Day 55: so our surprise last night for Hefty was that we carried out the ingredients for one of his top beverages..white Russians. We had Kahlua and Vodka, and for the creamer the little tiny creamers you get from a gas station. We’re hikers it has to be light. We put the booze in light plastic fuel holders haha. It was great. He used some snow to make it legit. We got up and going about 6:00 I think it was. The other half who camped on the rocks a bit back planned to meet us at our camp at that time. And then we were off. The good news is that since we did 2 passes yesterday, Kearsarge and Glen, we don’t have to do one today. We will just hike the miles to the base of the next pass, Pinchot. Which actually has a great water source, legit camp sites with bear boxes, and a suspension bridge. I love this group! They’re all so magnificent. I also realized I’m eating a lot. I have put all of my faith into the fact I believe VVR will be open so I will be able to resupply before Mammoth. So I’m eating like it is going to happen and hopefully it does. But even though we’re walking fewer miles they’re so much more strenuous and our packs are heavier so we are more hungry. This is traditionally the part of the PCT hikers really drop some weight. So the trickery for the day was the river that sent Freckles and Tim back to us. On the way there we met another group of people who were heading back also. Freckles had met them the day before and one of the girls decided to come back with us. She ended up just staying with us for the day. So we get to the river and we all part. Some to scout out the situation and go upstream a bit to see if there’s a snow bridge we can cross. And the rest of us…..well to go poop. It’s not easy out here. You can’t just go whenever you want. Because one there’s typically a ton of snow, and you can dig and poop there but not ideal, and two because you don’t want to lose the group. So knowing we’d all be stopping we all went about. Trying to yell as we walked to make sure we don’t walk into somebody else. So then I believe it was Simon and Tim came back and found a legit snow bridge not too far upstream. So yay! What we thought was going to be a horrible time ended up being a breeze. Then we continued walking and soon found ourselves walking across probably the sketchiest thing I ever have. A big frozen lake. We split up, in the sense we made sure we had about 200+feet between each of us, similar to avalanche safety, just Incase anything we’re to happen. It’s scary. You want to walk slow and carefully but you also want to sprint and get it done. The worst was we heard a big cracking sound during part of it. And we all stopped for a second…..phew nothing. Kept walking. And we all made it!! And then we actually found the trail! To actually see it is amazing! We kept walking not sure what we’d find at the campsite since these days you typically can’t even see them because they’re covered in snow, but this…this was perfect. It was huge and open and dry! And had fire rings and bear cans! What a win! We sit for awhile hanging out drying out our stuff as we set up, and basically having a photo shoot on the bridge, and I really remember a killer shot of Russ but can’t find it. Then more and more hikers come. I can’t remember all of their names but there was a good 10+ more hikers that came at some point. One was straight up rude and just took over our fire when we were about to put it out to go to sleep. Not a huge deal typically but some of our group was camped right next to it. Our plan was to just do family dinner then get to sleep. But this hiked, who shall remain nameless, kept yelling and inviting a ton of people over and just talked and yelled and was obnoxious. Even after being asked numerous times to quiet down a little, put the fire out, etc just kept doing her thing. It was legit the first time on the trail I was disappointed in another hiker. But I’m excited for tomorrow and what it will bring for us!

Day 53: today we headed as a group back out towards the trail. The plan was to camp at Onion Valley trailhead then begin hiking tomorrow around 3:30am. We tried for quite awhile to get a hitch. It’s always hard with a group so we split up. Finally a nice pastor for a local church grabbed us and took us up to the trail. Unfortunately my brand new never worn sunglasses broke in the van….that’s shitty. It’s what I get for always buying the cheap stuff. Luckily I knew Meg had an extra pair she had found on the trail so I wouldn’t get snow blind on this stretch. It’s a long one, we packed for 12 days. We got to the trail and the guy was so kind, he asked to pray with us and for us. So all together we prayed. We found a campsite right off the parking lot. Crusher and his group were there as well. It was cold as shit but they had a fire going so we hung out for a bit. Then one by one as usual we headed into our tents to sleep before an early rise. It was pretty windy all night unfortunately which never lets me sleep good. But tomorrow is Hefty’s bday and we have a fun surprise for him! Now there are 8 of us me, Meg, Hefty, Stats, Scotty, Emi(Blackbird), Russ(Dad), and Simon (Orien-tator tot). From what we’ve heard nobody has made it through this next section due to river crossings. So we just have to hope that the trail will provide.

