Day 109 Weds Oct 11th
Tent site 5 near Big Pete Meadow – King’s River & Tent site
1821.4 – 1842.3
Approx. 4377 ft ascent 3432 ft descent
20.9 Miles
Our alarm sounded at 05:00 and we were up and at ’em.
Because it’s been colder and darker in the mornings in the Sierras we have slipped into a pattern of getting up later.
The nights are also drawing in and it gets very dark around 19:00 now, whereas when we started we could hike to 22:00 if we wanted and it would still be light.
The downside to a late start is that we still have to try and cram in the miles, which leaves you feeling more stressed throughout the day.
As it’s my birthday to celebrate I decided to treat myself to a fresh pair of socks.
Sarah also sneakily smuggled a couple of cherry pies into the tent last night, which is against the rules.
However it was really nice to have one for breaky from the comfort of our sleeping bags. Breakfast in bed I suppose.
She then rustled up a breakfast skillet. This is a combination of egg, sausage, potato, onion and bell peppers, in the form of a dehydrated meal. All was washed down with a hot cup of coffee.
Whilst we were packing up we were joined by a Mule deer and her fawn.
The mother deer was wearing a radio collar around her neck and seemed very inquisitive, although the faun was rather skittish and not so sure.
As we make our way down the mountain the ground is frozen.
With cold hands we walked past trees that had been bent over like matchsticks from a previous avalanche.
At Bishop pass trail junction there was a Ranger cabin and a note to say if anyone was seeking additional food supplies then we should drop by. This was music to our ears and we’d thought we’d go check it out.
Amanda the Ranger and her boyfriend Rick greeted us and brought out a plastic container full of food.
Sarah mentioned it was my birthday and Amanda dug out a chocolate muffin, but the sell by date was the 23rd of June. I thanked Amanda, but said I would rather play it safe on trail as I didn’t want the tommy tits on my birthday.
Instead we grabbed some Nature Valley bars, some lime n chilli flavoured cashews and a couple of Pop Tarts. All of which will come in very handy and were a nice little birthday surprise.
I even used the opportunity to ask the Ranger why we haven’t seen so many bears in this part of the Sierras.
Her theory was because of the exceptionally high snow last winter. Many of the bears had moved to lower elevations because food was more abundant. She felt they had remained there for the time being, but towards the end of the season they’re more likely to come up to higher elevations to find food and places to hibernate.
She confirmed that bears had been a real problem in previous years in the Sierras. Where they had been known to patrol campsites and even swipe at hikers’ tents, because people had left food inside + the bears have become used to this and habituated.
Therefore it seems the bear canisters that we are being forced to carry for this section are needed. She also confirmed that we would experience more bear presence as we hiked further south through known problem areas.
I think we are starting to notice a pattern where west facing slopes seem to be the ones that are showing signs of previous avalanches.
At the foot of these mountains is where we are seeing tree debris and trees that are either bent over or snapped off completely at the trunk.
My theory is these west facing slopes receive more of the sun’s rays throughout the day and this makes the snow more unstable.
Either that or possibly there is more snow fall against these faces and hence they are more likely to produce avalanches? I need to speak to an expert on this….
The heavier snow last winter may also account for the fact that we are seeing many signs of avalanches.
Either way, walking through this jumbled mess of fallen trees isn’t ideal. It’s almost like hiking over a nasty obstacle course of fallen tree hurdles, which catch and snag your arms and legs at every chance. All this makes for a hard morning’s hike.
There is also the challenge of finding the trail again after following a detour and the fallen branches and debris do their best to mask the trail.
Leaving the mess of fallen trees behind we start to see signs of bear scat again, but it looks a few days old.
Sarah also hears something in the bushes behind us as we move through the canyon.
The canyon was overgrown at the lower elevations, with vegetation growing into the trail, making it more challenging to pass though.
As soon as we clear the tree line it becomes extremely exposed and we start walking across a jumble of broken rock.
Purple and lilac flowers line the side of the trail attracting a flurry of insects.
As it’s hot and very exposed we put our good old faithful sun umbrellas up, to help deflect the sun’s rays.
They offer a decent amount of shade. Yet still allow any cool breeze to help cool your body down as you’re walking up this stone staircase.
