[pct-l] My experience in the Sierras

[Madeline Yacoe]

Hi fellow hikers,

Mountain Ned asked me to post about my experience hiking through the
Sierras, to help the hikers who still have yet to do the JMT/Central
California section.

I left Kennedy Meadows June 10 and finished at Echo Pass July 18. There was
a lot of snow and it was slow going (we did 10-15 miles per day), but we
went straight through and took a lot of zeroes along the way (3 in Bishop, 4
in Mammoth, plus 3 days to finish the JMT to Yosemite Valley).

It's been several weeks since I was through, so there is undoubtedly less
snow now than there was for me, but I will tell you what I experienced.

We had more or less solid snow from one day north of Kennedy Meadows until
Sonora Pass. It would get patchy and/or dry at lower elevations, and there
were several days when we walked entirely on snow. We even slept on snow one
night, for lack of a dry patch. This was exhausting and would have been
frustrating if we didn't keep a positive outlook and think of it as a fun
challenge.

Ice axes and spikes were absolutely necessary for us, as was GPS and good
map-and-compass skills. I really liked having gaiters to keep the icy snow
from scraping my legs when I postholed. The morning was usually firm and we
used spikes. By afternoon, the snow was slushy and we would posthole. We
tried to go up the passes in the firm morning snow and glissade down the
backside in the afternoon slush (not on the ice!!).

River crossings were big, but doable. They should be significantly mellower
now that so much snow has melted off. Some people ran into trouble crossing
at some of the official trail crossings, but if you aren't in too much of a
hurry and look upstream you should be able to find a safe spot. I am tiny
-only 5'0" and 120 pounds- and I was able to cross Return, Mono, Spiller,
Piute, Kerrick, and Falls creeks by myself without much trouble (I crossed
with a partner/group for some others). If I can do the crossings, so can
you. Just take the time to look upstream for a calm spot or a log bridge.

Plan for slow miles and bring plenty of food. We burned a lot of calories.
Some groups left Kennedy Meadows intending to go straight through to VVR,
but from what I saw, it seemed like most groups came out at Kearsarge Pass
and resupplied in Independence/Bishop because they ate their food faster
than they planned. We planned to do one pass a day, which was a realistic
pace for June. Again, you will probably be faster with less snow and milder
rivers, but that worked for us.

The bottom line is, the Sierras are gorgeous. Enjoy them. We saw a few
groups who weren't enjoying themselves and it seemed like they were pushing
themselves too hard. If you bring enough food and take your time, you will
probably have a lot more fun. Love it and take lots of pictures!

Madeline "12 Ounce" Yacoe