Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - June 7th
Day 52: Friday 7th June Bighorn Plateau – Vidette Meadow
It was very cold by the morning. I was warm in my sleeping bag, but Larry was cold
in his light down sleeping bag despite wearing all of his clothing. We left fairly early since
we wanted to cross Tyndall Creek as early as possible. Tyndall Creek drains a large snow-
filled basin and would be difficult to cross later in the day, when the sun stared melting
the snow. Even at 7.40 in the morning the creek was running well. I wore my sandals to
cross, but Larry had only the trainers he was wearing, so he bravely crossed bare-footed.
The water was only about knee deep but it was icy cold and painful to cross.
On the way up towards Forester Pass I caught up with Greg and Chris who were
hiking the John Muir Trail (JMT). The JMT is possibly the finest Long-Distance Walk in
the world and for much of its length the trail is shared by the PCT. Officially it starts on
the summit of Mount Whitney and traverses Sierra Nevada through the Sequoia, King’s
Canyon and Yosemite National Parks for 210 miles before dropping down to the Yosemite
Valley. John Muir was a Scottish emigrant, brought up in the Eastern States before
moving to San Francisco in 1868. He spent much of the next 6 years in the Yosemite
Valley and started a campaign to preserve the wilderness. He even managed to persuade
President Roosevelt to go on a 3-day camping trip with him into the wilderness. This
campaign was successful in getting the establishment of the Yosemite and Sequoia
National Park. He described the Sierra Nevada as “the most divinely beautiful of all the
mountain-chains that I have ever seen”. The JMT is a magnificent tribute to John Muir.
It is early in the year for hikers on the JMT, most walkers preferring to wait until
July or August when most of the snow has melted. A majority do the walk from north to
south so that they can gradually acclimatise for the climb to over 14,000ft on Mount
Whitney.
Above 11,000ft there were extensive snowfields covering the trail and the route to
the foot of the Forester Pass was not at all clear. Forester Pass goes through a small
notch in the headwall of Tyndall Creek Canyon. The trail had been blasted out of the rock
wall and was now banked up with snow. With the trail obliterated, the final climb to the
Pass required a cool head and great care clambering up boulder fields and steep
snowfields. The summit of the Pass, at 13,180ft is the highest point on the PCT, had
become a gathering point for the thru-hikers. As well as Greg and Chris there were
familiar faces, “Hahn Solo”, “Flutterby”, “Fancy”, Larry and Parker as well as
newcomers, Mark and “Smokey”.
The north face of the pass was much more snowed up than the southern approaches
and there was no sign of the path at all. The snow was very soft and pot-holed badly.
There were tracks dropping steeply down into Bubbs Creek Canyon, which didn’t follow
the line of the PCT. However it wasn’t possible to leave these tracks, as you would just
sink up to the waist into the soft snow. While some of the hikers were properly equipped,
others were wearing trainers and not carrying ice axe or walking poles. The under-
equipped “Hahn Solo” fell about 200ft and was lucky not to be injured. Even wearing
boots I got damp feet as snow got into them and those hikers wearing trainers must have
suffered from cold wet feet. Further down there were a few traces of the path, but it was
impossible to follow and everyone found their own route down the mountain. Down at
10,500ft the path started reappearing and there was an uncomfortable icy-cold ford of the
Centre Basin Creek.
I camped at Vidette Meadow with “Flutterby”, “Fancy” and “Smokey”. “Smokey,
another AT veteran from Tennessee, had a real Tennessee drawl which I found difficult to
follow. They were dropping off the trail the next day to resupply. Not so easy as it sounds
as they had to climb over the Kearsarge Pass and then drop 3000ft to the Onion Valley,
find a lift 15 miles into town before retracing their steps. They offered to pack out my
trash for me as I was staying on the trail.
“Flutterby” had a phobia about bears so we had to cook well away from our tents.
Fortunately there wasn’t a cloud in the sky all day, which was just as well in these
tough conditions. It had been an exhausting day.
