Days 64 - 66 (May 23 - 25) : Miles 841 - 893

On Saturday we did about 24 miles. Brian left earlier after lunch to try and make Seldon pass in order to catch the ferry to Vermillion Valley resort on Sunday morning. Gnu and myself decided to skip VVR and go straight to Red's Meadow to get into Mammoth.

It was another beautiful day of hiking. The views just jump from all sides, non stop! I understand why many hikers across the world view the John Muir Trail (section of the PCT we are now on) as the best long distance trail in the world.

On Sunday we reached the Bear Ridge trail junction and I realised I wouldn't have enough food to make it to Mammoth. So I left Gnu, with the intent to meet him in Mammoth, and headed to the junction that would take me to the VVR ferry at Edison lake. I got there about 90 minutes too early for the ferry and decided to walk the 4 or so miles into VVR along the lake. I caught up with Brian there and had a few beers and a great shrimp burrito for dinner and peach berry pie for desert! Willin and Duck were also there with Duck's mom, who brought their dogs to them. They plan to hike a section off the trail with the dogs. I also caught up with a few other hikers including Clarke Kent, Lost and Speechless.

Monday Brian and I headed out early. Our plan was to take the Goodale pass trail which cuts back onto the PCT after Silver pass. It was a nice hike but we managed to lose the trail when crossing a creek to early. After bush wacking for about 20 mins we found a trail and walked about 1.5 miles on it while ascending steeply most of the way. It was the wrong trail and we ended up at the upper Graveyard lake! So we had to backtrack and lost about 2 hours. The climb up to Goodale was pretty tough and the day in whole was a hard one but the scenery was great and we still made good mileage. There were quite a few fallen trees on trail.

We are camping at beautiful Purple lake tonight. Tomorrow I head into Mammoth to meet Gnu and hopefully also Rian who is camping there with he's parents. Brian is continuing on to Tuolumne Meadows where we will hopefully catch up with him in a few days.

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Days 62 - 63 (May 21 - 22): Miles 800 - 841

Thursday morning I got my food bag out of the camp site bear box and there was a little hole chewed in it. Some little critter had a few bites of my tortillas. But it was only a small bit so I was able to save most of it.

All the way up to Pinchot pass the mosquitoes were pretty bad so I rushed up to the saddle fast. After the pass the mozzie numbers were less and I enjoyed the descent much more. I even had a quick but ice cold dip in lake Marjorie.

After lunch we gradually started ascending to Mather pass. We passed some beautiful small meadows and the final ascend was easy enough.

We descended to the gorgeous Pallisade lakes and camped above the first lake.

Friday was tough as we ascended to Muir pass. The climb was gradual but long. We passed some amazingly beautiful meadows and lakes on the way up, the final and most beautiful lake being Helen lake.

We spent some time at the stone built Muir hut on the pass before descending to Wanda lake were we set up camp just before sunset. The views to all sides were amazing!

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Day 61 (May 20): Miles 787 - 800

On Wednesday morning we said goodbye to Condor as he was continuing on south on his trip around the sierras.

We reached Kearsage pass pretty quickly and a few miles later we were back on the pct.

After going over Glen pass we descended to Rae lakes. These are the most beautiful lakes on trail so far. We were thinking about taking another swim but the mosquitos kept driving us on. As soon as you stop they pounce!

We reached the Woods creek camp quite early and decided to stay here. Joe Anderson, the amazing trail angel and husband of trail angel Terri from Casa De Luna, showed up and came over to say hi. He was hiking from Yosemite valley to Kearsage with a few friends.

Tomorrow we ascend both Pinchot and Mather passes so it might be a tough day.

About a dozen mozzies are sitting on the mesh outside my tent. They know I'm in here but they can't get in. Thank goodness for that!

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Day 60 (May 19): A nero continued

So on Tuesday afternoon Gnu, Brian, Condor and myself camped at the third lake up from Onion Valley trail head. Gnu did some fishing while the rest of us took a quick swim. Well, I actually didn't go in any deeper than my knees this time.

We even hiked a beer up each, which we enjoyed after dinner while watching the last bit of sun touch the mountains above us.

So the mosquitos seem to be out in full force already. I guess the low snow levels in winter is the reason for them being out so early.

The photo is of Condor with the cool post cards he creates for people.

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Days 58 - 60 (May 16 - 19): 2 Zeros and a nero

So the last two days consisted mostly of buying and organising supplies, spending time at the post office, some lazing around and of course a lot of eating.

Gnu and myself hitched into Bishop to buy our groceries and some gear. We had a great chimichanga (deep fried burrito) at the Las Palmas restuarant there. Willin and Duck were also around town doing some shopping and we met them in the restaurant. We had pretty easy hitches there (from a lady staying in Bishop) and back (from the couple that manages the Mt. Williamson motel where Gnu stayed).

