Hikey Mike

Day 61 – 9 miles

Feeling pretty confident after the success of the first week in the sierras, we headed into this stretch with a plan to cover the 125 miles in 7 days. Reasonable in a normal stretch, the fact this would cover 8 mountain passes and continued exposure to 10,000ft+ elevation wasn’t really taken into account.

After a two hour wait to get back to trail, a beekeeper going to check on his mountainside hives finally stopped to give us a ride and we set off early afternoon. The day unfortunately started with climbing the same mountain we’d come down just two days earlier, climbing Kearsarge Pass with 3,000ft over 4 miles of hot, exposed trail.

With a near 40lb pack heading out of town, the climb was exhausting and with another pass starting just 4 miles later, we decided to camp at the bottom to take it on the next day.

Day 62 – 13 miles

Today would be the start of what would become a regular pattern. With all of the passes at 12,000ft and the peaks covered in snow, we had to take on the passes early in the morning before the sun began to turn the firm ice into slush. While snow levels were still much lower than normal, micro spikes were still required for grip on very firm ice, especially in sections on the ridge line or where the trail was sloped

After getting over Glen Pass, we dropped back down 4,000ft and I was greeted by a lovely surprise. Today was my birthday, and as I arrived at lunch the group had prepared a very well practised song and dance to celebrate and gave me a birthday card. With no phone signal at all for the week, it was nice to be able to celebrate the day which was otherwise a regular day of hiking. We took a long lunch next to a suspension bridge and I treated myself to a birthday nap.

Straight after this bridge was another climb, 4,000ft up Pinchot Pass and suddenly the fatigue of the last few weeks kicked in. Just a quarter of the way through the climb, my energy levels crashed and I knew I wouldn’t make it to the top with the rest of my group. Luckily Skyrim, who I’d first met on day 2 and had been hiking with consistently since day 24, felt the same and the two of us camped halfway up the climb, hoping to catch up with the others tomorrow

Day 63 – 14 miles

Waking up low energy after a poor night of sleep, it was starting to become clear that the elevation was impacting me. By the time I’d reached the peak of Pinchot Pass after 4 miles I was completely exhausted and needed a rest before beginning the descent. At this point I realised I wasn’t going to be making it to the next town in 7 days originally planned, so had to ration my remaining 5 days worth of food to last an extra day. This is always a hard decision as it will mean lower energy over the full stretch but it felt like my only option to make it without pushing myself too hard and risking burnout or injury.

Knowing my daily mileage could now be lower, I descended the mountain at a slow pace but having fallen behind the entire group, finding motivation was very tough. The complete removal from civilisation and phone signal was incredible in the high points, but when already struggling the isolation only added to the lack of motivation. Luckily there was one major motivation, keep hiking or run out of food, which it turns out is quite a powerful thought.

For the third night in a row, I had not got as far as I’d hoped and camped halfway up the climb to Mather pass, but was cheered up by a campsite with a view over the valley and lake below with a larger group of hikers including southbound hikers on the John Muir Trail which overlaps with the PCT throughout this section.

Day 64 – 20 miles

After my first good sleep in the Sierras, I was feeling slightly more motivated today, despite waking up yet again with icicles on my sleeping bag and with shoes frozen solid

Another reason to be positive was that after the short one mile climb to the top of the pass, it was then a 15 mile stretch of downhill and then for the first time this section, hiking on flat ground at the bottom of the valley.

Despite the continued isolation, this short section would end up being my favourite landscape of the entire sierras. This valley was surrounded on all sides by mountains and created its own microclimate and environment. The surrounding barren rocks was offset by a green valley floor with a major river running through the middle, with birds, insects and plants I hadn’t seen the entire trail.

After the joy of this afternoon, it was back to climbing and I met Skyrim again for the fourth night in a row halfway up the climb where we both chose to camp. Back to reality now, with us not seeing the rest of the group in two and a half days, we were both very low on morale and went to bed concerned we’d fallen completely behind and would not be able to keep up for the rest of the trail.

