Day 71 – 81: Sierra Nevada & Yosemite National Park
Welcome again 🙂 This is a longer post, covering multiple days.
Day 71: 823.5 Palisade River to 834.5 Kings River
Didn’t get up till 9AM, had a beautiful campsite so had a slow morning – now that we have two days of extra food, we can slow down and enjoy this beautiful piece of earth fully. Body battery and sleep score (Garmin watch) still bad, feeling weak.
Ran into “Vacuum” (he inhales food despite being a skinny small guy) – we had met him before at the Kearsarge Pass Trailhead, going into Bishop! He’s fast!
We hiked down 4 miles along Palisade River which was gorgeous, endless streams and waterfalls.
Then, we took a break and swam in a beautiful stream and had lunch and dried off in the sun.
Got to camp around 7pm, 5.3 miles below Muir Pass. It’ll be uphill all the way so we did a large part of the climb today. Now at kings river all by ourselves with a fire and many mosquitos.
Left knee hurt a bit but not too bad. Still got a bit of a cold. Glorious views of dramatic raw mountains all around.
Steps: 26.416
Miles: 13
At 9397 feet
Ascent: 1626 feet
Acclimated to 8858 feet
Day 72: 834.5 to 847.7 McGee Canyon /Evolution Creek
Ran out of battery – so I could not write a lot in my diary today. Iceman took many pictures with his phone which I may kindly use here.
Highlights:
Tough but very beautiful 14 mile day.
We climbed Muir pass & enjoyed Muir hut and came across many lakes afterwards.
Got a gorgeous campsite by the river at Evolution Creek, on a little peninsula, with lots of pink flowers by the shore.
Stats:
Distance: 13.88 miles
Steps: 23.900
Ascent: 925m
Descent: 796m
Day 73: Miles 847.7 to 869.4
Woke up at 6am, left at 8am.
We hiked down through a forest most of the morning until we got to Evolution creek crossing, the biggest crossing on the PCT so far.
Then we entered a canyon with incredible views of rapids – turquoise water, red rocks, beautiful.
Lunch on the river, Ice saved his last 10% of battery for me so I can write my diary and take videos and pictures. So nice!
We want to make the 9.45am ferry to VVR (Vermillion Valley Resort) tomorrow to have a Nero there to chill. So we hiked 21.7 miles and my feet and hips hurt. It was another “one step in front of the other”-day.
🤩Alarm tomorrow at 4am.
Stats:
Distance: 21.7 miles – longest day in a month
Steps: my Garmin watch died so I don’t know exactly, on 20 mile days I have more than 46.000 steps
Ascent: 3717.8 feet
Descent: 3533.8 feet
Day 74: to Vermillion Valley Resort mile 879.9
We got up at 4AM and it was cold – one of the biggest river crossings – Big Bear Creek – was coming up after 1 mile and it was still dark and I was sleepy, but it wasn’t too bad but a bit scary.
We hiked 12 miles – to get to the VVR ferry – through beautiful forests. VVR is one of the iconic stops on the PCT – you take a ferry across a gorgeous lake, they have some cabins, wash house, cafe, porch, charging. Camping, bit of resupply, very hiker friendly.
The resort is way off the beaten track and we met nice people on the way there and relaxed all day and had some beers and really good food. Taking a shower and doing laundry was great. Meeting my friend Jonathan again and hanging out with him, Smooth, Goldfish, Slider, Ice and later Gummy Bear and Possum was so fun!
Stats:
Distance: 15.9 miles
Steps: 26.688
Ascent: 1490m
Day 75: VVR to mile 893 Virginia Lake
We got up at 7am, had breakfast – burrito – really good – paid 220$ 😳per person for drinks and food, shower, laundry and ferry ($20 each way) and took the 9.00am ferry back to trail.
