Hiking the PCT in Consecutive Pieces With Two Daughters

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crusher

climber

Santa Monica, CA

May 14, 2014 - 05:18pm PT

BUMP for one of the most fabulous threads this site has ever seen.

I'm going to go back and read the whole thing again, I've enjoyed it so much!

TFPU!

zBrown

Ice climber

Brujo de la Playa

May 14, 2014 - 06:35pm PT

Bump for subtle, delayed reference to Lembert Dome and All in the Family II.

Beginning of segment two of PCT, leaving Lake Morena. (That's me in the shadows)

micronut

Trad climber

Fresno/Clovis, ca

May 14, 2014 - 08:43pm PT

Wonderful journey and great thread. A real testament to a family relationship that's full of adventure. Thanks for taking us along.

Press on kids!

Scott

mtnyoung

Trad climber

Twain Harte, California

Topic Author's Reply - Jul 19, 2014 - 10:54am PT

Well, that's pretty disappointing.

Everything has been shaping up nicely for our next PCT leg (Tuolumne Meadows to Sonora Pass in seven days). We had to push the start back by one day due to an ongoing cycle of thunderstorms (we're starting Monday instead of tomorrow). But now we're leaving into a fantastic looking weather window. Work's in good shape. I feel like I'm in good shape, and Tricia's very enthused. Our friend from last summer, Reid (one of the "yellow packs" we met on the nine day backpack) is going to join us.

And Katie's got a cold.

Damn, damn, damn. I've been in denial all week. She was really bad clear into Tuesday. I thought she'd get better faster. But Vicki and I spoke with her last night (she's down at school in Santa Barbara) and she's just clearly not well enough. I can't see taking her to 9,000 feet and hiking 11 miles per day without her feeling like crap the whole time.

If we wait a week for her, we'll have no real chance of getting to Highway 80 by more hikes this summer. So we're going to go without her.

This northern Yosemite leg of the PCT is one of the most beautiful hikes in the world. I really had my heart set on doing it with both girls.

Katie doesn't seem to mind all that much. She's going to join us instead for two three-day legs later in the month (from Highway 50 to Highway 80). I know those legs will be great, and I'll love having her along then. But I'm pretty disappointed right now.

klk

Trad climber

cali

Jul 19, 2014 - 11:28am PT

that's too bad--

but grinding at elevation with a cold would suck

have fun-- looking forward to the pix

whitemeat

Big Wall climber

San Luis Obispo, CA

Jul 19, 2014 - 02:56pm PT

My first time seeing this thread! Awesome!! I have been dreaming of the PTC for a while now! Thanks for the stoke to make me want it that much more!

You Guy's ROCK!!!!

RP3

Big Wall climber

Sonora

Jul 19, 2014 - 04:58pm PT

That's such a bummer, Brad. Perhaps she will feel better in time...

Either way, have a blast! We will be thinking of you.

Seamstress

Trad climber

Yacolt, WA

Jul 19, 2014 - 06:14pm PT

Go, Team, GO!!

I look froward to the years you hit the Northwest, and I must see this, and plan a treat.

mtnyoung

Trad climber

Twain Harte, California

Topic Author's Reply - Jul 28, 2014 - 07:52pm PT

We got back last night after a truly excellent trip.

We went 75.9 miles, Tuolumne Meadows to Sonora Pass, in seven perfect days. One of the absolute highlights of the trip was Tricia's reaction to passing the PCT 1,000 mile point (1,000 miles from the Mexican border at 12 years old!). On our last night Tricia and I slept at 10,500 feet directly on the pacific crest. Then we hustled out yesterday morning as the clouds and smoke built up.

What a trip! What a section of trail!

What a dinner of real food we had tonight.

I posted the first two days of our trip to Mudn'Crud under the title:

The PCT Volume 21: Closest to Home

Here they are (and now I'm waiting to get more photos ready for downloading):

FIRST DAY:

Our 2014 PCT kickoff trip went very well. Sitting here looking back, we seem to have filled the perfect weather window; the series of storms during the week before our trip caused some flash-flooding in the Sonora Pass area and, right now, serious clouds are building even way down the hill for what looks like more of the same.

