A Stark Change of Scenery
The instant you decide to hike the PCT SOBO, the pressure is on. While northbound hikers have a roughly 4 month window to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains after the winter snows melt and before the next snow begins in the Cascades up in Washington, SOBOs have a considerably shorter window (3.5 months) to cover the same ground. At the end of the day, typical successful NOBO covers an average of 17.5 miles per day, while SOBOs average around 20, purely due to seasonal pressures. The seasons can be your enemy on the trail, and throughout our journey, we have pushed forward mile after mile to beat the snows in the Sierras. Typical advice is to finish the Sierras before October 1; on October 2, we crossed Forester Pass, the highest point on the PCT, and more importantly: the LAST major pass in the High Sierras. We were home free, with only miles (not passes) between us and Mexico.
There was one more major Sierra moment before we said farewell to the high mountains for good: the highest point in the contiguous US, Mt. Whitney. While the summit is not part of the trail, an 8 mile sidetrail leads directly to the summit, with only a 3500 foot climb. Most hikers take advantage of this opportunity, and take an extra day between Bishop and Kennedy Meadows South, and we couldn’t resist the challenge. We rested thoroughly with a zero day in Bishop, where we stayed at a guesthouse that had all the hiker essentials (thanks Pilar for the birthday gift to Daphne!). We were ready to summit, despite a questionable weather forecast.
With Forester pass and Mt. Whitney in the bag, it was time to flex our trail legs and speed off into ”The Desert”, which formally begins in Kennedy Meadows South. Jagged mountain peaks and valleys gave way to endless rolling hills. Freezing streams and lakes morphed into bone dry riverbeds (and long water carries!). We left 10,000 feet behind for good. We saw our first Joshua trees, carried a combined total of 6 liters of water 18 miles, and had our warmest night in over a month. All this change seemed to take place in a single 10 mile stretch. And this is what the rest of the PCT has laid out for us, and while it’s been a welcome change from frozen nights and driving afternoon thunderstorms, it is certainly bittersweet to leave the high mountains for good.