“Paint” the boat captain gave us whiskey because Ice met him last year on AZT. Paint gave him a ride and said he would do the PCT this year and visit Paint. Paint remembered. 🙂
On the ferry, we met a lovely couple from Belsen, close to the PCT – Portia and Dean – who were at VVR for a fishing vacation. We exchanged numbers and I shared this blog. Greetings to you, Portia and Dean, if you’re reading this, hope to see you soon!
We hiked up an ascent and later another one to Virginia Lake. Really beautiful.
Stats:
Steps: 26.688
Miles: 15.9
Ascent: 1490 m
Day 76: 16 miles into Mammoth past the 900 mile marker 🥳
Started hiking at 9AM so the sun would reach out tents and dry them and the sleeping bags. We expected to do only 13 miles but the trail to get to the trail head was marked incorrectly on FarOut (navigation app) – it doesn’t go all the way to Horseshoe Lake so in the end we had to do 16 miles and we were tired. We circumnavigated a few mountains and it was an uninspiring view most day.
Got into the parking lot at 3pm and -tada- Kitty picked us up.
Went to a bar to have burgers and to the hostel at 6.30pm.
Later got dinner with Slider at the clockwork cellar and had amazing burgers and IPAs for his birthday 🙂 🤩
Stats:
Miles: 15.9
Steps: 33.282
Ascent: 642 m
Day 77: Zero in Mammoth Lakes
A full zero – how I’ve longed for a day off – not hiking and doing nothing – well, no no! We had so many chores to do haha. But first, drop laundry at laundromat and get a good breakfast at a super cute breakfast place 😍
Then we went to several gear shops, trying to fix my backpack and our poles, which were missing tips, grocery shopping, got all our packages (I ordered new Xero sandals and a solar panel here), including a very special package from Lisa, got our laundry and went back to the hostel for a healthy lunch.
Remember Lisa, the lovely lady who saved me in Tehachapi, when I had to cross a highway and got scared and asked her in a Starbucks if she could help me? We stayed in touch and she wanted to send a resupply box, so sweet! Thank you so much!
I worked on the blog later but had technical issues and it took hours to write one day and upload a few photos because of caching issues 🙁
Day 78: 12.95 miles to 914.6 Middle Fork San Joaquin River
We left Mammoth Lakes on the shuttle at 10.30AM and started hiking at 11.00AM.
Had a detour due to the destroyed bridge – made it almost 13 miles. Slow, hard and boring uninspiring day (Except a few highlights, see photos) due to the heavy packs with 5 days of food and walking on forest roads (detour).
Day 79: 914.6 to mile 932.4 Lyell Fork
It was a tough and really beautiful day. We didn’t leave camp till 9AM. It was a beautiful spot by the river so it’s nice to take time for breakfast and coffee.
We walked through the forest most morning and saw many day hikers because it was 4th of July, a national holiday. We took a wrong turn and walked in parallel to the PCT for a few miles. To get back to the PCT, we had to climb straight up for 0.8 miles.
We had lunch by a beautiful little lake, it was chilly in the shade under our tree, but my new Solar panel was charging my powerbank in the sun – yay it works – no more dead devices after 3 days and no way to charge let alone take pictures.
Back on the PCT, we got to Thousand Island Lakes, where the JMT and PCT split up. We walked through gorgeous alpine meadows with crystal clear water, green grass, grey boulders and prime flowers.
We took a right towards Donahue Pass, 11.200 feet, and reached the top at 6.40 PM.
I usually get tired around 4 or 5 pm but we had to keep going because I have to pick up a package at the post office in Tuolumne Meadows tomorrow before noon.
We climbed down 1000 feet on the other side of the pass and found camp next to River Lyell Fork. Set up camp, got water and filtered it, made dinner, stored all the food in the bear cans, brushed teeth, and crawled into our sleeping bags because it was freezing, below 10 c.
My feet hurt and I’m exhausted. We will get up at 5.30 AM tomorrow to get to the post office in time😴
Stats:
- Distance: 16.68 miles
- Ascent: 4543 feet (damn – I feel it today
- Steps: 31.496
Day 80: Lembert Dome & Hwy 120 (943.7)
We got up at 4AM and hiked quietly through the cold dark morning. It was beautiful in Yosemite, one of my favorite NPs. I had visited 10 years ago but didn’t do any hiking but swore back then that I would come back to do just that and here I am.
