Pacific Crest Trail: The Sierra Nevada Part 2

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14th June: Day 55 – Mile 923

Realise I’ve bought the wrong pain killers when we take a 15 minute break and I fall asleep. Turns out ‘extra strength’ refers to a sedative not mentioned on the front of the pack. I assumed it just meant the pills were bigger or something…
 
Not sure drowsiness is ideal for balancing across rivers etc. Back to just gritting teeth tomorrow I think.

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

15th June: Day 56 – Mile 948

The day mostly feels quite relaxed. Over a couple of passes but then down out of the snow. Walking through the meadows around the Toulumne river, in the east side of Yosemite national park.
 
There are some potentially hard river crossings over the next two days, but maybe it will actually be ok.
 
Then, at the end of the day, we see the enormous volume of water flowing through the Toulumne a bit further down stream – the valley is flooded, the bridges under water, waterfalls like nothing I’ve ever seen.
 
We watch the sunset. 13 says ‘we might die tomorrow’ (perhaps more gleefully than is appropriate) and I honestly think he might be right.

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

13 takes a bath in the Tuolumne river

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

This looks worrying

This is not the river – this is the trail, you can see it under the water.

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

Sunset over the flooded Tuolumne valley

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

16th June: Day 57 – Mile 965

6 difficult river crossings between us and Sonora pass in 50 miles – to the end of the High Sierra and glory.
 
3 of them today – let’s go!

Mccabe Creek

The crossing looks pretty bad, but the real challenge is that immediately downstream is absolute certain death – it runs straight into a steep sided gorge with smooth rock walls – if you did get washed down that would be it. And you don’t really know if you’re going to get washed down until you’ve tried…

I think we should probably go around (maybe 10 miles extra, may not be possible, and may involve some other terrible crossing). 13 decides to take the risk and test it out – though we think it looks bad, there is actually a route through. Done.

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

Return Creek

Very wide and deep. 13 tests it out but thinks it isn’t possible at the normal fording point without swimming (given swift current and that this flows into the same gorge as McCabe, not really advisable). We eventually find a log further up stream. Not ideal given it runs high over a waterfall – if you fall, you’d fall down that and *then* into the gorge. 13 goes across and we follow, and it’s actually ok. Done.

In my notes for the day I write “difficult river crossings, 2 only crossed due to 13’s fearlessness and ingenuity in finding route”. That was McCabe and Return.

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

Matterhorn Creek

Challenging for those of limited height and weight – I’m on the edge of getting taken by the current, my feet starting to slide sideways along the river bed, but I do make it unaided (though very much appreciate 13 getting back into the water in case I didn’t…)

Today we meet Burgundy, lost and somewhat confused, and he sort of joins us. He crosses Matterhorn in trademark style – carrying an ice axe.

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

17th June: Day 58 – Mile 982

3 out of 6 of the last difficult river crossings done
 
2 more today:
Rancheria, where someone died in 2017, the last high snow year
Stubblefield Canyon creek, where we lose Burgundy, but then find him again
 
All these photos thanks to Grasshopper (http://www.martindohnal.com/).
 

Rancheria

We follow it for a long time, with the steep side of the valley threatening to tip us in.

13 finds a way across eventually – a log half way, and then a jump across the rest.

Burgundy jumps it carrying his ice axe, and slips on the landing, but recovers. The purpose of the ice axe, other than adding the thrill of potentially accidentally embedding it in his or someone else’s head, continues to be unclear.

Me and 13

Burgundy and me.  Burgundy is demonstrating the ice axe river crossing method.

Stubblefield Canyon

We decide to swim the ice cold creek, which was too deep even for Grasshopper (6ft 3). We were going to get across and start a fire to warm up. We knew we had to go immediately as were already very cold. Just as we go, Burgundy disappears off in the other direction. We swim across and as we start the fire on the other side, we hear calls for help from the river. Burgundy is sailing off downstream in the current, held up by his pack. He is gently flapping his arms up and down and in one hand is still carrying his ice axe. It’s clear at this point he does not know how to swim at all (to be fair, it was always going to be a significant challenge while carrying an ice axe). We ran along the bank to keep up with him and I attempted to teach him breast stroke as we went by shouting instructions and waving my hands about (the most useful instruction I thought being ‘drop the ice axe’ – though he didn’t). Eventually he gets hold of a branch and 13 pulls him out. Then a thunderstorm comes and puts our fire out. Fun times.