We've got a long tradition on the PCT of starting completely, exactly where we left off on our last trip. This time we decided to (of course) do the same thing. Here we are in Tuolumne Meadows, near Lembert Dome, right at the gate on the trail to Soda Springs:

This trip included three people. I was mightily disappointed that Katie was still sick and couldn't go (in retrospect it was a good idea for her not to have done this fairly strenuous trip). But our friend Reid, one of the "yellow packs" that we had met on our nine day trip last year, joined us this trip:

As for most California climbers, Tuolumne Meadows is pretty special to me. But I haven't just spent huge numbers of climbing days there; when I was boy, my family vacationed there most summers. I came to know the peaks and domes of the area by heart. So, just like last year, being there again, pursuing a special goal with Tricia, was pretty cool. This shot of her on the way down the Tuolumne River well captures this new PCT adventure, some of the many domes I've climbed on there, plus some of the the better-known Tuolumne Meadows area peaks:

Although we had heavy loads, the trail to Glen Aulin is lightly downhill, and we flew down it:

The first waterfall on the river is as pretty as I remembered (and so is the second one - I still recall my family being at the family being at the second waterfall, the one right at Glen Aulin, swimming and playing when I was a boy 45 years ago):

From Glen Aulin, the trail heads up Cold Canyon, through forests and beautiful meadows, toward Virginia Canyon. This part of the trail was all waterless during this very dry year, even in July:

As we do each day on our hikes, we stopped for a "trail milkshake" as an afternoon pick-me-up. These "milkshakes" consist of one half liter of water mixed with powdered whole fat milk and two vanilla Instant Breakfasts. They make a nice energy boost late in the day (Reid started calling them "whales' milk" later in the trip; that name made us laugh):

This enormous boulder looked pretty cool, both as a climbing location and as a place to just hang out:

But we'd planned a fairly long first day and we had a few miles to go yet to water. So we continued on and then into Virginia Canyon (and the creek there, which, curiously, bears the name Return Creek, not Virginia Creek):

We ended that day in a pretty, slabby area of the creek. We had enough daylight left to relax and enjoy the cooler hours:

We made 13.6 good miles on this first day. We had fun and then got to lighten our loads (by eating!). And the next day promised more of the same.

SECOND DAY:

Day two started in a leisurely fashion with breakfast, coffee and some sunshine:

We then started three straight days of ups and downs into and out of deep canyons. Although not as severe as some of the passes and valleys in the southern Sierra, these canyons make for a lot of elevation change.

From Virginia Canyon we hiked up to Spiller Canyon. Switchbacks then led to pretty Miller Lake:

As we then continued north we got our first view of the Sawtooth Ridge on the northern edge of Yosemite (just up and left of Tricia):

The guidebook then describes "two dozen" switchbacks down into Matterhorn Canyon. Matterhorn is pretty and pretty remote. Among its beauties is a very large buttress of nice looking granite (I don't know of any name for the buttress and nor do I think it has been climbed). Here's the trail visible on the canyon floor (just higher in the photo than the creek):

Here's a photo of hiking on the floor and one of the buttress:

Having gone down, we then had to go up. Switchbacks and creekside hiking led in a few miles to Benson Pass. Although not particularly high, this pass is high enough to get really good views of most of northern Yosemite. The view to the west shows Volunteer Peak (Volunteer is also not very tall, except in comparison to the surrounding areas, and then it really stands out):

From Benson we headed down (naturally) to Smedberg Lake. I'd been to Smedberg once before, in 1982 with my brother (I was then 21 years old). I was quite pleased to see it again 32 years later. We found a nice camp there and spent the rest of the daylight hours reading, relaxing, eating and planning our next day's hike (to include summiting Volunteer Peak!):

RP3

Big Wall climber

Twain Harte

Jul 28, 2014 - 10:06pm PT

Outstanding shots!