Green lush grass, crystal clear rivers and uninterrupted beauty and nature all day! We had to hike fast and only took one short break to filter water and it felt too rushed. But we had to make it to the post office in time as not to wait till Monday.
We got to the cut off for the PO and saw trail magic on the parking lot! We said we would be back after getting the package.
Next to the PO was a shop and take out place and since it was lunch time, we ordered burgers and beer. We met out friend Slider again 🙂 I got my package and then we got a ride with Cinderella and his gf back to the trail magic, even though it’s less than a mile, but: no off trail miles haha
We went to meet Click & Yichin who had set up a table full of food, ribs, chicken, curry, lentil salad, ice cold drinks, fruit, veggies wow! Even though we had just eaten, we could eat again and enjoyed curry, salad, ribs and chicken.
Everything was home made and incredibly delicious! You guys rock! Thank you so much!
I had service for a second and saw a message from my brother asking to call him. Then from my mother. I got nervous and tried calling but didn’t have enough signal. We texted. I will not go into details, but it wasn’t good and I knew I had to get off trail and go back home to Germany immediately.
A normal and beautiful day, until it wasn’t.
Panic and disbelief. Where is the closest airport, how do I get there? Without a car or even internet to check ? More panic. A very attentive ranger noticed my distress; I got very lucky. This legend ranger, Anika, brought me and Iceman to the Ranger station Tuolumne Meadows and shared their Starlink password so I could communicate with my family and do research.
Her boss later kindly offered to drive us 2h to Yosemite valley – a courtesy trip. From here, we could get a bus or hitch to Merced. Then a train to San Francisco. Then a plane to Germany. In theory.
It was a long weekend and Saturday night, so most people weren’t leaving the park at 7pm on a Saturday. After 30 min, we got lucky and 5 students stopped and took us in. They had to sit on each other’s laps for 2 hours – so kind of them. They asked many questions about the motivations to get on trail, it was a great ride. But I was very sad and worried. They were going to Oakhurst though, hmm. We googled once we had service. 5 min after we would reach their hotel, a bus would leave to Fresno, we would get there at 11.30pm. Ok, we did that instead of going to Merced. So I booked a cheap motel in Fresno.
Day 81: Off trail, back to Germany via San Francisco
The train to San Francisco left at 6am the next morning … Short night, but I made the 4.40pm flight to Germany.
Iceman came with me and dropped me off at the airport, although I asked him to keep hiking. It felt good not doing this alone.
We had 2h in the city, which we spent walking around San Francisco and getting lunch.
It was nice to be back after 20 years – I visited in 2005 with my mom and brother. I had clam chowder for lunch at the pier, it was nice. But it was a sad day of course. A lot of uncertainty about news from home and if and when I would be able to return to trail.
I went through security with my entire pack after Iceman kindly took my knife, poles and stakes, even though it was probably too big and too heavy. But I couldn’t care less. I just had to get home asap.
We said our sad farewell, and off we went; me on a plane to Germany, Iceman back to trail, somehow making the complicated trip back to Tuolumne Meadows in the backcountry, where we got off the PCT at mile 943.7 2 days before.
This is the last post for now.
Thanks for reading and I hope you’re all well. 🤗 Congrats you’ve made it this far! You must really like the blog 🤗 You can subscribe to get an email notification with each new post.