Our trekking carbide tips slip against the rock. Catching and clawing trying to get grip to help propel us up the trail.
This was certainly a workout for the quads with the stone steps being almost knee height in places.
The sound of water thunders away in the background as we watch it cascading down the mountain.
Just as we thought the coast was clear the trail becomes overgrown again and branches catch and snag against our sun umbrellas. Making us question whether it’s worth using them. But before long we were completely above the tree line and happy to leave the snagging branches all behind.
A large ginger Marmot scurries away between the rocks and boulders in front of us.
I was certain I saw a Marmot at Evolution lake, but I only had a brief glimpse and wasn’t sure. The colour was also slightly different and what we’d seen in Washington being more ginger than grey.
They certainly seem a little more wary of humans here in the Sierras, running for cover. Whereas in Washington they would sprawl out on the rocks and sunbathe without being worried about our presence.
Earlier I was tempted to say that the climb up to Matha pass was almost easy. However the game changed when we started the last 5 miles of stone staircase.
Sarah saw that I was flagging shouting up to me:
“Rich. You’ve got this”
I look back and shout:
“I’ve got what”
She repeated her comment waving her fist in the air saying “Just keep going”
The scenery is similar to yesterday as we reach a series of lakes called the Palisade Lakes.
Although this time the trail isn’t at the same level as the lake. Instead it winds up and down the mountain side, so we can look down at the lake.
We disturbed a high altitude Garter snake that was sunbathing on the trail and it shot off into a bush.
Sarah is really struggling with the outside of her left foot again today.
It looks swollen and is very sore. She’s been switching insoles and trying various things to help, but nothing seems to be cut in the mustard.
It seems worse on the downhill and when she took her shoe off earlier she was almost crying in pain. This isn’t good!
We have 3 more big passes to get over after today before we can get off trail and head for Bishop. Then hopefully we can try to arrange some help.
Maybe we can arrange a consultation with Blaze Physio and hopefully she can help with some kind of treatment plan to improve the situation.
We stopped a couple of miles short of the pass as Sarah wanted to soak her feet in the icy cold stream.
We sit in the sun eating cashew nuts, baby bells, salted caramel brownie brittle and our new favourite Teriyaki flavoured jerky. Which I would highly recommend.
After yesterday’s experience we thought it was better to sit in the sun and have our snack rather than go to the highest point and then want to eat. Where it’s likely to be very windy and cold.
As we make our way up to the pass, the never-ending number of switchbacks gave us false hope on more than a number of occasions. Where we thought we had reached the top, only to find yet another set of switchbacks.
On reaching the top of the pass the view to the basin and valley below was spectacular; it was almost like some lunar landscape.
As predicted, as soon as we crossed the pass we were in shade and it got very cold again.
The descent down the mountain involved lots of switchbacks again. The ground underneath was loose in places and you could see there had been landslides in certain places, so we had to tread carefully.
Fortunately the trails soon became sandy and soft which helped cushion Sarah’s aching foot.
She also took a dose of ibuprofen and paracetamol before the descent which helped and it made the last stretch of the day a lot more bearable.
As soon as we dropped down from the pass the terrain became very flat yet exposed.
The temperature was plummeting and with no tree cover you would guarantee a very cold night if you were to try and camp up here.
We hiked into the night looking for that ideal campspot. Many of the places we passed just looked too damp or were just too exposed.
The temperature really started to drop and you could see our breath.
We collected water before reaching our camp spot and realised the back of Sarah’s pack was covered in frost.
My bear canister was also covered in frost. It was literally freezing!
Sarah had been saying for the last 10 minutes that her back had felt cold and I can understand why! She now had a frosted glow about her as the light from my head torch bounced off of the ice on her back pack.
We finally pulled into the campsite at Kings River to find that we weren’t alone. There must have been at least 8 tents there already set up.
We managed to find a nice flat spot where the ground was more duff v’s sand.
We set up quickly like a well oiled machine, splitting tasks down the middle so that we could get our home setup and food sorted as quickly as possible. It wasn’t long before we were shipshape and snuggled up in our tent out of the cold.
It was a great way to spend my birthday and the little extra frosted drama just added to the experience, making us value being all safe and sound in the comfort of the tent.
My birthday Peak meal was a coconut chicken curry and rice. It was delicious.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.