Twig Adventures

October 1st, 2018Mm 759.5 to mm 728Distance: 31.5 miles0630 – 1830 It was incredible how easy 30 miles felt when not having to climb steep, high passes this day. After about 2.5 weeks, I began the descent from the high Sierra. The day started off very cold and it took until about noon to really warm up. I was watching the clouds building all day. Ever since last Thursday, I’d been hearing about a weather system (remnants of a hurricane) that was supposed to come in, bringing rain and snow. I couldn’t believe my luck in just getting beyond the last high pass and also climbing Whitney. I had the most perfect weather throughout the Sierra. The rule of thumb[…]

September 29th, 2018Kearsarge Lakes to Crabtree MeadowDistance: 21.5 PCT miles plus 2 miles on Kearsarge Pass trail and 1 mile on Whitney Spur Trail0645 – 1630 This was the day I reached the official highpoint of the PCT at the top of Forester Pass. I only had to do this one and final big pass today… 13,200′ no sweat. I had to stop a few times on the way up, as I was feeling pretty low energy. It was probably the weight of my pack dragging me down. The pass wasn’t any harder than the others, just a bit higher. That’s me struggling up all the switchbacks. NOBOs are able to just glisade down the snow fields in the early[…]

September 27th & 28th, 2018Independence to Bishop, then back, then up to Onion Valley Trailhead and over Kearsarge Pass.Distance: 6 miles, plus a whole lot of cycling and walking around town I’m combining these two days for simplicity. I spent most of the time in Bishop. My one goal for this town time was to eat as much as possible to regain my strength, and I did a pretty good job. I started the first day with a big breakfast at the hotel, followed by a pizza for lunch and sushi rolls for dinner. I had really been dreaming of sushi and hot sake for some reason and the town just happened to have a Japanese restaurant. I know sushi[…]

September 26th, 2018Lake Marjorie mm 809 to mm 789 and then out on a spur trail to Onion Valley TrailheadDistance: 20 miles plus 7.6 miles on Kearsarge Pass trail.0615 – 1830 Since I barely had any food left, I joked that I would have to eat passes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But they about ate me! First up over Pinchot Pass was pretty easy, as I only had about 1000′ of climbing and was feeling fresh in the morning. The early sunlight on the red belt of mountains was fantastic, especially with the full moon over one of the peaks. There have been so many of these dramatic views. I stopped to take some fun pictures. The trail continued[…]

September 25th, 2018Muir Pass mm 838.5 to Lake Marjorie mm 809Distance: 29.5 miles0550 – 1900 Today I only did one pass, but it was the most difficult thus far. I was really feeling the drain from big miles and not enough to eat. Since I came up a bit short in miles the day before, I would need to do at least 30 this day and 27 the next in order to get out to the trailhead and hitch into town. I didn’t have much of a choice, as I was running really low on food. I divided my remaining supplies into two piles and it was depressing. There was nothing to spare for even a 3rd day breakfast. I[…]

September 24th, 2018Sallie Keyes Lakes mm 864 to Muir Pass mm 838.5Distance: 25.5 miles0645 – 1830 Today was so-so until the end, and then it was one of the best days EVER. More Mountain Magic. To start, I got rolling downhill for a short 4 miles to the turnoff for Muir Trail Ranch. It’s another resort along the way and has a legendary hiker box. Hikers ship resupplies there for a $50 flat fee because it all has to be packed in by mules. That fee gets you one bucket, so might as well fill it. Hence, there ends up being a lot of extra stuff…as in Mountain Houses, Alcohol, etc. I was in need of some extra calories, especially[…]

September 23rd, 2018Purple Lake mm 894 to Sallie Keyes Lakes mm 864Distance: 30 miles0630 – 1830 Today I tackled 2 passes, Silver and Selden, both at 11,000′. A common antidote is that JMT hikers do one pass a day and PCT’ers do 2. So I set out to live up to this standard. I guess I was most impressed that I could still pull a 30 mile day in the Sierra. It came at the cost of having only one break all day, though. I was surprised to find no condensation on my tent in the early morning. I was next to a stream and lake but just being a little under the pines makes all the difference. I felt[…]

September 22nd, 2018Agnew Meadows mm 915 to Purple Lake mm 894Distance: 21 miles0630 – 1830 It was relatively warm at my spot overnight…maybe only in the 40’s. I was even sweating in my quilt. I walked about 100 meters down the trail and the temperature dropped 10 or 20 degrees in the meadow and near the river. It just goes to show how important site selection is. It was a short 6 mile hike to a tourist feature called the Devil’s Postpile. It’ss an exposed cliff of columnar basalt. The columns were formed when a lava lake cooled. I thought I was leaving the volcanic features behind at Lassen, but these mountains still have tons of evidence of volcanic history…just[…]

September 21st, 2018Tuolumne Meadows mm 942 to Agnew Meadows mm 915Distance: 27 miles0650 – 1930 I enjoyed one of News Feed’s extra breakfasts in the morning…a gruel made of chia seeds, high-fat milk powder (Nido), nuts and fruit. He said it was about 500 calories. It was so filling and delicious that I didn’t feel the need to snack all morning. I was also a bit full from stuffing my face the day before. But the feeling wouldn’t last. I noted that my companions were a lot more conscientious about the caloric content and nutritional value of their foods. It also helped that they spent a lot of time planning and pre-making good stuff at home, shipping boxes along the[…]