Sierra Nevada, week 9 on the PCT

Our first week in the Sierra Nevada was a little adjustment. The first three days were calm and very beautiful with meadows and threads. We were definitely leaving the desert behind.

Our second day in the Sierra, on our way to the Ricer to stop for lunch, we saw a lot of animals grazing by the river. At first glance, I thought they were horses, but once I approached I realized they were flames! There was a couple who was on a training trip with them so they could become herd animals.

After this area, there was more snow than I imagined there would be and while we were ready in terms of the team, it took us the first days to adjust our hiking schedule and approach and fall into a new rhythm. This new routine had to adjust according to a combination of some different factors to make it as sure as possible: snowfall in areas, snow firmness, mountain passes and stream crossings.

Of these, mountain passes are the most important. You want to walk up and on them early in the morning, when the snow is still firm in the steep areas, so it has enough traction with its microspikes and early enough so that it still has time to walk the snowfields that generally followed the passes without making the bridge.

Post Holing occurs when the snow is heated by the sun and becomes soft enough so that when you step on it, your foot sinks into it, sometimes an inch, but sometimes you sink into your knees or thighs. Post Holing requires a lot of effort and energy, so we try to avoid it as much as we can .

This week we spent Mount Whitney, but we didn’t make the lateral trip to climb it. Our first Sierra pass was Forester Pass. We started the day around 5:00 am with a stream crossing that was up to my thighs. I will cross my underwear so as not to get my pants. After reaching the other side, my legs and my feet were very cold, so we will quickly warm up again. The sun came out and he felt good to feel his heat in my skin, but on the other hand we had started the day a little later than we thought and we were slow due to snow and stream crosses. There was a second cross -knee stream, my water shoe stuck between two rocks that crossed it and lost it. We continue with the idea that if Forester Pass didn’t seem passable due to muddy snow, we would camp just before. When we got there it seemed that we were going to be able to overcome it. It was stressful, but also surprising feeling that it was at the highest point on the PCT at 13,120 feet of elevation. On the other side we slid and then continue walking on the snow and the search for the way, since there was no path and the bootpack was not great either. We found a small dry land patch in that snowfield to launch our tent to spend the night.

The day after the Forester pass, we made a day of low mileage, since we were going to camp somewhere before Kearsarge passed to go to the city of Bishop early the next day. He snowed a little that night. Our camping place had a beautiful view.

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