Summer

Index of High Sierra Trail Encounters

Trail Culture in the High Sierras

Writing this trail guide made it impossible to complete a Tahoe to Whitney backpacking trip this Summer. To compensate, I just returned from a 100 mile Southbound backpacking trip along the Sierra Crest between July 21 and August 1st, 2010.

See The Trip Plan

The timing of this trip allowed me to encounter and talk to a large number of Pacific Crest Trail hikers. PCTers are a key component of High Sierra Trail Culture during the early Summer. In 2010 I was able to meet many PCTers in mid and late Summer.

The reason was the extreme late Spring snow fall that held the PCTers out of the Sierras until July, which is very late in the hiking season for PCTers hoping to reach Canada before snows again cover the trail.

Hey, I was there. I did trips along the Crest in March and June of 2010. The snow in mid June was deep and plentiful from 7500 feet on North facing slopes, and about 8500 on South facing slopes. All the Sierra passes were choked with snow until deep into the hiking season.

So I met a lot of PCTers as I headed South on the PCT between Bond Pass and Tuolumen Meadows in July and August.

I also met other representatives of trail culture. Horsemen, Scientists, Trail workers, Boy Scouts, as well as many many long distance backpackers decorated the trails.

Add to this the great staffs of the two resupply points I crossed, first at Kennedy Meadows Pack Station (Hwy 108) and then at Tuolumne Meadows, (Hwy 120) where this too-short trip ended.

Resupply points are centers of Trail Culture.

This section will give you a glimpse into the variety of travelers on, and the people along, the High Sierra trails in 2010.

You should be one of them!

Index By Page

Trail Head

Trail Culture Index

Hwy 395 to Corral Valley

Corral Valley to PCT at East Carson River

The E Carson Headwaters to the Sonora Pass

Kennedy Meadows Pack Station

Hiking towards Brown Bear Pass

Brown Bear Pass to Stubblefield Canyon

Stubblefield Canyon to Cold Canyon

Cold Canyon to Tuolumne Meadows

Note

To all of you who I have met on the trails last year, and during previous years, your pictures will be incorporated into the main Trail Guide pages as they are constructed.

I have not forgotten any of you. It is just so time-consuming to build a trail guide.

High Sierra Trail Culture Introduction

One of the most delightful parts of a High Sierra Backpacking trip is the fine people who you meet in the Wilderness. I call this "Trail Culture."

Who you meet also depends on when you travel. Early season travelers will meet many Pacific Crest Trailers, rushing North through the Sierras to complete their journey to Canada before the Winter snows close the Cascades, and end their quest.

A few Pacific Crest Trailers may be seen in the Sierras later in the season, long after the main body of PCTers has passed, as they are doing the Pacific Crest Trail one section at a time, and are not rushing against the clock to beat Winter to the Cascades.

This allows the PCT section hiker much more lattitude in what part of the Summer they travel in, as they are not trying to beat the Winter snows up North.

This also allows them to tarry a bit on the trail, take side trips, and spend extra time at the beauitiful places and people they discover along the trail.

Along the way we often meet other aspects of trail culture. The range of horsemen, hunters, fishermen, day hikers, trail workers, rangers, and scientists also gives us a wider view by showing us how other people perceive the wilderness.

What follows is by no means a complete record of hikers. This is a representative sample of the elements of High Sierra trail culture that you will meet if you point yourself down the long trails that follow the Sierra Crest from Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney.

The Trip

July 21 to August 1, 2010: Up The Eastern Flank of the Sierras 2 miles North of Walker, Ca, West to the Pacific Crest Trail, and then South on the Pacific Crest Trail to Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite. This trip is around a hundred miles in length.

This particular backpacking trip began with a Craig's List ride from Berkeley, where I live, up to the Sonora Pass on Highway 108 on Thursday, July 21, 2010.

Rather than continuing over the Pass to the East, to Hwy 395, where my trail head lays 16 miles North of the junction between Hwys 395 and 108, I decided to spend my first night, the 21st of July, at Sonora Pass.

Sunset on clouds East of Sonora Pass, June 2009

The next morning, Friday the 22nd, I wandered over to the Sonora Pass to hitch a ride East to Hwy 395, I ran into my first Pacific Crest Trail hiker, Stroker.

Stroker

I ran into Stroker on Thursday, July 22, 2010 at the Sonora Pass.

Stroker is a Pacific Crest Trail Hiker who has, like the rest of his fellow PCTers, completed 1000 miles on the trail North from Mexico to reach Sonora Pass.

When I walked over to the Sonora Pass the next morning, Stroker was sitting where I was going to hitch. No problem for the Stroker, so we hitch hiked together East on Hwy 108from the Sonora Pass.

Stroker was heading to Bridgeport to resupply, which I do not recommend. I highly suggest that you resupply at Kennedy Meadows Pack Station .

But other than missing the Kennedy Meadows Pack Station experience, Stroker is doing the Pacific Crest Trail right: Though Stroker covers big miles on the trail, he never neglects to take the time necessary to take in all the sights and experiences. At least the ones he knows about!

Stroker detoured to climb Mt. Whitney, exited to Bishop to resupply and hang out, explored Mammoth Lakes, and also detoured off the PCT to head down to Yosemite Valley to check it out, and climb Half Dome.

The Stroker and I caught a great ride from a retired teacher/Marine/backpacker from the town of Sonora down to Hwy 395.