Mammoth No miles! I’m taking 2 zero mile days, so no pictures.  Just lots of eating and trying to get caught up on this journal.  Talk to some PCTers, and sit as much as possible.  Only Donahue Pass remains, into Yosemite National Park, and then the Sierra are over and it’s off to northern California.

Squaw Lake to Red’s Meadow and the town of Mammoth Lakes (886.5 to 906.6) Daily miles: 20.1 No pass today, just a 1500 foot elevation gain day.  Easy.  Town vision, food vision, walking fast and thinking about what I’m going to eat (I’m making pasta at the hostel) and downing a box of cookies.  Mammoth … More June 26 (Day 56)

Marie Lake to Squaw Lake (866.5 to 886.5) Daily miles: 20 The pass today is Silver: harder than Selden but easier than most.  So many stream crossings today, including Bear Creek, which is a beast.  My feet are soaked (common theme for the past week actually), chilled and hurting.  Another evening pass, more glissading through … More June 25 (Day 55)

CS846 to Marie Lake (846 to 866.5) Daily miles: 20.5 Walk through flooded Evolution Valley, mosquitos want my blood.  Trying to take care of my body, which is hungry and tired and bleeding from where I postholed through the snow and mashed my shin against a boulder (it’s fine, promise).  Ford the formidable Evolution Creek … More June 24 (Day 54)

Grouse Meadow to CS846 (828.3 to 846) Daily miles: 17.7 Today is up and over Muir Pass, which turned out to be the snowiest of them all, but my favorite.  Go figure, because the last time I hiked through the Sierra Muir Pass was my least favorite.  Near the top of the pass I was … More June 23 (Day 53)

Lake Marjorie to Grouse Meadow (808.6 to 828.3) Daily miles: 19.7 So the Sierra took all my energy and time and words, so I’m just going to post pictures for the rest of this section.  I spend my days walking endessly, taking only a few breaks and crossing snow and mountains, and I’m tired.  In … More June 22 (Day 52)

Rae Lakes to Lake Marjorie (793.5 to 808.6) Daily miles: 15.1 The mornings in the Sierra are cold and I don’t want to move until the sun hits my tent.  Too bad that on this morning a big mountain range blocks the rays and I’m forced to get up and moving still in the mountain … More June 21 (Day 51)

Independence to Rae Lakes (788.5 to 793.5 + 7.2 miles back to PCT from Independence) Daily miles: 12.2 This morning I woke and felt weary.  For the first time on this hike I really just wanted to lay in bed and not move.  I walked to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror.  … More June 20 (Day 50)

CS 786.1 to Independence (786.1 to 788.5 + 7.2 miles over Kearsarge Pass to Onion Valley TH via Bullfrog Lake Junction) Daily miles: 9.6 Resupply day and I’m off early to get to the town of Independence.  It’s a complicated route that involves walking over 7 miles and covering an off-PCT pass called Kearsarge, then … More June 19 (Day 49)

Crabtree Meadows Ranger Station CG to CS 786.1 (766.3 to 786.1 + .6 miles back to PCT) Daily miles: 20.4 Anxiety overtakes me at 3 in the morning.  I keep thinking about Forester Pass, which I climb up and over today.  It’s the highest point officially on the PCT, and the first high mountain pass … More June 18 (Day 48)