Day 51-52: last day to town! Sometimes these seem like the longest miles because of the anticipation. I can’t wait to get some fresh hot food. You’re so excited and it seems so easy, and it never is. We walked past Bull frog lake, which like most during this time is just frozen over (this is the pic). Kearsarge was pretty gnarly getting up and over. At the first big incline I was feeling really freaking good and thought I saw some footsteps leading up to rocks then cutting across before heading up a little more onto the pass. It was grueling but I enjoyed it today. Those footprints ended up being Deer prints and let me tell ya, they’re way better at walking on steep ice than we are. So thankful for my spikes. Just dug them in step by step and got up pretty quickly. I wish I knew how many feet of climbing this was in such a short distance but it was tough. We finally got to the top then started the long way down. Knowing the entire time down we have to come back up this was not fun. We got done and walked on some flat fields filled with trees before getting to a part that Meg and I struggled with. I think it was this day at least….the guys were ahead at this point but we go pretty slow on side slopes or downhills because we slip a lot. We were right next to a creek and I glissaded down the rest of the hill. Meg went for it too but she started sliding toward the creek….so scary. But luckily she was able to stop herself and get back on the right track. It’s so scary how one little thing could make such a big difference. We finally FINALLY get to a section we can actually see trail!!! TRAIL!! It’s what someone always yells when we actually see it! We started down some switchbacks. And now we’re used to cutting them due to snow so it seemed extra long. Hawkeye and his group literally ran past us just cutting all the switchbacks to race down to the parking lot where we would try to hitch. We get to the lot and there’s a few other hikers, trail magic, and a dope ass couple who was up to hike. The trail magic was from @carrotquinn she wrote a book on her PCT experience. There was bananas and donuts! Heaven. So this couple we sit and chat with them a bit trying to call trail angels for rides and figure something out. It’s always much harder with a group of people obviously. After some point they’re just like screw it we will come back later, they offered to give us a ride to the next nearest town and from there we would try and hitch to Bishop. We crammed in, and that’s so literal. There were 7-8 of us in one vehicle with all of our gear. I was sitting on the floor with my back to the passenger seat and legs up towards the window. While Hefty, and I think Stats, were jammed into the trunk area with all the gear. These beautiful people start driving up this decide they would just take us all the way to Bishop! It’s almost an hour drive!!! This kind of good doing was my favorite part of the trail. People are kind to you for no reason other to just be kind. If you think there is no good in the world anymore please go hike the PCT, your mind will be changed. Then we arrive to Hostel California where we will be staying. $20/night and we all get to just be in one room with a bathroom. Immediately walking in we get a beer! And this place is so sick! Literally I want to go back and work there. There’s art everywhere, kind and beautiful people, instruments to play, books to read, ping pong, outdoor hangout. It’s amazing. And Em, Lou, Freckles, and Tim are here!!! And I got to see my good friend Lake very briefly before he left for Yosemite. A reunion!!! We went to the Brewery to eat and OMG BEST FRIES EVER! I will go back for those. Then for dinner me, Stats, and Meg rode the bikes from the hostel to pizza. After eating we went to get the most obvious thing you do when in town….a big thing of ice cream. Then in the sunset we cruised past Parks and cute homes. It kind of reminded me of home for some reason. The temperature and roaming around town with friends. It’s a good feeling.

