761.7
Technical Notes:
Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein
Friday, June 12, 2026. Clear and mid-40s going up to 78.
Up at 5:30. Packed up and on trail at 6:40.
Solid climb for the first 3.6 miles of the day. Reached the top at 8:10. We are at 10,526 feet. We are going another 18 miles today with one more 4.5-mile steep climb starting around our midway point for the day.
We need to get over this in the next 1.5 days.
Day 50 Sierras
My feet and pack feel good so far today. The pack is about 1.5 lbs lighter with the food I went through. Also trying to keep my water carry to 1-1.5 liters.
Lunch at 10:45 and 10.12 miles at Death Canyon Creek. Carrying 2 liters of water out of here for our 4.5-mile climb. Back on trail at 11:30.
That was a very steep, nasty 4.5-mile climb. I took a long break at the top.
Day 50 Sierras
Filtered water at 3:45 and 18 miles.
Reached camp at 5:30. Brad and Margarita were here. About 7 others showed up around 7:00.
The biting insects are starting to get annoying. They will get very bad in a few days, I think. The altitude, over 10,000 feet, and the steep climbs are making the days difficult. I think tomorrow will be better. Our goal is to position ourselves so we can climb Mount Whitney (14,505 feet) on Sunday.
Day 50 Map – Mile 721.9 to 742.9
Technical Notes:
Protein Shake (10oz): 330 cal, 19g carb, 13.5g fat, 36g protein
Up at 6:00. Not sure when we are leaving today. That’s up to Brad. He is having some foot issues and may want to take it easy today. I’m up for anything.
We are hiking this morning. Yay. I packed up while waiting for the breakfast line to go down. My pack weighs 40 lbs as expected. That’s 7 days of food and ONE liter of water plus bear can, ice axe, and micro spikes.
Back Flip (Brian) arrived at KMS while we were having breakfast. He took a few days off for a family vacation.
Day 49 Brian at KMS General Store
We left the general store and road walked to the trail at 8:40. The first several miles were mostly flat. We left civilization at the end of the last road in this mountainous area at 3.25 miles. There is a small National Forest Campground here and that’s it for civilization on the trail for over two weeks.
We followed the south fork of the Kern River the first part of the day. Lots of water options in the sierras. We crossed the south fork of the Kern River on a foot bridge at 10:40 and 5.2 miles. Took a 30-minute break. Now the steeper climb begins and goes on for 14 more miles.
Day 49 Footbridge over Kern RiverDay 49 Orange Man on Footbridge over Kern River
We stopped for lunch at 2:15 and 11.5 miles. Big climbs all morning with these 40-lb packs. Took a 60-minute lunch break at the beginning of Beck Meadow.
We reached the foot bridge over the South Fork Kern River at Monache Meadow at 4:30 and 15.30 miles. This bridge is a bit famous as it appears in a lot of PCT videos and people like to camp in the meadow just beyond. We ran into Margarita and four other hikers here.
Day 49 Footbridge over South Fork Kern RiverDay 49 Footbridge over South Fork Kern River
Hard last 2-mile ascent into camp. We are camping at 9145 feet. We reached camp at 6:50. Only two other people here so far. In bed at 8:00.
My feet felt good all day. Blisters seem to be gone and the new shoes took care of the other general foot pains. I can’t wait for this pack to slowly get lighter.
Two problems. Both zippers on my tent are having problems. I’m afraid one or both will completely break soon. Next time we get to camp early, I’ll attempt to make it better with my mini pliers, but I’m going to need a new tent at some point. Also, my CNOC water bag developed a second leak. This one is more problematic as it is right at the connector where the filter attaches. I should have replaced it in KMS. I need to nurse it along until we reach Bishop in 6 days.
