Hannibal's Pacific Crest Trail Chronicle

I would amend what Beeman said in his recent comment. You should be here. Or, at least we should all experience this kind of beauty somewhere, someplace in our lives. I simply can not do it justice, explaining how gorgeous the trail and its environs have been the past week. I could use every superlative I know, many come to mind, and still feel inadequate to the task. The Pacific Crest Trail through the High Sierra, locally the John Muir Trail, is remarkable. Remarkable. I say this having put quite a bit of trail behind me, that it is without peer the most continually beautiful I have yet hiked.

There has been a fair amount of snow to traverse over the high alpine passes, occasionally with ice axe in hand; the effect of which has been to slow my progress and allow me to savor this amazing landscape. I have repeated the following sequence numerous times over the past hundred or so miles, and I am not done yet: Climb a few thousand feet, the last mile or so on snow to a mountain pass surrounded by even higher snow-capped peaks, glacial tarns and still iced-over lakes. The melt is happening briskly. Water is everywhere. My feet have not been dry, but for brief periods, since Bishop. On the descent the scene is repeated. I continue down a few thousand feet to a broad valley, a basin collecting all the water seen pouring off the mountain. The snowmelt comes together in a lake, which, at its outlet forms a creek and descends further, the trail alongside, deeper into a valley. These rivers, swollen and often furious are crossed by the trail many times. I have been waist-deep or worse on these crossings. The mid-30 degree water would be refreshing in the mid-day heat if it wasn't for the anxiety provoked by these fords. One eye is kept on the feet, making sure I don't misstep, the other on the boiling rapids and falls just downstream. Finally, the low point of the descent is reached and the process is repeated with a new pass, basin, lake, creek...and so it goes.

Unlike other trails through National Parks or Forests, where there tend to be many day-hikers, just about everybody else out here is on a long-distance hike...on the PCT or the 200+ mile John Muir Trail. There just isn't easy access to the trail, you have to work to be here. As a result, there is a tremendous sense of community among hikers, more than seen typically. People look after each other, giving information about upcoming snow conditions, route-finding up the passes, places to camp, fords, bear encounters, etc... There are many conversations about gear, food and other essentials to backpacking. In contrast to being among non-backpackers or weekenders, the question that goes unasked is, "Why are you doing this?" For the community of us long-distance hikers that answer is obvious.

At a resort more like a rustic camp, just off the trail in Vermillion Valley, arrived at by taking a ferry across Lake Edison, I had the pleasure of meeting three people thru-hiking the John Muir Trail and their friend who had come out to meet them for the day. Rocky, Jill, Don and Brian. Brian brought fixings for burritos, I was generously invited to dinner, and we feasted. While much of the time out here is fairly solitary, though pleasantly so, there are times such as this where hikers come together and enjoy each others company, good food and drink. This was such a time. While the desert was not particularly social, the Sierra has been, adding to the Trail experience. So, thank you each of you. I hope your JMT hike finished well.

This week, I move on to Yosemite. And, speaking of generosity, the bus driver who brought me from Red's Meadow to Mammoth volunteered to meet me in town when he got off work, to give me his copy of a John Muir biography of his life in Yosemite Valley. Perfect timing. He was true to his word and I will have the opportunity to read about Muir's life as I enter this storied Valley.

To answer your question Dad, there are few "trail registers" of the sort used on the AT. The ones you come across on the PCT are typically Park or Forest service forms used to keep track of the number of people in the backcountry, with a little room for a comment or two.

Regarding Julie's comment: By know you know I do not swim in the same direction as the rest of the fishes.

Margaret: Yes, I am sure you could take a helicopter tour.

Rob and Maria: Glad to hear from you. Hope you are both well.