We also met Condor, who hiked the California section last year and is hiking the high sierra route this year. He has an amazing field book he uses to document and draw in about everything from the trail and makes some pretty cool post cards he sends off to people who request them on his site.

On Monday Brian came up from Lone Pine and the four of us went to the Sierras museum in town which was pretty interesting.

I also visited Jenny's cafe quite a few times over the last few days and had some great lunches and breakfasts there.

Today is Tuesday and we are heading back up to the trail  but will probably do only a couple of miles to the first camp site. Tomorrow we will head back over Kearsage pass and back  onto the pct.

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Days 56 - 57 (June 15 - 16): Miles 760 - 787

Well after climbing to over 14000 feet yesterday we again climbed to over 13000 feet over Forrester pass on Friday. The views were amazing! After crossing the pass we descended past some beautiful small lakes and pools. I even had a quick dip in a small, clear but freezing pool.

We reached Vidette meadow and later some trail angels showed up. It was an Irish guy called Jeff. There was another Irish guy and other people but I can't recall the names. They handed out fresh veggies and snacks and made us cheese and ham tortillas on the fire the next morning. The mosquitos were crazy down there in the meadow.

Gnu caught a small trout and cooked it for us on the open fire. It tasted great. Another hiker also caught a few trout, cooked and shared it with us. Awesome stuff!

Saturday morning a large group of us climbed up Kearsage pass to get into Independence. I was pretty tired after the last two days of climbing. We hit the Onion Valley camp ground where some more trail magic was waiting for us. An elderly couple were camping there untill the end of the month with snacks and drinks for the hikers. We had some great soup there.

It took us a while to hitch down to Independence. A lady with her two dogs gave us a lift to a camp ground halfway there. Five minutes later the father of Sierra(Monkey), an 8 year old girl hiking the trail, gave us a lift the rest of the way.

I'm sharing a motel room with Willin and Duck, a cool couple I met a few days ago. Gnu is next door in another motel. Brian is in Lone Pine and we will probably hook up tomorrow.

Coolest thing that happened Saturday: I met Rian's (Jawbone) mom. She was hiking over Kearsage pass to meet Rian at the Kearsage lakes on the other side. She was taking pictures of all the hikers who knows him. She had a big pack but was going strong and looked very happy. Hope to see Rian again soon up the trail.

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Day 55: A side trip to Mt. Whitney

So I started out quite late for the mountain. I was tired and in two minds about going. Eventually after seeing Clarke Kent and some of the other guys leave for the climb, and after some motivation from Brian, I started.

I left all my gear behind and only took the essentials. The light pack felt great and I was up ther by 10:30. The views were amazing. I ran into Gnu just before the summit. He was going down. He had hiked ahead of me and Brian from Tuesday and had camped at the ranger station camp ground. I caught up with him again on the way down and we hiked together the rest of the way. We stopped at Guitar lake, another gorgeous alpine lake, where I had a quick swim in the icy water.

I got back to Crabtree meadow by about 5 and made dinner. Brian had hiked on ahead since he didn't want to climb Whitney.

I'm having an early night tonight with the idea of getting up super early so I can be over Forrester Pass before lunch.

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Day 50 - 54 (June 10 - 13): Miles 702 - 760

On Sunday afternoon, after another great burger at the store, Brian, Gnu and myself started heading out. We took it easy and only did about 5

miles before setting up camp early next to the river. Gnu tried to fish again and caught a small trout. He's first fish in the sierras! We made a camp fire and chilled a while before hitting going to bed. There was a beaver in the water right next to our camp and it sounded like it was catching fish because we heard a lot of splasing in the dark.

Monday was pretty tough. We did over 20 miles and climbed well over 4000 feet to an altitude of about 10500 feet. I saw a really cool little chipmunk running in the trail in front of me. He tried hiding behind e very small shrub by crouching and leaning in behind it. He soon realised I could still see him and he shot off again. We also spent quite a while at the bridge across the south fork of the Kern river, watching the swallows fly around.

On Tuesday I saw my first black bears! The first was a mile out from where I camped and I spotted it standing very still about 50 meters to my left, first looking away and then straight at me. It looked away again but didn't move at all. Eventually I decided to move on. About an hour later me and Brian saw another one, walking straight across the trail in front of us and into the meadow on our left. We stood there for a while and watched it sniff around in the meadow. Awesome sighting!

Wednesday morning we arrived at Chicken Spring lake at an altitude of about 10500 feet. What a gorgeous place! I took a quick dip in the ice cold water but it was worth it! We had a long day with a tough climb at the end and arrived at Crabtree Meadow as the sun was setting. What an absolutely beautiful place! There were deer grazing in the meadow and the sun shone it's golden rays onto the forest and cliffs on the far side of the meadow.