That buttress in Matterhorn Canyon is called The Pharaoh" and has some hard (5.11, 5.12) free climbs on it. A buddy of mine climbed one of them a few years ago. He said the whole formation particularly glacially polished. He had a blast though and that formation remains on my short list.

labrat

Trad climber

Auburn, CA

Jul 28, 2014 - 10:12pm PT

Always a pleasure to read and look at your trip reports. Thank you!

ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber

extraordinaire

Jul 28, 2014 - 10:16pm PT

Nice boulder.

klk

Trad climber

cali

Jul 28, 2014 - 10:56pm PT

the flying saucer!

looks like a blast-- tx for the pix. i haven't been back in matterhorn cnyn, so that stuff is entirely new to me-- nice to see it.

looks like you all are having a blast. hope the skeeters are mellow. if we';re gonna have a drought, there should be some payoff.

Jerry Dodrill

climber

Sebastopol

Jul 28, 2014 - 11:06pm PT

Great work Brad! Thanks for sharing. Hope to see you soon!

mucci

Trad climber

The pitch of Bagalaar above you

Jul 28, 2014 - 11:08pm PT

Great Update Brad!

Best TR on the taco.

It keeps giving, well until you finish!

Cheers!

Charlie D.

Trad climber

Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra

Jul 29, 2014 - 05:38am PT

Wow! Making no small plans and going for it!!! Good on you Brad, thanks for sharing with us.

mtnyoung

Trad climber

Twain Harte, California

Topic Author's Reply - Jul 29, 2014 - 09:19am PT

Thanks. And here's the segment from our third day.

And not to give too much away, but of all the miles we did on this trip (and even of all the miles we've done on the PCT), the miles closest to home - the 10 miles up to Sonora Pass itself - were some of the most spectacular we've seen. These are coming up on days six and seven...

When I hiked this section of trail (north to south) in 1982, it never occurred to me to walk up Volunteer Peak (or up any other peak for that matter). Yet one of the photos I have from then is of the very steep, very tall, north face of the formation. When I see that shot it makes me wonder why I didn't just sidetrack now and then to a summit.

And Volunteer in particular is a cool peak. While it wouldn't even qualify as a "bump" in the Palisades or the Evolutions, it stands very far above it's surrounding terrain in northern Yosemite. And even though its north side is nearly vertical, its an easy walk up on the south.

So, on our third morning I decided that I would drop my pack about a mile into our hike and go to the top of Volunteer. Reid was totally jazzed at the idea. Tricia didn't apparently get the "I" part of "I" and just assumed that she'd go too.

Here it is from the northwest:

And the views from the summit:

Tricia quickly picked out where we'd slept at Smedberg the night before:

By now, Tricia's done many Sierra summits, and so she's quite comfortable descending talus (and let's face it: all 12 year olds should be absolutely comfortable on talus):

After descending Volunteer, we shouldered our packs and did the bone-crushing 2,100 foot descent down to Piute Creek near Benson Lake. And what a descent! They don't built steep, steep trails like this any more.

Just like she is good on talus, Tricia is also comfortable on fallen log "bridges" (and all twelve year olds should also be good at these too):

Reid does pretty well on features like this too (for an old guy):

A too-warm hump up Seavy Pass followed (that's Volunteer Peak in the next photo, just up and left of me):

In exchange for the heat and the uphill though, the hike up to Seavy included some very nice terrain. This included one feature that the PCT guidebook artfully describes as a "wind free, sparkling pond:"

And then we ended this third day in Kerrick Canyon, camped near the creek, oriented to get the last rays of the setting sun. We were nicely set up again for another day, and another section of a fantastic trail:

Jim Herson

climber

Emerald Hills, CA

Jul 29, 2014 - 10:51am PT

Where's the "Super Like" button?! Tricia is such an awesome adventurer! Bummer Katie was sidelined on this leg but the Sierra will always be there. And what better excuse for a repeat trip than sharing a gorgeous section of the Sierra with your daughter. Congratulations on this ongoing beautiful adventure with such special young ladies!

-Jim