June 10: One last ascent

We left the last row of the amphitheatre at Kennedy Meadows at 6:30 this morning, whispering goodbyes to a few other early risers as we went.

The trail took us up up up today, from 6000 ft to 10500 here at a saddle up on the Western face of 12250-ft Mt. Olancha. An early ascent along Crag Creek brought us over into Beck Meadow, the south most finger of the vast sage brush savannah of Menache Meadows. It was stunning to see the great green valley sprawled out before us, the white glinting peaks of the High Sierra standing as sentinels ahead to the north.

Many people have already left the trail to flip to Canada, to skip to Northern California, etc. but today we were very glad to be right where we were. The South Fork Kern River meandered healthily, slowly along the floor of the great Meadow, swallows flitting and diving through the riverside sedges and grass. It was just so beautiful.

Our concern, however, throughout the day, was with what the higher elevations held for us. Snow? How much? And how high? It is about 42 miles from Kennedy Meadows to the 10500-ft junction with Trail pass which descends East toward the Horseshoe camp at a road some 20 miles from Lone Pine -- out ultimate destination, the end point for our northbound walk. This should take us two days, but we are giving ourselves lots of leeway just in case we end up having to "post hole" or take an alternate cross-country route. Squeaky's report from two weeks back which we read at the Kennedy Meadows General Store indidcated patchy snow for about half of those 42 miles and about 10 miles of solid snow pack.

We couldn't have been happier with the way things turned out today. Coming up towards Olancha Peak, we couldn't make out much snow at all on her southern facing slopes, and didn't encounter any until just after 10,000 ft. This, in and of itself, was a surprise and a relief. Three weeks ago, leaving Wrightwood in the San Gabriels, anything over 8000 ft was still covered in white.

As we pushed on towards the saddle, our highest point yet on the PCT, we were granted amazing panoramic views south over the distant lower mountain ranges, falling into cloudy, monochrome oblivion at the gaping horizon; the foreground meadow stark and green, 2000 ft directly below our precarious perch. Headwaters of Menache Creek, likely the recent snow melt from over the past few hot, sunny days, soaked the mountainside, new green, waxy leaves sprouting out of the steep, marshy terrain.

At the saddle, we encountered a bit more snow, but still only in patches. Coming over top we could see out over and into the high Sierra. It was so beautiful, with the gloaming sunlight shining in streams through the masses of clouds coming over the Western Divide.

Our maps stink, so we couldn't even identify the peaks before us . . . Whitney's out there, probably Cirque, Langley, Rocky, barren Olancha is looking down at me even now as I type in the waning daylight, propped out the front of our tent.

We have been debating making an early morning ascent up to the summit of Mt. Olancha. We've decided to wait until morning to see how we feel. It is right there, waitng to be walked upon. It is difficult to turn away from the trail, though. Something nags and says stay, walk here.

Regardless, come tomorrow,we will be walking. Come tomorrow.