Day 57: Hiking into the Darkness
Date: Wed 6/13
PCT Start Mile: 789.1
PCT End Mile: 789.9
PCT Mileage for Day: .8
Kearsarge Pass Trail Mileage: 7.5
Total PCT Mileage: 789.9
Total Mileage for Day: 8.3
The Highlights: more rest and return to the trail
We spent the majority of today continuing to rest and finishing a few last errands in Bishop. For example, Shawn got his beard trimmed up just a bit so he isn’t eating his mustache hair with dinner, so that’s a plus 😂
Shawn and I checked out of our hotel at noon and met Squishy and LOL to finish a couple errands and grab lunch at the Pizza Factory. We toss ‘em, they’re awesome!
Heading into the sky.
Around 4pm, we were all back in Squishy’s uncle’s Prius, heading back to the Onion Valley Trailhead.
Bishop sits in a valley at around 4,000 ft elevation, the road to the Onion Valley Trailhead climbing to 9,185 ft. While the high in Bishop for the day was 100F, it was probably in the 70s at the trailhead, with our side of the mountain shaded in the late afternoon hours. This would make for a great hike.
It was about 5:15pm when we finally hit the trail. Later than we’d originally hoped, and we’d end up hiking a bit past dark to get to our desired camp area.
While last time we had pounced down the Kearsarge Pass trail, little to no food left in our packs, we would now be slogging back up to the pass with a full resupply. Ugh.
The climb to the top of the pass was 4.5 miles to 11,760 ft. It was a bit slow going, but not as bad as we’d imagined when we were on our way down. The four of us separated a ways on the climb, and eventually Shawn and I were out front a bit.
On the way down the other side of Kearsarge Pass we had beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and lakes. We’d had the same views on the way up this side of the pass a couple days ago, but they were now draped in completely different light as the sun set in the distance and dark slowly fell on the trail. Shawn pulled out his headlamp and led the way.
Once the Kearsarge Pass Trail met the PCT, the route began heading uphill, and we hiked along the rocky mountainside. I was a bit worried about tent sites now that it was after dark, as the descriptions of the sites sounded like they were scant on space, and it was possible other hikers may already be camped there. This ended up being true of the first tentsite area and we continued on in the darkness, finding a spot not too much further up, just below the trail.
We climbed down the rocks to the site and quickly set up our tent as quietly as possible. Two other hikers were cowboy camping in a space just below us. I was happy I’d packed out one leftover slice of pizza because I was too tired to cook. I hurried through it and stashed my bear canister away from the tent before climbing into my sleeping bag.
LOL and Squishy never came by so my guess – and hope – is they found something further back on the trail, stopping before they rejoined the PCT, back where there were more flat spaces suitable for tent sites. Hopefully we will all link up again on the climb up Glen Pass in the morning.
