Good morning everyone, this is Joy. I’m afraid you will be stuck with me for awhile :). No texts from Bucket or Sage. It’s Sunday morning, and I already received a Garmin notification that the hikers have started hiking for the day — it’s 6am their time! It appears that they have climbed over 3500 feet of elevation the last two days. And by my calculations, it looks like they are getting 19-20 miles per day still, even with the elevation climbs.
I see they are about 10 miles from Mt. Whitney, which is a side trip on the PCT, if you want to summit it. It’s a 17 mile round trip day so you have to start early in the morning. I don’t know if the hikers will do this, but I’m assuming they will. I’ve read where you shouldn’t pass it up! Mt. Whitney is the tallest mountain in the 48 contiguous states, and is at 14,505 feet elevation. The air will be thin up there — it will impact their breathing. (Taller mountains are only in Alaska.)
By looking at Ron’s spreadsheet, it appears that they are a few days ahead of schedule. An earlier fire closure skipped them ahead a day and then they didn’t stay in Kennedy Meadows as long as they expected. Their next stop will be in Independence, CA, at a place called Kearsage Pass. They will get there mid-week. The PCT is so much different than the AT trail that Ron hiked in 2012. On the AT, you were able to exit the trail and walk into so many towns. The PCT is much more remote and doesn’t allow this access in many places. For example, for them to get to Independence, CA, they will exit the PCT trail and then have to hike another 7.5 miles on a side trail, to a parking lot. It is there that you hope and pray there is a daytime hiker who is willing to give you a ride into town that is 13 miles away! They have a package of food waiting for them in Independence. This is a very compact town, that offers one restaurant and a couple of motels, so the hikers will take shelter for one night there. But geez, it will take them an entire day to get back on the PCT — ride back to the trail, hike the 7.5 miles on the side trail and finally back on the PCT. This kind of navigation just adds to the experience!!
This is what Kearsage Pass looks like (pic is from 5 days ago), so no snow!
Happy Sunday, everyone!
Thanks for the updates, Joy! I have enjoyed following them 😀
Hi Laura – Bucket here. Thank you for following our trek and commenting! We would love to catch up with Thaiyler if possible when we reach Oregon. But that’s a lot of miles away and we’re taking it on day at a time. Thanks again.