Sept. 9, 2006 to Sept. 16: Independence to Bishop
Mile for mile this section of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is the most rugged and scenic I have hiked so far. Buckle up your seatbelts; you are in for a ride.
These forty-one PCT miles fill in a gap between where I ended in the High Sierras in August, 2005 and where I picked up again in the last hike in August, 2006. As noted in the last narrative, this is a remote section of the trail; I had to hike eleven miles just to get to the PCT and twelve miles to exit, both side trails also climbing over 12,000 foot passes!
The trip began with an early morning ride from the hamlet of Independence -- a town without a traffic light -- to the trailhead at Onion Valley. As with the last hike, the side trail crossed through the John Muir Wilderness. (John Muir Sign.) It helped distract me from the steep switchbacks that the trail passed one pretty lake after another (Gilbert Lake) and that owls hooted away for the first hour or so.
The trail crested at 11,600 feet at Kearsarge Pass, also the boundary of Kings Canyon National Park, another designated wilderness. The vista was like a dear friend from last year, south to the fierce Kearsarge Pinnacles (Kearsarge Pinnacles) and west to the PCT junction. (View West.) I descended to serene Bullfrog Lake (Bullfrog Lake), took a nap and later camped in a canyon filled with birdsong.
On the PCT the next day I enjoyed this view of a dynamic landscape -- a classic, U-shaped glacial valley laced with multiple avalanche chutes. (Charlotte Creek.) The PCT soon circled up and around walls of granite and suddenly emerged on a narrow ledge -- or "knife edge," as climbers call it -- along the top of 12,000 foot Glen Pass. To my surprise, what should come along this knife edge but a fully loaded mule train led by Mr. Casual Cowboy? (Mule Train.) I asked about the solo mule at the rear and was told, "She's cranky today and might pull the others down." By "down," I guess he meant 2,000 feet straight down. Gulp.
Speaking of which, it was almost straight down to Rae Lakes, with its famous sentinels: Dragon Peak, Painted Lady (Painted Lady) and Fin Dome (Fin Dome.) Note the almost unearthly light the next morning in this still reflection. (Dollar Lake.)
The long ascent of the next pass -- 12,000 Pinchot Pass, named after Gifford Pinchot, the founder of the Forest Service -- began with a bouncy walk across a suspension bridge over Woods Creek. ("The Golden Gate of the Sierra.") The PCT climbed up along Woods Creek for over two thousand feet, past this cascade in open terrain. (Woods Creek Waterfall.) Higher still, I looked across Woods Creek to the distant sharp peak of Mt. Clarence King, an early CA geologist after whom the national park is named. (Mt. King.)
I finally got above timberline and wondered where the pass would be. (Granite Wall.) It turned out the trail had been blasted into a notch in the mountains, up a steady grade of switchbacks. (Blasted Trail.) Barren Lake Marjorie awaited me on the other side. (Lake Marjorie.)
The roller-coaster PCT dropped again into the shelter of the South Fork of the Kings River and bounced back up again towards the next rockbound pass -- 12,000 foot Mather Pass, named after Stephen Mather, first head of the National Park Service. I ascended to a well-watered basin (Alpine Cascade) and seemed to be climbing into the sky. (Alpine Footpath.) The pass loomed ahead, with countless switchbacks up the 1,500 foot face. (Mather Pass.) How glorious to be on top! (Peter Kirby at Mather Pass.)
On the descent the various Palisade Peaks looked like waves about to break under an angry sky. (Palisade Peaks.) I set up my tent under a clump of exposed trees and heard the wind whistle through the night. During the next day's descent I carefully picked my way across the sharp rocks of the so-called "Golden Staircase" blasted into the impassable wall of Palisade Creek, another U-shaped glacial valley. (Palisade Creek.)
I stopped to talk for a while with a crew of young trail workers workers from the CA Conservation Corps (CCC) and thanked them for their summer of service to us hikers. (CCC Women.) I ran into the entire group later that day and listened in for a few minutes as the leader explained some ecological issues in the mountains, eg., disappearing frogs. What a classroom!
I finally reached the bottom of the valley and cooled my feet in the Middle Fork of the King's River. (Middle Fork Waterfall.) This was an emotional moment. Over thirty years ago I had hiked the PCT from near Mount Whitney north to this very spot and then had turned south off the PCT. I reflected how fortunate I was to be able to trek and enjoy it all again -- slower, but in good health, and with a camera and an Internet journal to share this adventure with friends and family. And how fortunate we all are that such beautiful wildlands are preserved in wilderness! I camped in a meadow nearby and was lulled into a deep sleep by the sound of the river. (Middle Fork Meadow.)
The next day I reached the trail junction where I had hiked in last month so I turned and labored up the many steep switchbacks towards the exit at Bishop Pass. Here's my last view of the PCT at the bottom of this giant gorge. (Le Conte Canyon.) And here's my last night out. (Tent at Dusy Basin) On my last day I went out over Bishop Pass, dropped down to the trailhead and caught a ride back to Bishop -- and the pleasures of salad bars and hot showers.
On the way home I stopped at the town of Mammoth Lakes and had breakfast with Sally Miller, a field staffer for The Wilderness Society. Experienced, energetic and dedicated, Sally helps coordinate a campaign to establish and preserve wilderness in the eastern Sierra. I applauded her and her many local supporters and partners for their tireless efforts to persuade the local Republican Congressman and our two senators to introduce a bill to expand the Hoover Wilderness on the northern border of Yosemite National Park. If passed into law, this expanded wilderness would protect over ten miles of the PCT, including the fragile headwaters of the Walker River. I hope to hike through this proposed wilderness in 2007. Sally thanked me for my kind words and urged me to keep sending letters to our Congressional delegation!
