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apogee
climber
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Jun 25, 2011 - 05:14pm PT
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I did California (Mex-Ashland) in '86, then did OR-WA in '88- California took 4 months, and OR-WA took 2 months. I started California with a buddy, and we made it as far as Lake Tahoe before differing agendas (he loves flyfishing, I wanted to crank miles) had us split. I did the rest of Cali solo, and did most of OR-WA solo as well, though I did hook up with occasional through-hikers.
The PCT at that time was very different from what it is today- it was unfinished in places, and there were very few people who completed it each season. No trail angels, though there were a few towns that were more attuned to through-hikers, and provided some support. (Wrightwood in particular.) It is a far more social experience now- packs of through-hikers each season- it's more like the AT nowadays- when I hiked it, it was common to go for a few weeks and not encounter another through-hiker.
Technology is very different, too, esp. with the advent of ultralite gear- Jardine's book really created a revolution in long distance hiking. I hiked with a Gregory 'Denali' 8,000 cu in pack that weighed 8 lbs empty! It was common to leave resupplies with a 70 lb monster. Though many through-hikers aren't total ultralite fanatics, they do carry much more manageable weights.
Kennedy Meadows really is a gateway of sorts- you feel the 'real' mountains in front of you, and you leave the hot, difficult ups & downs of the So Cal section behind. It will be interesting to see how you tackle it with your daughters, since road access to the Sierra is much more limited.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jun 25, 2011 - 08:03pm PT
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A nice report.
I wonder how PTPP would handle the PCT? He likes vertical camping trips, how about a (sort of) horizontal one?
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Jun 25, 2011 - 08:48pm PT
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I hiked with a Gregory 'Denali' 8,000 cu in pack that weighed 8 lbs empty! It was common to leave resupplies with a 70 lb monster.
LOL, Yep.. mine was a contour 4 and it weighed 7 pounds without the extra pockets I added because everything was so big. I still have a contour 4. My second one, but I don't want to carry it.
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 25, 2011 - 11:55pm PT
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John and apogee: the fast/light/though-hiker that we met on this last trip ("Malto") epitomized this "new" approach. His base weight (weight without food or water) was eight pounds. That's single digits! As apogee said, that was the weight of the pack he used on the trail before he put anything in it.
After resupply Malto would be carrying eight pounds of food and he usually hiked with a maximum of a gallon of water (eight pounds). So, for 30 miles per day average, 20 to 25 pounds on his back.
I'm not sure I could go to that extreme of minimalism. And most of the through-hikers we met didn't; most seemed to carry around 40 pounds.
Kennedy Meadows is indeed a gateway, and we intend to change how we travel for our next trips. One of the reasons we started when Tricia was five years old was so that, by the time we reached the Sierra part of the trail, she'd be able to go on long, unsupported backpacks. Our next two trips will be 50 miles of backpacking (to Horseshoe Meadow), later this summer. Then, next summer, from Horseshoe Meadow to Tuolumne Meadows in one or two backpack trips.
I anticipate that the High Sierra part of the PCT will be one of the most exciting that we do.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jun 26, 2011 - 12:57am PT
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You may find the part where you cross the border into Canada pretty exciting, too!
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apogee
climber
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Jun 26, 2011 - 02:04am PT
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The two most spectacular parts of the trail (if you have to pick such things) are the High Sierra and the North Cascades. It snowed lightly on my last night on the trail- the next day I walked across the border, and down to Manning Park, leaving fresh tracks in the snow. It was a fitting and pensive way to finish.
I collaborate semi-frequently with one of the ultralight gurus who developed an entire line of ultralight packs & tents, as well as creating one of the web resources that is frequented by contemporary through-hikers. His name is Glen Van Peski- he started a company called 'Gossamer Gear', and one of his flagship packs was the 'Mariposa'. He's one of those guys who heads out on a multi-day trip with a base pack weight of 5-7 lbs- I've done a few trips with him, and while I'm not as willing to sacrifice as many creature comforts as he is, I have learned a lot about new techniques and gear that have helped cut my pack weight down. (It's hard breaking with old habits when they have served me so well for so many years!) Glen likes to joke that by cutting out all the excess weight, it leaves more room for the bottle of wine....
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Jun 26, 2011 - 03:49am PT
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This is one beautiful thread. Thank you for sharing these precious times.
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dfinnecy
Social climber
'stralia
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Jun 26, 2011 - 10:14am PT
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Yeah, what everyone else said. This is so great mtnyoung. I love reading about your progress and it is an inspiring story for families growing up. Can't wait till my boys can walk!
