PCT 2007 Day 89 – Grace Meadow – Sonora Pass

PCT 2007 Day 89

Day 89 / 6-22-07 Tarp Tent 9620′
Grace Meadow – Sonora Pass
24.9 miles; 1018.3 (48.4) total miles; 2908.3 trip miles
70’s, sunny

Deer count is 58
Marmot count is 47
Pika count is 2
Bear count is 1

I slept through my alarm this morning and didn’t get up until 5:47. We still managed to get on the trail by 6:23. The mosquitoes found us very quickly. The meadow was all frost and looked beautiful.

At one point I stopped for water and Silver and Back Track informed me the water they gave me last night was untreated. I probably drank half of it already. It was too late, so I didn’t worry.

We found a stove at Dorothy Lake and not to far past Harriet Lake we ran into Peach coming south. It was his stove and he was doubling back to get it. He was so happy we had it. The four of us continued on and shortly passed the 1000 mile mark. Peach was hitting it for the second time.

We passed a lot of stagnant ponds and streams, so the mosquitoes continued to be bad. We descended down to the West Fork West Walker River Bridge, then back up a little to Kennedy Canyon. As we approached Kennedy Canyon, the forest changed drastically. It became very arid and dry. Almost like back near Idyllwild.

We had lunch next to a creek and dried our gear out from all the condensation. Peach came by during lunch and we weren’t far behind.

We had a 6 mile climb to do after lunch. It started off in the trees; but quickly they went away and when they did, the wind began to blow. It was really strong. We climbed up to the Sierra Crest where we were rewarded with the best views of the trip. They were the longest views and most abundant. We could see back to the Sierras and every other direction. You could see the type of mountains we came from and the ones we were about to enter. It was amazing. We hung out for a while and a section hiker, who we passed before, came by; then Path Finder showed up too.

We all pushed on and made our way further up. We would hit the highest point after Donohue Pass. The wind didn’t let up at all. It made walking hard and the rock we were walking on was very loose. It was a double whammy. We skirted around a huge ridge then finally turned and entered the bowl we were skirting. The views continued to amaze me still. We climbed once more to a saddle, which gave us more views of mountains we hadn’t seen yet. Then we had to battle the wind even more as we traversed to another saddle.

Finally I made it to the saddle along with Peach who was in front and Silver, Back Track, and Path Finder were behind. I began the long descent which went on forever. I was super hungry; so it, of course, seemed longer. I got water at a creek and waited for the others. We pushed on to Sonora Pass where we made camp and cooked. We also had a fire since Path Finder had marsh mellows and chocolate. He ran out of graham crackers the night before.

It was a good day of hiking. The AM went by fast but the PM seemed to go on forever. The views today were great and I couldn’t get enough of them.

Scatman 2011- This day blew me away.  The views from the Sierra Crest were out of this world.  I would go back here in a heart beat.  Though the climb up to the Crest would be hell for a soft city boy/girl.  I loved being able to see the Sierra behind me and the mountains of northern California in front of me.  It really made you respect and appreciate what we had seen and were going to see.