We left Bishop and went back up Kearsarge Pass to continue to our second pass of the day: Glen Pass. The altitude gets to me less and less, but carrying six plus days of food up two passes was still straining. Half and Half wasn’t feeling good and we left her at Kearsarge Pass. She …
All the usual today: resupply, checking gear, buying new stuff etc. As the mosquitoes had targeted me last time I bought a headnet for protection. A few surprise people arrived at the hostel. The first two being Disaster and Big Oil. The third I hadn’t seen since Idyllwild: Gopher! Gopher wasn’t the most exciting person …
The food supply dwindles. Whiffs of our own smell make us wince. Salt stains from sweat stand out white on our clothing. Yes, it is that time again, time for town. Bishop is the place this time, a mid-sized city right next to the Sierra’s. To get there, we need to cross Kearsarge Pass, a …
In the Sierra’s, hikers have to go through a series of high altitude passes. These passes are often covered in snow and afternoon storms gather there in the summer, so they require some logistics to get through. Today we did the first of these, Forrester Pass, the highest of them all at 13120 feet. Lucky …
4421 meters, I did it! Our march up Whitney (or Hwitney, as Coyote would no doubt prefer) started at 1 am, in pitch black darkness. A train of headlamp lights formed along the slopes of the mountain. It made the walk feel like an expedition into the unknown. Periodically, I ran into others, always checking …
The altitude is kicking in hard. Small climbs that I would have been able to run up now require great effort and make me run out of breath. Positive thought is that we will be flying in Northern California with this kind of training. I guess I have the hiker’s legs but not the lungs …
My hope of getting used to the elevation quickly was in vain. The day started out good, my achew from yesterday were almost gone and I was cruising the first 10 miles. After those however, I got suddenly really tired. It became a struggle to keep my eyes open and not take a nap right …
My first day in the Sierra’s was characterized by beautiful, green scenery and knee and hip pain from carrying my now very heavy backpack. The bear canister, microspikes and 6+ days of food had added a lot of weight. I was worried about the pain in my knee but that luckily disappeared after a couple …
Finally! We’re out! I was so tired of Kennedy Meadows. The overflow of people making me feel more exhausted than when I arrived here. It was really nice to see so many people I hadn’t seen since the start though. Early Bird, Fry, Pippin, Lumberjack, Molly, Becky, Luka, Mermaid and even Sunshine, the one who …
I’m starting to itch to get back on trail. Kennedy Meadows is not a nice place to spend multiple days. It’s hot, dry, loud and everything takes an eternity, from ordering food to doing laundry. The worst offender would have to be Triple Crown Outfitters, a gear store that had been talked about non-stop on …