These forty-one PCT miles fill in a gap between where I ended in the High Sierras in August, 2005 and where I picked up again in the last hike in August, 2006. As noted in the last narrative, this is a remote section of the trail; I had to hike eleven miles just to get to the PCT and twelve miles to exit, both side trails also climbing over 12,000 foot passes!
The trip began with an early morning ride from the hamlet of Independence -- a town without a traffic light -- to the trailhead at Onion Valley. As with the last hike, the side trail crossed through the John Muir Wilderness. (John Muir Sign.) It helped distract me from the steep switchbacks that the trail passed one pretty lake after another (Gilbert Lake) and that owls hooted away for the first hour or so.
The trail crested at 11,600 feet at Kearsarge Pass, also the boundary of Kings Canyon National Park, another designated wilderness. The vista was like a dear friend from last year, south to the fierce Kearsarge Pinnacles (Kearsarge Pinnacles) and west to the PCT junction. (View West.) I descended to serene Bullfrog Lake (Bullfrog Lake), took a nap and later camped in a canyon filled with birdsong.
On the PCT the next day I enjoyed this view of a dynamic landscape -- a classic, U-shaped glacial valley laced with multiple avalanche chutes. (Charlotte Creek.) The PCT soon circled up and around walls of granite and suddenly emerged on a narrow ledge -- or "knife edge," as climbers call it -- along the top of 12,000 foot Glen Pass. To my surprise, what should come along this knife edge but a fully loaded mule train led by Mr. Casual Cowboy? (Mule Train.) I asked about the solo mule at the rear and was told, "She's cranky today and might pull the others down." By "down," I guess he meant 2,000 feet straight down. Gulp.
Speaking of which, it was almost straight down to Rae Lakes, with its famous sentinels: Dragon Peak, Painted Lady (Painted Lady) and Fin Dome (Fin Dome.) Note the almost unearthly light the next morning in this still reflection. (Dollar Lake.)
The long ascent of the next pass -- 12,000 Pinchot Pass, named after Gifford Pinchot, the founder of the Forest Service -- began with a bouncy walk across a suspension bridge over Woods Creek. ("The Golden Gate of the Sierra.") The PCT climbed up along Woods Creek for over two thousand feet, past this cascade in open terrain. (Woods Creek Waterfall.) Higher still, I looked across Woods Creek to the distant sharp peak of Mt. Clarence King, an early CA geologist after whom the national park is named. (Mt. King.)
I finally got above timberline and wondered where the pass would be. (Granite Wall.) It turned out the trail had been blasted into a notch in the mountains, up a steady grade of switchbacks. (Blasted Trail.) Barren Lake Marjorie awaited me on the other side. (Lake Marjorie.)
The roller-coaster PCT dropped again into the shelter of the South Fork of the Kings River and bounced back up again towards the next rockbound pass -- 12,000 foot Mather Pass, named after Stephen Mather, first head of the National Park Service. I ascended to a well-watered basin (Alpine Cascade) and seemed to be climbing into the sky. (Alpine Footpath.) The pass loomed ahead, with countless switchbacks up the 1,500 foot face. (Mather Pass.) How glorious to be on top! (Peter Kirby at Mather Pass.)
On the descent the various Palisade Peaks looked like waves about to break under an angry sky. (Palisade Peaks.) I set up my tent under a clump of exposed trees and heard the wind whistle through the night. During the next day's descent I carefully picked my way across the sharp rocks of the so-called "Golden Staircase" blasted into the impassable wall of Palisade Creek, another U-shaped glacial valley. (Palisade Creek.)
I stopped to talk for a while with a crew of young trail workers workers from the CA Conservation Corps (CCC) and thanked them for their summer of service to us hikers. (CCC Women.) I ran into the entire group later that day and listened in for a few minutes as the leader explained some ecological issues in the mountains, eg., disappearing frogs. What a classroom!
I finally reached the bottom of the valley and cooled my feet in the Middle Fork of the King's River. (Middle Fork Waterfall.) This was an emotional moment. Over thirty years ago I had hiked the PCT from near Mount Whitney north to this very spot and then had turned south off the PCT. I reflected how fortunate I was to be able to trek and enjoy it all again -- slower, but in good health, and with a camera and an Internet journal to share this adventure with friends and family. And how fortunate we all are that such beautiful wildlands are preserved in wilderness! I camped in a meadow nearby and was lulled into a deep sleep by the sound of the river. (Middle Fork Meadow.)
The next day I reached the trail junction where I had hiked in last month so I turned and labored up the many steep switchbacks towards the exit at Bishop Pass. Here's my last view of the PCT at the bottom of this giant gorge. (Le Conte Canyon.) And here's my last night out. (Tent at Dusy Basin) On my last day I went out over Bishop Pass, dropped down to the trailhead and caught a ride back to Bishop -- and the pleasures of salad bars and hot showers.
On the way home I stopped at the town of Mammoth Lakes and had breakfast with Sally Miller, a field staffer for The Wilderness Society. Experienced, energetic and dedicated, Sally helps coordinate a campaign to establish and preserve wilderness in the eastern Sierra. I applauded her and her many local supporters and partners for their tireless efforts to persuade the local Republican Congressman and our two senators to introduce a bill to expand the Hoover Wilderness on the northern border of Yosemite National Park. If passed into law, this expanded wilderness would protect over ten miles of the PCT, including the fragile headwaters of the Walker River. I hope to hike through this proposed wilderness in 2007. Sally thanked me for my kind words and urged me to keep sending letters to our Congressional delegation!
posted by peterkirby at
11:38 AM