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Day 49 (June 9): A zero in Kennedy Meadows

Saturday we spent some of the day organising supplies and trying to get all our food into our bear canisters. We were camped out behind the general store with lots of other hikers.

We had some great food at the general store including burgers for lunch and a pot luck dinner home cooked by several of the locals in Kennedy Meadows. I met some of the town's friendly people as well as some new hikers. I also met a young guy

We also spent some time at Tom's place. He is a trail angel with a bunch of trailers at his place where hikers can come and stay. He has internet and shows movies on a big screen at night. Pretty cool place to hang out.

Late afternoon Rian,Gnu and myself walked down to the river. I had a quick swim and Gnu tried a few casts with his fly fishing rod but didn't catch anything that day.

Pineapple and Express, a couple from Hawaie with whom we have hiked much of the way, were also in Kennedy Meadows. It was good to see them again after they went off the trail for a while. They left on the Saturday but we hope to catch up with them again.

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Days 44 - 48 (June 4 - 8): Miles 593 - 702

Well these past 5 days we walked over a hundred miles and got to Kennedy Meadows on Friday.

We slowly started leaving the desert behind as we climbed into the southern sierras. While walking several ridges we still had some amazing views of the the desert to the south and east.

Monday we reached mile 600 and saw several black bear prints on the trail. Later that day Gnu told us he saw a bear. He 's seen two already.

Tuesday was cool and very windy. The trail was sandy so the hiking was tough but this was also a very dry and exposed section so the cool weather help us that day.

Wednesday we hit Walker pass where an amazing trail angel called Oakie girl had tents set up with lots of food, soda and beers. We hung out there for several hours before climbing back into the hills.

Thursday we did 26 miles, my biggest day yet. We were all very tired walking into Chimney Creek campground. That late afternoon the scenery started changing as we saw more granite in the hills.

On Friday we did a 21 mile push to get into Kennedy Meadows by 5pm by which time the store would close. The day's walking consisted of a 2500 foot climb, a very hot descent down an exposed, burned area and then a beautiful stretch through a large valley of meadows and forest. Some of the areas were burnt but it was still a pretty cool place. We saw two rattlers and a king snake that day. I got stung a few times by what I think were horse flies.

We walked along the Kern river and finally reached the store by 4:30 to buy some snacks and drinks.

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Days 40 - 43 (May 30 - June 3): Miles 526 - 593

So on Wednesday we did about 22 miles. I haven't been keeping track of daily mileage too much recently so I think I might be out by a mile or two here and there.

The walking along the aqua duct was pretty easy. Lots of Joshua trees around. Soon we started climbing into the hills with wind turbines all around us. We took a short break under a bridge and then further up under one of the massive turbines. The wind was blowing crazy and Brian was able to play his harmonica by holding it up in the wind.

We got into Mojave on Thursday. I got a lift from a trail angel and previous pct hiker called Steady. He was on his way to Oregon from Arizona and decided to drive by the trail head and drop off some drinks for hikers. He didn't have any other space so the guys said I should go because of my sore ankle. On the way into town I saw hundreds of wind turbines. Mojave is supposed to have the most in world. This desert town is where Richard Brandon's space shuttle is being tested. There is a big airfield and bunch of planes here. Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEmLOU8zTSE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Brian and I stayed at the motel 6 while Rian stayed at the house of an engineer who offered coach surfing. The guy works on the virgin space shuttle. Last week there were some gails here that lifted a plane and shifted it onto another plane. There is a video on youtube.

In Friday Brian, Rian, Ngu and I shared a room at the American Best Western motel. It has a great pool and hot tub and I spent quit a bit of time in them. We made stops at the post office and take away places and then lounged around for the rest of the day watching some movies.

On Saturday the motel manager offered us a lift to the trail head for 15 bucks. He gave me a charger for my phone after mine broke.

We sat around in the shade at the trail head untill about 1 pm and then started heading out. The winds were pretty rough in some places and Tehachapi Pass is known as one of the windiest places in the world. Just before we found camp my glasses blew right off my face. I found them in some brushes but one of the lenses popped out. Brian and myself searched for about 30 minutes but by that time it was too dark. I marked the spot next to the trail so I could come down from camp at sunrise to search some more. The next morning I went down and luck was on my side! I found the lens in 5 minutes, lying about a meter further down from where I found my glasses.

On Sunday we did about 22 miles. Before the last section of the day I taped up my ankle and it felt pretty good for most of the walk. We camped in a beautiful spot with oak trees and it looked amazing with the full moon coming out that night.

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