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Jun 26, 2011 - 12:29pm PT
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That 8 pounds of gear still blows my mind. I don't recall, with food and water, ever getting out for a trip over 4 days with less then 50 pounds on my back. 30 pounds would be a dream. Anyone recommend a book that explains that? Or a website. I do like my comforts, so I doubt I would be able to hit the 8 pound mark. Does that mean no cook stove, so no morning hot food and coffee?
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10b4me
Ice climber
Happy Boulders
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Jun 27, 2011 - 01:23am PT
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I believe that peak is actually Olancha. Langley has more snow(even on the south face
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 27, 2011 - 11:12am PT
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You are 100 % correct, 10b4me, it is Olancha, not Langley.
I think I was still a little excited when I prepared the trip report, but I've checked some more since then. Among other comments I received that makes sense is that Langley would blend into the Whitney group more, when viewed from the south. And, you're right, Langley should still have snow.
Olancha doesn't seem that big on a map. But it sure stands out from the terrain near it.
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 28, 2011 - 11:50am PT
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The girls and I just did our last PCT trip for a while, ending Monday. Four days of backpacking and 45 miles went very well. Here's the first two days cross posted from the Mudn'Crud site. The thread-title I used there was:
The PCT Volume 16: Self Propelled in the Southern Sierra
July 22, 2011:
Yes, it's the title of an excellent guidebook about backpacking in the south part of the range. It's a book that has always fascinated me and, finally, this trip, we got to see and experience some of the areas described by it; we were there, and "self propelled" for 3 1/2 days.
We're in Disneyland now though. Three days and four nights. This family vacation is definitely "well balanced."
To start, my friend Dean helped us with the long drive to Kennedy Meadows trailhead. We didn't get going on the trail though until after 3:00 in the afternoon. But, after all, when a young beauty is hiking with her "Dirty Girl Gaiters," what does time matter?
The hike along the South Fork of the Kern River was warm, but very pretty and mostly flat:
After just five miles, with the sun already behind the mountain and with no further assured camping (with water sources) for another six miles, we decided to camp at a pleasant little spot alongside Clover Meadow:
As usual, the girls each did a full share of setting up camp (Katie especially get's right on setting up the tent, while, normally, I get water and Tricia helps with the tent and starts getting sleeping bags out and deployed).
And that's it for the first day. Not much milage, but we were back on the trail, back on our way, and "all systems go" for another 49 mile trip.
July 23, 2011
We hiked up Crag Canyon for two pretty miles, gaining 1,000 feet of elevation (this was the first of a lot of elevation gain today - part of one of the biggest, hardest PCT days we've had):
After reaching the top of this drainage, we started down into Beck Meadow. This meadow joins with Monache Meadow, which is the largest meadow in the Sierra Nevada:
Continued easy hiking eventually led to an idyllic setting at a bridge over the South Fork Kern River, just under seven miles from our start:
Note in that last photo, the big peak on the horizon? That's Olancha Peak, one of the more prominent mountains in the south-most Sierra. More than ten more miles of hiking, 3,500 feet of elevation gain, and the rest of the day would take us to a point on it's shoulder where we'd eventually just crap out for the day near the only source of water we could find.
Meanwhile though, lunch at the river was very nice;
That last photo, by the way, shows the effects of eating freeze dried blueberries.
From the river we started up gradually. This part of the Sierra is flatter than what we're used to up north. At least it is in some places:
As we got higher the scenery became more alpine:
Here's the view looking back into Beck Meadows from up high (if it looks like a long way to have hiked, well, it felt that way too):
By the time we'd gotten up onto the Olancha Peak massif, we were getting close to tired. Lots of uphill, warm temps and full packs made this a significant hike. Finally, after 17.3 miles, we came across a small stream and a nearly flat spot. The sun and our energy levels were very low on the horizon. We dropped packs and made camp (with a nice view to the west):
And that was the end of the second day. I've known for years that the girls can do long, hard day hikes, but on those they've carried little or no weight. Now I know now that they can also do the same hikes with weight (and, here, the difficulty wasn't just the distance of 17.3 miles; we gained almost 5,000 feet total in those miles, up to an elevation of 10,500 feet).
In a way this was a critical test. In a year, when we can get back on the trail, we'll likely do seven or eight days of similar distances in a row, with weight and with lots of serious passes.
Up next: more wonderful, beautiful Sierra Nevada hiking. And a reminder that water isn't everywhere in the southern Sierra.
