Hike with Mike Against Cancer
Notes and Observations from Mike
Fall 2023
The scenery was as spectacular as you can imagine — many people from other countries commented that it was the most stunning 200 mile hike in the world.
Tons of water (all rivers seemed full and raging), lots of wet river crossings, snow still on northern side of passes (makes it treacherous), lots of trees broken in half from winter snow avalanches requiring lots of extra work to navigate around, EVERYONE on trail friendly (saw maybe 100 backpackers total, going both directions, coming in and out all over the place), some day hikers and some trail runners (very fast and impressive).
Hikers on the PCT (Pacific Coast Trail, Mexico to Canada- basically crazy people!! Loi!) had very light packs and covered amazing mileage every day. Many single backpackers, both women and men, hikers from all over the world, no one under college age, many older folks (50s, 60s) even into 70s and at least one woman probably in her 80s. All men with facial hair indicating how long on trail (or started with it). Shoes varied from trail runners (Steve and me) to boots to even Birkenstocks and one woman with sandals. Most used hiking poles.
Terrain on trails really great but varied from easy to quite technical and could really get hurt. Physically taxing and also mentally taxing. Success seems more about perseverance and endurance than speed. The common phrase heard was "don't stop, just keep moving ahead."
Typical Day
Wake at-7-8am, pack up camp and eat breakfast (oatmeal, mocha coffee, snack bar), on the trail from about 9am to 4-6pm depending on many factors, eat while hiking (various quick things that require no cooking), set up camp and eat dinner (freeze dried meals, ramen noodles, and so on), gets dark around 7pm, in tents until next morning. Sleeping is typically hard-high elevation, often cold, legs antsy, feet/ankles hurt. So even though in tent a long time (-10-12 hours/night), not much actual sleeping happens! Steve hiked faster and stronger than I did, so he was almost always in the lead on the trail and arrived at places to pick campsites for the night. His fitness from mountain biking, surfing, and snow skiing really showed, whereas my sedentary lifestyle in front of a computer also really showed!
Day 1
Start at Tuolumne Meadows Ranger Station in Yosemite. Dropped off nearby by Yarts bus service from in front of the Shilo Inn Hotel in Mammoth Lakes, CA. Backpacked about 10 miles through a rather flat Lyell Canyon to the base of Donahue Pass where we camped overnight. Beautiful near a river, lots of mosquitos.
Day 5
Backpacked 10.3 miles from Red's Meadow to Duck Creek 2800 ft elevation gain, basically hiking uphill all day. Thunder and lightning storm rattled the canyons (truly amazingly loud), rain and hailstorm for half the day, we were cold and wet and miserable. Hid under a tree for some time near a river, started to get concerned about hypothermia a little bit, felt sort of stuck. Clouds broke and we quickly set up tents in a nearby meadow. Sun came out and dried everything in 3 hours. Met a hiker named Rick and he set up tent near ours. He is from just outside Rolling Hills Estate. Business is construction as a contractor. Built Mammoth Gondola and Kaiser Panorama City Hospital as contractor. Lots of trail friends (maybe 2 dozen during whole trip from all over the world).
Day 7
Backpacked 9.6 miles from half-way up Silver Pass. Campsite at 10,000 ft up 1,200 ft over Silver Pass (pass number 3) and descended to 7,700 ft at Vermillion Valley Ranch (VVR, a restocking place for some and not for us, kind of like a resort after a ferry ride across a lake). Made camp near the VVR.
Day 9
Backpacked over Seldin Pass (pass number 4) 11.7 miles arrive at John Muir Trail Ranch at the end of Florence Lake. Filtered water, wash cloth "bath," camped with everyone who shipped resupplies here. Stocked up our packs for 11 days of food to end of John Muir Trail (JMT). My pack now weighed 49 lbs and Steve's pack weighed 43 lbs after resupply. Bought l large gas canister for Steve and me to share for our stoves for $20.
Day 14
Hiked 10.03 miles mainly uphill 3,500 ft climbed Mather Pass 12,000 ft (pass number 6). The top of the Pass was very scary- boulder scrambling and crossing dangerous snow patches. Last 200-300 ft up to the Pass, trail down the other side was pretty mellow. Camped at 11,500 ft spectacular cloud patterns and colors took lots of pictures and videos. Woke up in AM to clear skies and frost on everything.
Day 16
Hiked 10.3 miles from below Pinchot Pass where we made camp at 11,100 ft all the way down to 8,800 ft and then up again to camp at Dollar Lake 4.0 miles on the approach to Glen Pass and just before the well known Rae Lakes. Camped at 10,500 ft. Another tiring day. We are both stronger but at least I am getting worn down physically and mentally. Hiking requires continuous attention to not slip fall turn an ankle and so on.
Day 20
Clear but very cold. We hike ~6 miles to the top of Mount Whitney at 14,505 ft. Last 1.9 miles is without backpack and just with day pack- all hikers leave packs at a single place that looks like a backpacker store before last 1.9 miles up. Amazing views of everything. This is the Official end of the JMT that starts in Yosemite or other entry points by National Forest Service Wilderness Permit process. We hiked down 99 switchbacks (well known!) on the south side of Mount Whitney to the south side basecamp, again lots of tents for hikers going... up Whitney the next day.
Day 21
28 degrees in the AM, cold, camped near a snow pack. Hiked 6 miles down from 12,000 ft to around 8,000 ft at Whitney Portal, where we both had hamburgers and sodas at the small store there. Hitchhiked a ride all the way back to Mammoth Lakes near the Shilo Inn Hotel where we began 21 days before.