Disco
Curious how I got here? Check out previous posts:
- I’m back on trail, or am I? Days 83 – 97 (Miles 1505.2 – 1731.6)
- Day 71 – 81: Sierra Nevada & Yosemite National Park
- Day 63 – 70: 778.2 Forester Pass to 823.5 Palisade River
- Days 56 – 62: First days in the Sierra Nevada incl. Mt Whitney (Miles 707.8 – 778.2)
- Days 51 – 55: Ridgecrest to Bishop (Miles 652.5 to 789.7) – The end of the desert
Day 63 – 70: 778.2 Forester Pass to 823.5 Palisade River
Day 63: Forester Pass (Miles 778.2 to 787.9)
I didn’t sleep all night – well let’s say from 2-5am I just tried to rest – awake in my tent. We made coffee and left at 6am for the big climb up Forester Pass, one of the iconic and feared passes on the PCT, right after Mt. Whitney. The landscape looked like we were on the moon. There were rocks, and frozen lakes and rivers and snow. The climb was steep but I love climbing on steep edges and ridges so it was exciting for me but not too scary. After the pass, we got into this beautiful valley with views all around. Easily one of my favorite days so far if not the favorite one!
Day 64: Nero down Kearsarge Pass to Bishop 787.9 to 789.7 + Blue Blaze to trailhead
I felt very sick and we didn’t have fuel left to cook our coffee. It was very beautiful on the PCT but I was so sick, it was the hardest day so far. The lakes on the blue blaze towards Kearsarge pass were incredibly out of this world beautiful.
Due to a lack of cold medicine, I took Ibuprofen for the first time in this trail to get me up Kearsarge Pass. Not a good idea, then I had diarrhea … and had to go in the woods several times with all the day-hikers and JMTers (John Muir Trail Hikers – PCT and JMT overlap in the Sierra for 270 miles) flooding the trail so that sucked. Impossible to find a quiet place away from real close to a pass. It felt like forever to get down to the trail head – I literally ran down a few miles to use the privy – and then there were 10 hikers waiting for a hitch right in front of it 😆. Oh well.
We got a hitch into Bishop – 1h ride – quickly with “Tall Mike”, who was there dropping off PCT hikers, which was awesome and then went to the brewery to eat burgers and salad. We booked 3 nights at motel 6, for 550$ but what are you going to do? They increase prices in hiker season. I need to rest and recover from my cold!! I also need to update my gear, return things and send things back to Seattle so I need time and space.
We ran into our friend Shredded again in Bishop, which was nice.
We went to Vons and bought lots of fruit and vegetables, salad for dinner and fresh juice.
Bishop is beautiful.
Day 65 & 66: 2 zeros in Bishop and 2 dates 😍
Ice and I met April 18th, second day on trail. We didn’t see each other again till May 13th, when we ran into each other on the bridge after the hot springs, at mile 304. We spent 38 consecutive days hiking 600 miles / 965km together at this point (except the two days after Tehachapi where he decided to sleep in😆). We shared 36 breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and aren’t tired of each other yet. Well, quite the contrary. It’s been incredible hiking with him and getting to know this wonderful human being. When he asked me on a date in Bishop, I was delighted 🙌 We went to the movies and saw “How to train your dragon”.
The next day, he took me out to the bowling alley. It was a Friday and a good band was playing so after our steak dinner, which was delicious, we just watched the band and danced a little and never bowled. Great to be in town doing “normal” things, not feeling like a dirty hiker for a day. Wonderful to go on a lovely date 😍
Day 67: Nero out of Bishop
We didn’t leave till noon – we had lunch at the Chinese place across the street. They were interested in our trip and were very nice. Food was great! We waited 2h for a hitch and finally the sweetest girl picked us up – a thru hiker – she recognized us as fellow thru-hikers and knew Bishop is a popular resupply stop for PCT hikers. Her trail name is “Shimmer” and she hiked the Arizona Trail 4 years ago, and that’s how long she has been dating her boyfriend she met on trail. We counted that as a good omen. “Shimmer” was driving from her boyfriend’s place to LA, where she is doing a PhD, so she was driving through Independence but not our trail head. She quickly offered to take the 45 min detour up to the trail head for us. How kind of her! We stopped in Independence for ice cream.
We didn’t hike far that day and met up with Kitty on trail.
Day 68: Blue blaze back up Kearsarge Pass
We left at 8.30am. It was really cold, and Ice and I both felt sick. I took two knock-off DayQuils but they didn’t work. I felt weak.