Day 65 – 26 miles

As seems to be the pattern now, the low points are usually followed by optimism and a drive to push on. That came in the form of a satellite message in the morning, finding out the rest of our group camped only 4 miles ahead of us rather than the 10 we had suspected. This optimism was timed perfectly, as we faced a pretty tough snow climb up Muir Pass which we completed by 9am

Reaching the top, we had a short break in Muir Shelter and I had a sudden surge of motivation. Out of nowhere, I decided that I was not going to take another break until I caught up with another member of our group, and set off marching down the mountain. After just two hours I managed to achieve this goal, and another two hours after that I’d caught up with the entirety of the group. After the struggles of the last few days, this was a much needed morale boost and everyone was equally as excited to see me as I was to see them. In the thruhiking community, groups that hike together are called trail families, and today was the first time I’d really felt this with the support and care that I received.

By the end of the day, we managed to make it to the Muir Trail Ranch, which came with the promise of charging and the hope of leftover food in the hiker box as at this stage everyone had packed one days left food than needed.

Day 66 – 22 miles

While we did get to charge up electronics, unfortunately there was very little spare food in the hiker box so as a group we ran through all our food in the morning to make sure everyone had enough for the remaining 3 days. Luckily as I had started rationing early on in the stretch, I had a few extra bits to share and everyone eventually had enough to get through.

The day started, as always, with a steep climb up Selden Pass but now I was getting more acclimatised the climb was one of the easier of the week.

The remainder of the day was relatively straightforward, with lakes, meadows and marmots keeping me entertained throughout the day

After a brief swim in the lake, we continued on, now starting to think about town for the first time with it only 48 hours away, and despite some climbs we sailed through the afternoon to get just 30 miles away from civilisation, with the only obstacle being a giant blowdown just half a mile away from camp, which took the rest of my energy to climb over

Day 67 – 16 miles

While today started with a steep 3,000ft climb up Silver Pass, it was celebrated as the last major pass we would climb in the high sierras, with elevation after this point beginning to drop. The climb up was difficult but provided nice open views and a sense that the major challenge was now behind us.

In theory, the remainder of this section would be straightforward however by now, everyone was mentally and physically drained after seven days of hiking in the wilderness and we were all motivating each other to keep going

After many breaks, we finally found a camping spot next to a large lake and went to bed with the thoughts of town food and beer tomorrow

Day 68 – 14 miles

The next morning everyone set off early, eager to get to town as early as possible. After a short climb in the morning, the rest of the hike was entirely downhill and was only slightly slowed town by the sketchiest river crossing of the section, with me somehow managing to tightrope across the log without falling

Just 3 miles away from the trailhead, the magic moment finally came where I got phone signal for the first time in 8 days, and I ignored all of the lovely birthday messages so I could catch up on the World Cup scores, with my only updates prior being satellite messages from mom to tell me the England scores.

By midday, I had reached the trailhead and arrived just in time for the free bus that takes people into the town of Mammoth. I very briefly saw some hikers that I hadn’t seen since day 7 on the trail, but unfortunately had to run for the bus with promises of catching up later on in the trail.

Completely wiped out, I reached the town of Mammoth. This stretch had been by far the most physically and mentally testing of the trail so far, with the isolation and elevation both causing havoc, but now on the other side I appreciated the beauty of the high sierras and the joy of completing one of the notoriously hardest sections of the trail

Day 69 and 70 – Zeroes in Mammoth Lakes

Mammoth Lakes is a ski town, filled with European style chalets and resorts. Luckily in the peak of summer, these chalets are much less popular, so we were able to book a large chalet to fit 10 of us for our time in town. The main plan was to rest up in town, but also finding time for lots of food and drink to replenish the lost calories from the section. Based on the high caloric burn and strict food rationing, I believe I would have burnt 4-5lbs in just this 8 day stretch and so I spent the next 48 hours constantly eating. This also involved a trail family potluck, where everyone brings one dish to share for dinner. To represent the UK, I made a millionaire shortbread and with 12 of us for dinner, we proceeded to devour 12 different meals. Now rested up, I was again ready to take on the next section, which would have us going into the most scenic park in America, Yosemite Valley