Day 50: We got up super early to attack Forester. I was slightly nervous because, I forget what it was called, but near the tops there’s like a snow chute you have to walk across that seems pretty terrifying. The first of the day was a hike through flat snowfields which was nice. But what are these damn sun cups? I had never heard of them until this hike and they are dreadful. We took a morning break on a rock, and it was crazy cold. I had 2 pairs of gloves on and was trying to use a hand warmer and nothing was helping. Scotty was nice enough to loan me his gloves which worked better than mine for sure. After our morning snack break we continued on, following foot steps from hikers ahead of us as our trail to reach the pass. We start drifting pretty far right before someone realizes we shouldn’t have gone this far. So we started walking more lateral along the mountain side to get back to the right track. It was scary. For some reason more scary than anything on Whitney. There was a lot of potential for an easy slip here. We slowly but surely made it to a bit of trail further up. We were close but now was the snow chute. It must have been an accumulation of the scare I just had and from the last few days but I got terrified and started crying. I didn’t think I could do it. If any of us were to slip, it would be a long ass way down. Luckily my trail fam is amazing and made me feel brave enough to do it, and it ended up being super easy because there were really good footprints already for us. Then we were there! The highest point of the PCT. We did it. Now how to get down? Some people apparently butt slid right down, but I’m too scared for that. And there’s a lake down at the bottom. I remember Hefty trying to use his tent footprint to slide down without scraping up his legs. It was still early so the snow wasn’t quite mushy enough for a butt slide to be comfortable. But it didn’t work to well. We decided to head to the left where Scotty taught us the importance of being spread out in case of an avalanche. Good to know! So one by one we went across until coming to a point where butt sliding was the easiest choice. All the guys went and I walked a little lower before going. Then Meg went. It’s very common on a glissade to lose stuff out of your pack. It’s typically water bottles. But Meg lost her tent poles. She walked over and just said forget it. She didn’t want to go back up there. Then Scotty, being the crazy awesome French guy he is, grabbed an ice axe and before we knew it he was basically sprinting back up the big hill. Jamming the axe in for each step. It was so fast. He got em! So nice of him to do. We find a most legit campsite for the evening. A huge dry spot where we got to hang up lines to hang dry all of our gear, and next to a beautiful creek that had a great flow that I knew would be so magical to sleep near. I always sleep my best near water. We had a campfire and hung out. It was another early afternoon ending for the day. I love camp time. It’s my favorite. The hiking not so much, but the reward each evening makes it worth it. Been out a week already, the longest stretch yet. But almost to town! We have to Summit Kearsarge, which is not on the PCT, but it’s the only way to Onion Valley Trailhead to get to Bishop. The first stretch of the Sierras done…..so close.

Day 49: I woke up very grateful to know today would be a short day. Our plan was to hike only 7ish miles to be in a good position for Forester tomorrow, the tallest point on the PCT. We left around 5-6am and headed on our way. We took our time and just basically hung out and walked casually it seemed like. My body is pretty tired from yesterday. Hefty decided to detour to a small mountain summit other hikers had told him about. Claiming the views were as good as Mt. Whitney’s. I in no way wanted to join, so he went off. We watched him get across a snow field as we went through our own almost to camp. I had no fear with Hefty going alone. He is a great navigator and really smart. I’d never go alone, that would be suicide. But I’m happy he’s getting some alone, peace, time in the mountains. It’s not easy being with people 24/7. The 4 of us, Meg, Scotty, Stats, and I, got to camp at 10:30……what??? So weird to end the day this early but it’d be far too sketchy to summit Forester this late in the day. And we don’t want to camp too high up. Our campsite wasn’t really a campsite. So to explain there’s an app called Guthooks that almost all thru hikers use. It coordinates our GPS at all times even when there’s no service. It tells us where we are on the trail or how far we are from it. It says where water sources are, tent sites, milestones, etc. it’s what makes it so possible for us to be able to plan our days so easily. But in the Sierras nothing is what it seems. Water sources may be frozen over, or there’s just a million anyways so you don’t even have to look for water. And campsites rarely exist because it’s all snow covered. We got to ours but drifted a bit off from it to find bare dry spots that surround trees. We were all together as not all of our tents would fit but just a short holler or walk away. While there Stats told us stories, like tales that he heard growing up. I didn’t have any. But they were fun to hear. We do a lot like this with Stats, he may only be 19 but I swear he has memorized anything he ever read. We once had a history with Stats day. Scotty had his own adventure of using an ice axe to dig out a hole in the snow for shade for his face which he learned in his years in the army. It took awhile and seemed like a lot of work. Again no thanks. I’ll lay here and do nothing. We left Hefty a written sign with his name with pine cones and an arrow down near the foot tracks so that he could find us. Which he did! We hung a bit more and all headed to another dry spot to all cook dinner. A nice family dinner. Hefty with his massive amounts of Ramen is all I ever remember from dinners. Then with our snow walls surrounded each of us. We went to sleep. Ready for Forester mañana.

