Mon. August 22         Miles today: 20.9        Total so far: 1,742.4          Sierras Section H

Smoke from the forest fire was all around our camp last night, so pheweeeee did we stink this morning, and so did all our gear!  But wind in the night blew it all away, and a look westward showed no more fire.  It was a clear, 31 degree early morning, lit beautifully by a bright moon.  I LOVE packup by moonlight!  It only took about 20 minutes to finish the switchbacks and reach the top of 12,130 foot high Pinchot Pass.  We enjoyed the view of Lake Marjorie below on the other side before going down the rough trail to a spot by the lake for a chilly breakfast in the shadow of the mountain.  But it was fun watching the sunlight move down the mountain on the other side of the lake, then reach the lake, and finally us!

Off we went down the valley to a ford (on boulders and logs) of the South Fork Kings River.  After that, the trail followed the river up through a series of pretty meadows with lots of flowers, till we were above timberline again and the green ended as we headed up to Mather Pass, on a set of switchbacks that travel across a very steep mountain face.  I have heard that early season thruhikers climb straight up, using ice axes, and it’s pretty scary.  No kidding.  I was glad to have a trail and switchbacks.  I tried hard not to look down as we got higher.  It didn’t take long to reach the top, and there, hanging out at 12,100 feet, was a whole group from the Sierra Club, doing what’s called the “High Trail.”  One of them was a photographer busy with tripod and camera.  He must be VERY dedicated to carry such heavy equipment on a backpacking trip!   The rest of the group were all very nice folks, and we talked to them for awhile before heading down the very rough trail on the other side, which included some snow.  The guidebook said the descent would make your knees hurt.  My knees were just fine, but my feet–ow!  Those rocks were awfully rough.

Once down in the valley, we stopped for lunch by a creek cascaade with wonderful water and lots of wildflowers, including an alpine shooting star which is really robust and sturdy, compared to the delicate-looking ones back home.  Continuing on into the afternoon, we were headed down toward Palisade Creek, contouring above it on smooth granite with rock ducks to mark the trail.  Then came a long, steep, rocky, rough downhill in the narrow Palisade Canyon.  The creek was lovely but the trail was awful.  Part of it was the famous “Golden Staircase”.  I know it was a difficult part of the trail to build–so difficult that it was one of the last sections to be completed–but MAN did I wish they had not made the stone steps so high.  I guess if I had long legs like a basketball player I might have done better, but each step was huge.  I got so frustrated by how slowly I had to go that I almost cried, and by the time we were all the way down, my feet and my knees really hurt.   When we were coming out of Kennedy Meadows, one of the SOBOs we met was Cat’s Pa, headed for his “finish line” in Kennedy Meadows.  He is very tall, with very long legs, and even he complained about the “killer high steps” on the trail around here.  “Just about did in my knees” was his comment.

Well, even the roughest, toughest trails eventually smooth out, and so did the PCT.  We were finally down off the rocks and able to “turn on the afterburners”, so we hiked as fast as we could to the Middle Fork of the Kings River.  We got there by 6:50 pm, then climbed quickly up to Grouse Meadow, where we camped.  The mosquitoes were bad enough that we needed the net tent.   I had to spend some time talking to God about my frustration and almost-tears over getting down the rocky trail.  One of the things that bothers me the most is knowing that Bill could go MUCH faster down trails like that, and he is having to constantly wait for me.  On uphills, I do great, but downhills when you wear bifocal glasses (which makes depth perception all off)  and have a right ankle that will twist under at the slightest provocation, it’s hard.  “Help me be cheerful no matter what, PLEASE, Lord!” was my prayer tonight.

Sun. August 21      Miles today: 20.4         Total so far: 1,721.5         Sierras Section H

We woke up at 5:00 am to find our tarp in a pool of moonlight in the thick forest where we’d camped.  It made getting up and packing a LOT easier!  The moon was still high as we started down the trail, and the mountains all around were beautiful in the early morning light.  We climbed steadily toward Glen Pass, stopping for breakfast along the way, and admiring Lake Charlotte below the trail.

Then the PCT turned west, and the serious climbing began.  The trail was steep and rocky.  Sometimes there were stone stairs and sometimes we were just walking over rocks and boulders.  It was grueling, but there were pretty little wildflowers along the way to make things easier.  Eventually we reached the lake just below the pass, and after more rough, rocky switchbacks, we were at the top of Glen Pass.  There were great views to the north and to the south! 

Then came down, down, a horribly steep, rough trail.  Downhills like this are slow going for me, but I still felt sorry for all the people we met who were puffing their way UP.  Everybody is heading south, and only doing the John Muir Trail, not the PCT.  But finally we were down off the awful rocks, and reached lovely Rae Lakes. The water is so clear that you can see the trout!  The only hard part is the creek between the lakes–it’s deep and roaring and the only way across is a sort of log jumble.  I had heard about this crossing, and figured, “If everybody else can do it, I can do it, too!”  Actually, it turned out to be not bad.

Now we had many more miles of downhill (for a net elevation losss of 4,000 feet since the top of the pass) through a fine green valley with lots of lakes.  Thee were also LOTS of hikers, camping!  We had another tricky creek crossing and a short time later, stopped for lunch.  I have to say that every time we stop for a meal, repacking is made tough by having to stow bear cans in a way that they won’t fall out of or off of our packs.  I can see why the SOBOs we bought them from were so happy to get rid of them!

The valley became more rocky, but instead of boulders and gravel, it was now wide slabs of granite that were MUCH nicer to hike on!  When we were almost at the botom of the valley, near a junction where we would turn east, we saw down the canyon to the west a sight no hiker ever wants to se–a forest fire!  It looked like it had just started, and we were glad to be going the OTHER way!  But first, we had fun crossing a sort of mini-Golden Gate bridge–a cute suspension bridge made of wood and wire.  Only one person at a time may cross, and it does SWAY!  But what beautiful engineering!

Now we began a 4,000 foot CLIMB up to Pinchot Pass.  For several miles, the trail followed rushing, roaring, cascading Woods Creek.  Bill and I were joking, “Wonder if anyone ever kayaked THAT whitewater?”  Off to the right, we got great views of the valley we’d just come down.  The hike up was not bad, because the trail followed a pattern of go up, level off, go up, level off, through a variety of scenery.  There were lots of side creeks, too, very pretty.  As we turned around to look west, the smoke from the fire was much worse.  Several times we met southbound JMT-ers who were anxiously eyeing all the smoke ahead, and we were able to reassure them that the JMT would turn off before going into the canyon where the fire was. 

Eventually we were well above timberline, and headed for the pass, hoping to get across it before making camp.  But we were just short of the top when the sun went down, and not knowng what lay on the other side, we had to stop.  We were at about 12,000 feet elevation.  The “alpenglow” was fabulous to watch as we set up our tarp and prepared for a cold night, and boy, was I glad that there was no chance of the forest fire reaching us–we were among rocks!  We put on lots of layers before crawling into our sleeping bags.