Day 52: 14.3 miles 7.33 hours Camp: Vidette Meadow
It was very cold by the morning. I was warm in my sleeping bag, but Larry was cold
in his light down sleeping bag despite wearing all of his clothing. We left fairly early since
we wanted to cross Tyndall Creek as early as possible. Tyndall Creek drains a large snow-
filled basin and would be difficult to cross later in the day, when the sun stared melting
the snow. Even at 7.40 in the morning the creek was running well. I wore my sandals to
cross, but Larry had only the trainers he was wearing, so he bravely crossed bare-footed.
The water was only about knee deep but it was icy cold and painful to cross.
On the way up towards Forester Pass I caught up with Greg and Chris who were
hiking the John Muir Trail (JMT). The JMT is possibly the finest Long-Distance Walk in
the world and for much of its length the trail is shared by the PCT. Officially it starts on
the summit of Mount Whitney and traverses Sierra Nevada through the Sequoia, King’s
Canyon and Yosemite National Parks for 210 miles before dropping down to the Yosemite
Valley. John Muir was a Scottish emigrant, brought up in the Eastern States before
moving to San Francisco in 1868. He spent much of the next 6 years in the Yosemite
Valley and started a campaign to preserve the wilderness. He even managed to persuade
President Roosevelt to go on a 3-day camping trip with him into the wilderness. This
campaign was successful in getting the establishment of the Yosemite and Sequoia
National Park. He described the Sierra Nevada as “the most divinely beautiful of all the
mountain-chains that I have ever seen”. The JMT is a magnificent tribute to John Muir.
It is early in the year for hikers on the JMT, most walkers preferring to wait until
July or August when most of the snow has melted. A majority do the walk from north to
south so that they can gradually acclimatise for the climb to over 14,000ft on Mount
Whitney.
Above 11,000ft there were extensive snowfields covering the trail and the route to
the foot of the Forester Pass was not at all clear. Forester Pass goes through a small
notch in the headwall of Tyndall Creek Canyon. The trail had been blasted out of the rock
wall and was now banked up with snow. With the trail obliterated, the final climb to the
Pass required a cool head and great care clambering up boulder fields and steep
snowfields. The summit of the Pass, at 13,180ft is the highest point on the PCT, had
become a gathering point for the thru-hikers. As well as Greg and Chris there were
familiar faces, “Hahn Solo”, “Flutterby”, “Fancy”, Larry and Parker as well as
newcomers, Mark and “Smokey”.
The north face of the pass was much more snowed up than the southern approaches
and there was no sign of the path at all. The snow was very soft and pot-holed badly.
There were tracks dropping steeply down into Bubbs Creek Canyon, which didn’t follow
the line of the PCT. However it wasn’t possible to leave these tracks, as you would just
sink up to the waist into the soft snow. While some of the hikers were properly equipped,
others were wearing trainers and not carrying ice axe or walking poles. The under-
equipped “Hahn Solo” fell about 200ft and was lucky not to be injured. Even wearing
boots I got damp feet as snow got into them and those hikers wearing trainers must have
suffered from cold wet feet. Further down there were a few traces of the path, but it was
impossible to follow and everyone found their own route down the mountain. Down at
10,500ft the path started reappearing and there was an uncomfortable icy-cold ford of the
Centre Basin Creek.
I camped at Vidette Meadow with “Flutterby”, “Fancy” and “Smokey”. “Smokey,
another AT veteran from Tennessee, had a real Tennessee drawl which I found difficult to
follow. They were dropping off the trail the next day to resupply. Not so easy as it sounds
as they had to climb over the Kearsarge Pass and then drop 3000ft to the Onion Valley,
find a lift 15 miles into town before retracing their steps. They offered to pack out my
trash for me as I was staying on the trail.
“Flutterby” had a phobia about bears so we had to cook well away from our tents.
Fortunately there wasn’t a cloud in the sky all day, which was just as well in these
tough conditions. It had been an exhausting day.
Day 52: 14.3 miles 7.33 hours Camp: Vidette Meadow
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King's Kern Divide
from Bighorn Plateau
from Bighorn Plateau
Larry sleeping in
Greg, Upper Tyndall
Creek Canyon
Creek Canyon
Chris, Upper Tyndall
Creek Canyon
Creek Canyon
Forester Pass
Fancy, Smokey
and Flutterby
and Flutterby
Descent route
from Forester Pass
from Forester Pass
Centre Basin Creek
Bubb's Creek