Day 48: what a night. It was so hot at first then around 6:30 the wind started. We thought it was just the evening breeze and would let up but no. It stayed brutal until about 2am. The tent was slapping so loud and pushing against me. We were on rocks so the only thing attempting to hold my tent was more rocks. Stats tent didn’t last too long before he had to jump in with Scotty. Not a good sign for Whitney I kept telling myself. I don’t want to be exhausted when I need to really be able to focus for my safety. At 4am the alarms went off and I decided to go. My only plan was that if I ever felt unsafe I’d sit and wait until they came back down. I carried only a little water with a couple of bars, my sleeping bag in case of emergency and my stove also for emergency. Oh man. How nice a light pack without a dumb bear can feels!! It was interesting. But the most beautiful and amazing thing I’ve ever seen. Holy shit. The climb up was tough. Lots of switchbacks which we couldn’t even see a good chunk of due to snow. We ended up rock scrambling up the loose rocks a good chunk of the way. Scotty cut his finger pretty good….then we made it to the junction where hikers coming from Lone Pine come to get to the summit. There is little snow here and we’re on trail. And then we see it. The last bit to the top. A large steep snow patch. Spikes on and there we went. No problems! This ended up being so worth it. This view is unreal. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. We’re at the tallest point, in the contiguous US at 14,505ft. We look around and it’s nothing but snow covered everything. It took us just over 3 hours to summit. The way down wasn’t as easy since we couldn’t get down slippery rocks as easily as go up them. In a large snow patch Stats and I decided to use our tools, his ice axe, and my whippet to help self arrest and guide us down to the next section of trail rather than sketchily walk across the snow. Very slowly, release then shoulder down and dig that axe in. Release, dig. For some reason this was so fun to me and I wasn’t scared even though it wasn’t totally safe. Then we’re almost done, a last snow bank. So why not butt glissade down? I wish I had the Video. It was so fast and fun. And so damn efficient. On the way down we saw Hawkeye and his group just coming up. I thought, they’re in for a treat. That snows going to become slush really soon. We make it back to our tents and break down while eating lunch then head back towards the PCT where we plan to find Meg and Hefty. The walk back was brutal. The elevation gain/loss this morning was hard on my body. And now we’re walking along a massive snow field in soft snow. And it’s never ending. You look around and it never seems like any progress is being made. And now it’s hot. At one point I fall down onto the snow and just start doing snow angels to cool off. Slowly but surely we finally make it back to the PCT. We walk for a bit knowing we’re heading to the next water source. And when we get there, I’m so excited to see Hefty and Meg. And there they were!!!! We’re all back together and everyone is safe. Today was a good fucking day. Pictured is Scotty and his Unicorn on the summit.

