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)

Whitney summit day (no PCT miles, 14.2 miles out and back on a side trail) Daily miles: 14.2 Dreamed there were two mountains.  One real, the other not.  Both had the same name, which was Whitney.  Each had the same slopes, creases, rivers and lakes, gravel pits and mud holes.  In every way, they were … More June 17 (Day 47)

Chicken Spring Lake to Crabtree Meadows Ranger Station CG (750.8 to 766.9 + .6 miles to CG) Daily miles: 16.1 At 4:30 in the morning a gust of wind came and smashed my tent like it was some little playtoy.  I crawl outside and try to get everything in order again and somehow manage to … More June 16 (Day 46)

CS732.2 to Chicken Spring Lake (732.2 to 750.8) Daily miles: 18.6 The transition is complete.  I’m fully in the Sierra now.  Remarkable how moving my feet has carried me from one place to another.  First the desert, and now, the mountains.  Somehow it doesn’t seem real.  There was no car or plane or boat, just … More June 15 (Day 45)