A last minute change of plans due to permit availability had us going into a different wilderness than originally planned. Rick (the Naviguesser) had invited the two of us along…
El Cap We seem to be on the right track for snowcamping this year. Two years ago it stormed every time we tried to get out. Last year there was…
To put it mildly, last winter's minimal snowfall was dissapointing. We only got out on one snowcamping outing, and there was so little snow that we were able to have…
Dave finally got me out to the Sierra to share one of his favorite outdoor obsessions (among many): fishing. We originally planned to head out to the East Sierra about…
It's the last day on the John Muir Trail, and the biggest one as well. We got up early so we could hit the trail just before sunrise, hiking by…
Our second to last day on the John Muir Trail. Boo! After yesterday’s big day over Forester Pass, today was a relatively easy day from Tyndall Creek to Guitar Lake. There were no real steep ups or down – the trail was rolling and gently graded through this stretch. The day’s highlight was Big Horn Plateau, a large, barren, flat area a couple of miles beyond our campsite. Unfortunately the smoke once again interfered with the views, but it was still impressive.
What an incredible day! On day 13 of my John Muir Trail adventure we hiked from Vidette Meadow to Tyndall Creek via Forester Pass. This was the day I had both been looking forward to and also dreading – it was one of my higher mileage days, along with the biggest climb yet. But, since I had been on the trail nearly two weeks I had nothing to worry about – it was much easier than I expected. The highlight of the day was Forester Pass, which, at 13,200 ft, is the highest pass on the PCT. I had never been over this pass before and had heard how scenic it was, and it didn’t let me down.
I was a bit concerned about today's logistics and timing, but it turns out that everything went quite smoothly. We left Bishop at about 9 am and drove down to…
I awoke to the smell of smoke. The distant smoke from the previous night that had given me such a stunning sunset had blown into Humprey’s Basin overnight. I had no idea where the smoke was coming from, so I was glad that today I would be getting off the trail. This day’s plan was to hike out to the North Lake trailhead over Piute Pass and catch a ride into Bishop, where I had reservations at the Ramada. Dave would be driving out from the Bay Area that evening and would meet me there.
The smell of smoke was a bit overwhelming – I’m sure the air was just terrific for me to be breathing in while hiking. Some of the peaks that had been so beautiful the night before were now completely obscured by the smoke. But, as I climbed the short 2 miles and 400 or so feet up to Piute Pass, I quickly got out of the smoke. It had settled in the Basin, so at the Pass I was just above it. I ran into a couple at the Pass who told me that they had heard the smoke wasn’t a fire in the Sierra at all – it was actually smoke blowing in from the Zaca fire in Santa Barbara.