#ca section h

The ghost of John Muir accompanies every hiker through the High Sierra and, if you agree with Muir, a bond with nature that we all share.  In his autobiographical book, My Boyhood and Youth, Muir claimed that his passion for nature derived from a “natural inherited wildness in our blood,” which he believed exists in each of us.  In this short piece, Stargazer touches on that shared connection between man and nature.

We will talk about Muir more in future entries including sharing some of his writing.  Writing which has done much to shape our attitudes about nature and our responsibility to protect it.

By Albert “Stargazer” Wallace

My hike from Silver Pass to Tuolumne Meadows in the back country of Yosemite was one of my most memorable sections of the PCT. This is John Muir country. Muir was the 19th century geologist and botanist that wrote about and documented the glacial origins of Sierra Nevada mountain topography. His writings brought these mountains to life and helped to establish them as one of the great natural treasures of America. He was a founder of the Sierra Club and was its first president.

I camped across the valley from Mt. Ritter and Banner Peak at the end of a 19-mile day and 3,200 feet of climbing including Silver Pass. I had passed the Reds Meadows bus stop in the morning.  No ride to Mammoth Lakes for me in order to keep to schedule and resupply at Tuolumne Meadows. It was a two day hike further north up the trail. There was a box of food waiting there at the US Post Office.

Alpenglow on Banner Peak and the right Banner Peak

The night air was crisp and cold. I breathed effortlessly for so high an elevation. My alarm was set for 5:00 am. It was summer solstice, June 22, and the longest day in the year. 5 am was very close to day break first light. I was asleep by 8:30. My journey required a serious attention to detail, a never ending focus on trail miles. It was a regimen that would make a 10th Infantry Division army drill sergeant proud. This unit trained for fighting enemy at high elevation during the Second World War. My pack weight was equivalent to carrying an M-1 military rifle from World War II, ammunition and other military issue high elevation gear and traveling on skis.

The camp site was high above the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. The views to the west were breathtaking with the ice covered peaks framing the scene. This is a mountain first summited by John Muir in 1872. He wrote about his two day trek up the icy peak equipped with a piece of bread and no equipment. My tent was on a bluff east of the San Joaquin. Rising early I watched the rose colored glow on Ritter and Banner in the morning daybreak sunrise and snapped a photo with my iPhone. John Muir described a similar scene this way: “This was the alpenglow, to me one of the most impressive of all the terrestrial manifestations of God.” This was an adventurous hike through the most beautiful of nature’s gardens. My whole body and being was continuously in awe of this wondrous paradise I was privileged to briefly inhabit.

I passed scenic Thousand Island Lake which is the headwaters for the San Joaquin River Middle Fork. It rests at the foot of Mt. Ritter. I lost the trail and hiked half mile around the lake as if to count the thousand islands, caught my navigation error, retraced my steps and was back on the trail to Island Pass. The trail led me down to Rush Creek that feeds into salty Mono Lake. Then it was a 1,500 foot climb to Donohue Pass the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. I passed down through ancient glacial moraines and snow fields on the north side of the pass and into a beautiful tree lined graceful valley which holds the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River. The Lyell Fork holds the most serene meanders. The river seemed to be in no particular hurry. Watching the clear graceful meandering flow, I became peaceful and serene.

It is mid-July and conditions have improved significantly in the High Sierra.  But, challenges still abound and caution and prudence are called for.  Isko Salminen documents some of the stream crossings hikers face with both photos and video.  In this clip, six hikers work together to cross a swift, chest high river early in the morning after electing to spend the night on the bank hoping cooler night-time temperatures would reduce the flow even a little.  This 5-minute successful crossing is both instructive and worth a ‘Whoo-Hoo’ at the end:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT4K8RGm8Nc

We have periodically published images taken by Stockholm-based photographer Linda Akerberg during her 2016 thru-hike of the PCT.  In 2007 she began her career as a freelance photographer.  Hiking, however, was a more recent passion.  She is currently on her way to the Everest Base Camp.

“Dare to trust yourself,” she says, “that you can make the right decisions, that you can carry what you need on your back and that your feet can take you wherever you want. . . . We can do so much more than we think.”

Brit Ryan Goggin posted these images from the High Sierra a week ago.  He reports that little is more frustrating than the slushy ‘sun cups’ that leave feet soaked once the sun heats up the snow.