We climbed up Kearsarge Pass before 11am and it was fine and then we did Glen Pass, it was steep and nice on the top, lots of snow and so many lakes, hardly could see the trail, we descended mostly off trail and on snow. Then I broke my pole. Again. 3rd time. I am returning these ultra light non stable poles. I need them to pitch my trekking-pole tent, so they need to be reliable . But Durston, I bought them from, are a great company and will surely issue the refund. But it will suck to do 6 passes with only one pole.
After that beautiful meadows and lakes, Mountains and creeks, we camped at Dollar Lake above 10.000 feet. It’s super cold. But very beautiful, it feels like hiking in a dream.
Distance: 12.7 miles
Steps: 29.249
Ascent: 3212 feet
Day 69: Day 69: Pinchot Pass (797.1 – 809.9 Lake Marjorie)
The Sierra – she is kicking my butt. Today we did Pinchot Pass, at 12.127 feet and it was tough. I’m still feeling sick from the cold I got before climbing Mt Whitney and so I wasn’t sure I would make it up there. I took cold medicine in the morning and after lunch but it didn’t make me feel as good as the original DayQuil did 😆 they must out some secret ingredient in there.
I woke up at this beautiful lake and it was really cold, below 10 degrees Celsius 😍 we had coffee and breakfast, and left around 9.00AM.
We had to hike down 4 miles to the bottom of the valley at around 8500 feet, and then started to ascent 7.7 miles up to Pinchot Pass. Left and right we had dramatic mountain ranges all day in grey, black and later red colors. We saw several grouse with little ones, many marmots, a deer, pikas and chipmunks. At 7PM, the fish in the alpine lakes eat dinner and you can see them jump up making little rings on the surface. Ice got fishing gear from a guy at Kearsarge Pass Trailhead, but we’ve been getting to camp so late that he hasn’t had time to fish yet.
It is so cold in the Sierra that I can keep my sleeping bag closed for the first time. I had to leave it open the first 700 miles in the desert. And now I wear my merino long John’s, merino socks and two merino longsleeve shirts to sleep and it’s only comfortable. I have a 20 degree F sleeping bag, the Panyam 600, by Polish outdoor brand Cumulus, and it’s great. It kept me warm on Mt Whitney too, while the rest of the Overnight Crew was freezing.
Today was tough and beautiful: one of those days where you just put one foot in front of the other and see how far you get. I didn’t think I would make it up Pinchot Pass. But I did and I was excited when we were finally up there. We went down a few miles to Lake Marjorie at mile 809.8.
I texted Kitty our location but he didn’t respond. He had fallen behind a bit and we didn’t see him all afternoon.
We set up camp and made dinner and then there he was – Kitty made it. Wohooo. It was almost dark.
We had fresh ginger tea and gazed at the incredible sunset over the next mountains we would cross tomorrow, and soon crawled into our sleeping bags, exhausted and blissful from the brutal ups and gorgeous views of the High Sierra.
Stats:
Distance: 13.78 miles
Steps: 38.749
Ascent: 3955 feet
Day 70: 809.9 Lake Marjorie via Mather Pass to 823.5 Palisade River and the most beautiful valley ever
Left at 7AM, because we wanted to make it over Mather Pass early, it’s notorious to be snow covered late in the season. Walked through green meadows with English grass and grey boulders most morning.
Three river crossings before 9.00AM, non too sketchy.
Stopped at 9.18AM to dry our tents and sleeping bags – they were wet / frosty this morning – and to filter water.
We made it up Mather Pass – it was tough. We got there at 12:30 and had lunch. First lunch break on a pass!! Blue skies and mountains all around.
Next we will go down for 10miles.
We stopped in the middle of the climb down to Muir pass. We had the most incredible view of the valley before Muir Pass, sadly I don’t know the name of it.
Mather Pass
Thank you for reading my uncensored, honest account of my PCT adventure. 😄
Be well, until very soon.
Disco