Start point

Tentsite at 721.9

End point

Tentsite at 737.5

Miles hiked

15.6 miles

Wilderness area

South Sierra Wilderness

The day on trail

I feel like I finally escaped Kennedy Meadows. Finally.

This new group is fantastic. They’re all experienced hikers with extensive snow and altitude experience, and they know how to move as a group when needed. They take more breaks than I do, but it helps me catch up to them.

The day started dark and early, at 4am. We wanted to get as much firm snow as possible, and it worked. The stars were mostly hidden from clouds, which is never fun for an early morning hike.

Propeller is an excellent leader and Crispy and Raspberry are both excellent at offering input. We all work well together and were able to stay mostly on track through the routefinding snow areas.

In fact, I got a photo of them from just past where I turned around.

And here’s disheveled me from the same spot.

I did it. I’m in the Sierra. Officially.

The views are expanding into that picturesque grandeur that huge mountains with granite and snow provide.

We encountered solid snow for about five miles in the beginning of the day and about three near the end. It really wasn’t as bad as I was expecting it to be, and I got used to crampons really quickly.

The depth of the snow was surprising in areas. You need to avoid areas next to rocks, trees, and logs. They warm up faster than the snow and create these areas of cavitation that can cause postholing or make you slide down.

In the middle of our day (9am?) we stopped at a meadow for lunch. Getting into it was interesting, as the bridge was sunken in the middle.

We ate, talked, bonded, and Crispy had a sun siesta.

While leaving, we had a similar problem to the dunked bridge in the form of a narrow log crossing over a stream. The stream was too deep to touch your trekking poles to the bottom, making crossing extra treacherous. It was fun! And I did it without a stumble. I’m starting to trust my feet!

One thing I tried to photograph but couldn’t were the jets. There were jets practicing training maneuvers throughout the valleys all day. One was so close I actually ducked from the noise. It was maybe 750 feet overhead. I could see the lines on it and the blinking lights on the wings.

Continuing on were more views. I’m loving what I’m seeing out here.

We took a group photo at the highest peak of the day.

Don’t be fooled, that was a 50’ respite from snow. It began almost immediately after rounding that corner.

Finally we rolled into camp and Juice and his crew (Casual Wood and a few others) came by. We chatted briefly. The group and I talked a lot. Did you know that movie theaters in Germany give you the option of sweet or salty popcorn? And we had a talk earlier about butterscotch today, but the Germans didn’t understand what butterscotch was until Crispy tossed me a Werther’s. Apparently that being the candy of grandpas everywhere is international.

What a day.