You can follow Ryan’s journey at https://ryangoggin.com/pct-blog-posts/

There are many hikers who have dedicated their walk to a cause. Ryan has not just given his efforts lip-service.  He met his goal of raising more than 6,000 Pounds Sterling for ‘Cardiac Risk in the Young’, a British non-profit, and has now begun raising funds for a second charity, Refugee Action (UK).  I appreciated his appeal:

This is a cause really close to my heart. It’s beyond me as to how, in the 21st century, we are still born into societies unequal to others. Purely through luck of where we’re born in the first place! Having the opportunity to help others settle into a life they could never have dreamed of is what will keep me motivated to complete this. We can keep our luxuries in life, but when we break things down what do we actually need beyond the basics? Safety, food and water is life. There are loads of luxuries that are free. So please help my drive to improve the circumstance of others!

Ansel Adams - from his photographs of National Parks and Monuments, 1941-42

Most of the photos along the PCT take full advantage of the rich colors that surround us in the mountains.  However, there is much to be said for the power of the black and white photograph and its ability to capture texture and light. No one demonstrated this more than Ansel Adams, who transformed the way we think of the Sierra and wilderness photography. Because of his influence, the 232,000 acre Ansel Adams Wilderness was designated (which includes the eastern slope of the Ritter Range, Mammoth, the PCT/JMT, and much more).

On his first trip to the Sierra Nevada, in June of 1916, Ansel Adams went armed with a camera—a Kodak No. 1 Brownie—and started shooting. "I expect to be broke if I keep up the rate I am taking pictures," the budding 14-year-old photographer wrote to his Aunt Mary in San Francisco that summer. "I have taken 30 already."

He kept shooting for almost seven decades, until his death at age 82 in 1984, by which time he had become a world-famous photographer and a powerful voice for wilderness. Although he traveled far and wide, he returned again and again to the Sierra—"a noble gesture of the earth," in his phrase—for the adventure, artistic inspiration, friendship, and solace he found among its jagged granite peaks, snow-swept passes, and brooding skies. His uncompromising portrayal of these subjects still draws pilgrims to the wilderness.

Others, from amateur thru-hikers to professional photographers, also remind us of the power of the black and white image. Thru-hiker Daisy Finn took this shot up Lyell Canyon (below). Consider sending me your black-and-white photos from the PCT for posting -- [email protected]

By “Zenlightened Voyager” This is the second post from her delightfully well-written blog which can be followed at https://zenlightenedvoyager.com/category/pct-blog/ As she implores us “lighten the load, live the moment, love the journey”. In this entry, after a zero day and a few indulgences, it is hard to return to the trail. The end of the day brought a little honest assessment of who is most likely to get accosted by a bear.

Food: Tortilla w/cheese & salami, Crackers, Snickers Bar, Couscous & Tuna, Protein Bar

Health & Hygiene: 0 Blisters, Days since last shower 1, Days since laundry 2

I was struggling to think of a good reason to leave the luxurious comforts of my Motel 6 room. I can’t deny, there are many basic things that I really, really miss … hot running water, a flat surface to sleep on, a toilet that you can actually sit on and the good old GoggleBox! I am almost a little ashamed to admit to this last one, but it’s the truth. I often spend my hiking days fantasizing about the marathon sessions of GOT and OITNB that I intend to indulge in when I return to the real world … No spoilers please!

By the time I’d finished procrastinating, found the motivation to leave and finally made my way back to the trail, it was way after noon. The air was hot and humid, my pack was ridiculously heavy and I was all alone for the first time in weeks. All alone, apart from the droves of day hikers that is. I picked my way through the great washed and eventually came upon yet another of America’s satanic geological formations. I really wasn’t sure what to expect from the Devil’s Postpile, but as soon as I saw it things made perfect sense. However, what I was struggling to make sense of was America’s somewhat odd fascination with Lucifer. So far I’d seen the Devil’s Chair, his Punchbowl and now a stack of his letters … What next?

I would have liked to have lingered a little longer at this unique National Monument but it was heavily guarded by vicious  bloodsucking insects who were definitely doing the work of the devil! The northern half of the Sierras is notorious for mosquitos. I had long since learned to take fear mongering trail rumors with a pinch of salt. I mean how bad can it be, they’re just tiny little flying things … Right?!?

I plodded on, mostly uphill. My mind was preoccupied by thoughts of bears. Deluxe had been constantly bleating on about how badly behaved the bears are in Yosemite and this information was messing with my head. I stopped for a snack at a beautiful spot alongside a stream, but my over active imagination wouldn’t allow me to relax. I hiked on. Once I’d shaken off the day hikers I saw nobody. I missed my “Tramily”!