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 29, 2011 - 10:47pm PT
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Here's the rest of our last report for what will probably be a year or so:
July 24, 2011
Day three was another beauty, but tough work too. Once we started packing we made quick work and got back on the trail:
Four easy miles led past Gomez Meadow, across flats to Death Canyon, which we thought might be the last source of water for ten miles (it was):
We tanked up on food and water there, expecting next a 2,000 foot elevation gain in the sun.:
Here's a shot of my band-aided and taped foot, which hurt every step, all because of a stupid move on my part: I "repaired" my hiking shoe with shoe-goo type material and then didn't check it to see how the repair went. It was only at the trail-head that I realized that I had just this one pair of hiking shoes and that the left shoe had unremovable little blobs of glue right where they would rub my little toe badly (more on this one later):
We only treated and took three liters of water from Death Canyon. This was mostly because that's how many water bottles we had; it was also partly because I was too reluctant (spelled l-a-z-y) to pull out the six liter bag we use when we get to camp and fill and carry part of that. I turns out that maybe I should have done so. Up we started into a series of 22 switchbacks:
We rested often, since it was still fairly early:
Near the top of the climb we reached again the true pacific crest (defined as where, on one side of an imaginary line, one fallen drop of rainwater runs to the Pacific Ocean, whereas on the other side of the line it runs to the Great Basin). The views from this point down to the Owens Valley were dramatic:
We topped out on the climb, but still had seven miles to go to a sure source of water. And water was needed; we ran out of our mere three liters just partway through the seven miles:
At least the views back toward Olancha Peak were sublime:
Eventually we arrived at a low rise of forest between two large meadows; this was actually on the pacific crest again. Although it looked dry, looks were deceiving, Diaz Meadow had a well-flowing creek and we tanked up in camp for the rest of the afternoon.
And this campsite was among the best. Lots of water, lots of flat, soft ground, lots of afternoon left, great views, and no mosquitos (at least until a short period right at dusk):
And so passed day three and another fun 14.7 miles. The long afternoon set us up for a relatively early start and 12 miles to the pickup point on the next day.
July 25, 2011
Another beautiful California morning started our fourth day:
But it was still a little chilly at 9,800 feet:
A quick few miles led us to Mulkey Pass, the first of three passes on the PCT from which one can bail to the Horseshoe Meadow trailhead:
Trail Pass came next on what amounted to a large half-circle around Horseshoe:
After less than eight miles we came to Cottonwood Pass where we would leave the PCT down to the trail and Vicki. Here's Tricia almost to Cottonwood:
Here's Katie having just left the PCT:
We ate lunch up high before heading down the many switchbacks:
The hike from Cottonwood to the trailhead took an hour. Vicki and I had thought we'd meet up there at about 2:00 p.m. (she drove from home to the trailhead that morning); she got there about 15 minutes "late" and we arrive six minutes after she did:
Once at the car we packed and cleaned up as best we could for the drive to Disneyland. After four days of nursing my foot the sock, bandaids and tape all came off as one with the skin (never again take an untested shoe - I'm old enough to know better!):
And so ended another good journey. We hiked just over 45 miles on the trail, bringing our total milage from the Mexican border to just over 747. We had fun. And that's it now for around a year. Next summer we'll pick up from this point with the goal of backpacking all the way to Tuolumne Meadows, followed by another trip to Sonora Pass (50 minutes from our house, what a contrast to the early days on the trail when the drive down took 10 hours!).
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Hawkeye
climber
State of Mine
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Jul 29, 2011 - 11:12pm PT
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!!!!AWESOME!!!
except for that blister.
thanks for sharing, this is totally awesome!
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Joe
Social climber
Santa Cruz
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Jul 29, 2011 - 11:50pm PT
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nice Brad...not sure what you did to deserve such a beautiful family...
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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Jul 30, 2011 - 05:17pm PT
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A great summer of hiking!
We will be looking forward to the renewal of this thread next summer - and more great pictures!
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Jul 30, 2011 - 08:40pm PT
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Vegas, I don't think they are done for the year.
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 2, 2011 - 11:05am PT
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Promises are promises. And they must be kept.
Tomorrow, while many of my friends climb at The Lost World, a fantastic local crag, I will be driving to Sacramento with my girls to attend a Taylor Swift concert. This is me paying them back for an unusual and "extra" three day backpack on the PCT over this last Memorial weekend.
It would be nice to go climbing. But I've got Sunday and Monday for that. I'm looking forward to doing what my girls are looking forward to doing. Plus, tomorrow is my older daughter's 16th birthday - yikes!
Trip report to follow.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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One of my favorite threads.
Looking forward to the next TR.
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