(That photo is Stubblefield Canyon I think, but not the bit we swum – the whole canyon was flooded and there were a few crossings

18th June: Day 59 – Mile 1,002

Falls Creek – the last obstacle before Sonora pass.
 
The trail crosses the creek and then follows it up the valley for about 10 miles on the west side.
 
The valley is full of water. There is the luxury of a bridge over a lake outlet shortly before the creek, but that is itself 2 feet underwater, and we have to search it out beneath the surface with our trekking poles.
 
We get to the normal fording point of the creek and stare at it for a bit. We decide it’s impossible.
 
We try to get up the valley on the east side, without a trail, and luckily are able to get through and cross 8 miles further up.
Victory – now there’s nothing to stop us getting to Sonara Pass and to the land of snow-free dreams that we’re convinced lies beyond it.

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

19th June: Day 60 – Mile 1,018

Sonora Pass: victory
 
We all strongly believe, based on fairness rather than empirical fact, that beyond the pass the snow will be gone, the trail will bring forth tropical fruits to feed us, and we will be hailed as heroes.
 
Only two of those things will turn out to be true.

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

All other hikers hitch down to the next town to shower, eat pizza and drink beer.

We get our resupply delivered directly to the pass by the man in this campervan, to allow us to carry on unshowered.

(Can’t complain though, he did cook us food and give us beer)

20th June: Day 61 – Mile 1,039

There’s a saying on the US long trails, “don’t trust southbounders”.
 
13 needs to pick up speed – he still wants to finish in 100 days, and has a family reunion he wants to get back for, which means going even faster.
 
Some southbounders convinced him to send his microspikes home from the pass – he won’t need them up ahead, they say. How could they be wrong? Haven’t they just come from there?
 
…We find it entertaining to consider these questions today as we trudge through more snow and 13 slips around dangerously on icy traverses.
 
We were going to split up at Sonora Pass so 13 could go faster, but he knows he’ll get lost in the continuing snow so we’re all sticking together to South Lake Tahoe.

21st June: Day 62 – Mile 1,061

The snow banks are 6ft high along the road at Ebbetts pass.
 
There’s a couple there, wandering around with an enormous bag of fruit they’ve driven up with.
 
They came to give the thru-hikers fruit this time last year, a low snow year, and there was 30 of them then. They had to ration it so brought extra this year, not realising how bad the snow was.
 
We were only 3, but we ate like 300..

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

Grasshopper’s photo (http://www.martindohnal.com/).

It’s at this sort of time that you think, maybe that’s it, the snow is over. Then the trail swings around to the left and you see the snow still going off into the distance

22nd June: Day 63 – Mile 1,082

Carson’s pass – we are treated as heroes at the road pass / ranger station. We’re some of the first they’ve seen who’ve got the whole way through the Sierra. We get free snacks, and the rangers sit with us to bask in our glory (😉)
 
How did we get so far ahead of the pack? I will meet some people much later, in Oregon, who started into the Sierra almost a month before us but only got to Sonora Pass the same day as us, and then hitched into town, rather than carry straight on.
 
They took 6 weeks to do what we did in 3 – this shows how bad the weather was in May, as they had to wait out storms. And then they probably also had a slower, but more hygienic, showering policy (i.e. they showered more than once, which requires staying in town).

23rd to 28th June: Day 64 to 69 – Mile 1,090

South Lake Tahoe
 

The group splits – 13 and Grasshopper carry on. I visit Team America (Beth and Johannes) for a fun few days off and a chance for my leg to get better.

This is the end of the Sierra and I have a great sense of achievement from having survived the snow and also, with Grasshopper, got 13 through fast enough that he still might make his 100 day target.

13 makes his own microspikes – it’s crazy, but it just might work (it doesn’t)