Day 54: Back to the mountains

June 12, Day 54: 788.5-793.5

Miles Hiked: 5 PCT miles

Off trail back over Kearsarge from Bishop: 7.5 miles

Gratitude of the Day: I’m thankful for my career that affords me the opportunities to travel to different parts of the country and see beautiful landscapes and meet amazing new people. 

Kearsarge and Glen Pass

Bishop was an amazing trail town with great food options and gear stores, but back up into the mountains I go. One of the PCT hikers trail name Otter rented a Uhaul van and was running hikers the 60 mile trip back to the Onion Valley trailhead so we could climb the 3000 feet back over Kearsarge Pass to join back up with the PCT.  He dropped us off at 10:30am and our packs were weighed down with 6-7 day food supply to get us to Vermilion Valley Resort.  Just guessing but my pack weighs 35lbs, a little heavier than my last resupply as my friends send me wonderful snacks to get me thru this section. It is Saturday and this seems to be a very popular day hiking and weekend backpacking trail. Even with the heavy pack And feeling slow I seemed to pass these hikers with ease, I guess I do have my “trail legs”. By 12:30 I crested 11,760 foot Kearsarge Pass and was rewarded with a spectacular view of the Sierra valley below.  Kearsarge would be the first high mountain pass of the day and I still was not back on the PCT. Down the hill I went, switchback after switchback, it would be another 4 miles until I joined back up with the trail.

Then it was time to climb again, this time it was much more strenuous. It was only 2 miles to the top of Glen Pass at 11,950 feet but it was a steep 1200 foot gain with most of that in the last 1.2 miles. It was slow going.

Once at the top, Cool Cat and I would sit there looking down the next Valley and at our campsite destination of Rae Lakes, it was an amazing view and hardly any wind at the top so we could sit there and enjoy.

 Just like the incline of Glen Pass, the decent to Rae lakes was short but also severe. We’d lose all that elevation gain over the next 2 miles as well, crossing small snow patches that weren’t difficult to navigate but would definitely slow me down as I was treading carefully.  Camp tonight is gorgeous, even if the mosquitoes are swarming us as we eat dinner.  The lake is warmer than our last lake camp spot at Chicken Springs and I think we plan on staying all tomorrow morning to play in the water and enjoy the day. Today was a day of earning the views, but it was worth it, the legs are still holding up and my heart is happy being back in the mountainous backcountry.