Day 47: started the day with the log crossing. Which was literally the dumbest and sketchiest thing on the entire PCT. We were dumb to do it and should have looked for another option. But luckily we all made it. We got up at 3:30am and as soon as we walked up to the log everyone stopped. It was a good 5-6 feet above the raging water. And it wasn’t even an even log. There were branches sticking up all around it. Me being dumb I just walked right onto the log like let’s go…and the second I got on it I started shaking really bad. I was terrified and over night some ice had accumulated on the log making it really slick. Luckily I had my micro spikes are. I stepped really really slowly and bent down to hold onto some of the branches I had to side step around. Idk when I’ve ever been so scared and the feeling just got worse while I watched everyone one by one attempt the log. Hefty was the smart one. He found 2 smaller logs a little upstream that were slightly in the water and crossed there. Me and Scotty were tossing our spikes to the others for them to wear across. We all helped each other and after that was over, I was already spent for the day. So stressful. We continued on and hiked to the Mt. Whitney junction and down that trail. By lunch we were a little into the junction and laid in the sun eating and drying out our gear and discussing the next steps. To do or not to do Mt. Whit. A lot of hikers aren’t doing it, Ned Tibbets, an outdoor excursion leader, said nobody should do it. No matter how experienced you are. After awhile of debating me, Scotty, and Stats decided to head towards Mt. Whitney and Meg and Hefty planned to get back to the PCT and take an on trail 0 day tomorrow as we do Whitney. I didn’t know if I was going to do it or not. My only plan was to camp at the base for the night and decide with how I feel in the morning. So we split up. We took off towards Whitney and hiked a very tough few more miles to our campsite. On the way we ran into Tim and Freckles. Asked how it was and Freckles started crying saying how scary it was….not a good sign. But I’m so glad they’re ok. They hiked it with Em and Lou and it was freezing at the top they said. Dash ended up heading out earlier because his shin splints couldn’t handle t anymore so he took off to go into town and wait it out. We ended up camping on some rocks in the middle of all the snow right at t He base. In the morning we will only have about .5 miles before we start up the mountain. It was grueling to get here and between the snow hiking and the sun consistently beating down on me I’m exhausted. But this is one of the most AMAZING campsites I could have imagined. I’m surrounded by snow and mountains and a beautiful sunset. And it’s not even cold. I’m in my tent and it feels like a fucking sauna from the sun. I’m happy to be here with these guys. They’re so great and look out for me. And so much of this trip is me wanting to face fears, but tomorrow is still debatable.

Day 46: Shortest actual non-zero day. We had planned to go about 12 miles and made it only 10.5. But it felt like plenty. We dropped a bit in elevation and due to that the snow just got softer as the day went. The initial plan for the Sierras is to get up early in the morning and hike as far as possible until early afternoon then stop. That way we’re not hiking so much in the soft snow. Because if we do, it’d be much more energy and take us longer than if we just sleep and walk when it’s more frozen. Which is when I can use my micro spikes which makes everything a ton easier. So today we ended about noon. Once we came down from Cottonwood pass we hiked pass the popular and well known Chicken Spring Lake. I literally almost didn’t even recognize it as we were walking to its left. Because it was frozen and looked like most of the Sierras. Just snow. I remember the part around the lake being challenging and climbing a bit. We decided to camp near a flowing creek that we would have to cross in the morning. Meg saw on the water report that there was a log to cross on. We found it and basically set up camp right near it. Today was hard but we had lots of fun. Lots of laughs and smiles cutting the trail and boot skiing. As we sat with the fire trying to dry our stuff out it unfortunately started raining. So now I’m in my tent just reading. Optimist turtle stopped by. So crazy meeting her after seeing all of her comments on every single water source. The Scotty came. He apparently has hiked alone since KM and today had some sketchy moments where he felt he could have been seriously injured or died. So we told him he had to stay with us now so we added to our group! I’m a bit nervous for what’s to come. Apparently some girl died on Mt. Whitney a few days ago. Idk maybe I should skip and come back? I want to do this trail all out but I also just want to be safe. Will i know when to turn back? Idk I’ll see tomorrow when we get to the trail junction. Everything after Whitney even seems sketchy. 

Day 45 Wow gorgeous views all day but what a long challenging day 20 miles from mile 730 to mile 750. Started hard just due to incline but ended super challenging due too soft snow. Amazing lunch with use of mountains on one side and pines in the lake on the other. my body is so fatigued and drained. I really feel low in calories and I only brought just enough food to get by. this will be a really hard stretch I am praying tomorrow will have a little snow when we got to camp at began to hail and thunder and lightning. We’re on the top of cottonwood pass I think it’s about 11,000 ft elevation which isn’t great for lightning. I was able to find a spot under a tree to put my tent up quickly then stay more blocked from the storm. luckily it stopped after a bit it’s for sure going to be cold night and a rough wake up in the a.m. This is so humbling. Typically these miles are easy, 20 miles, no big deal. But this will be one of the very few high mile days we do through the entire Sierras. At this point from here on we will hike together 24/7. Due to tough navigation, sketchy water crossings, and the toughness and dangers of the snow itself we will stick together.