Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - June 23rd
Day 68: Sunday 23rd June W. Walker Trail Junction – Sonora Pass
I was attacked by mosquitoes when I got out of the tent at 5.40am. The temperature
had not dropped enough overnight to deter them. The walk in the early morning was
through pleasant undulating woodland. I didn’t dare stop, as I didn’t want to be attacked
by the mozzies. By 8.30 there was enough breeze in a clearing beside Kennedy Canyon
Creek to stop for my second breakfast.
From Kennedy Canyon there was a 2,500ft climb up to the exposed, treeless alpine
ridge leading to the Sonora Pass. I had traversed this ridge twice before and both times I
had finished the traverse in thunderstorms with lightning hitting the ridge not far away
from me; very dangerous and frightening. Today the weather was hot and sunny and
looked settled. Typically weather in the High Sierra would see the sky clear in the
morning, clouding over in the afternoon with a brief storm before clearing in the
evening. On this trip there had often been the build up of cloud, but the storms had not
materialised.
The ascent was easy with only a few snow patches. Surprisingly there was no sign of
footprints in the snow from the thru-hikers I knew were just ahead of me. It was windy
enough on the ridge to keep blowing my cap off and I had lunch in the shelter of the few
bushes that survived in the harsh conditions on this exposed ridge.
The east face of Leavitt Peak had a lot of snow covering the trail. It was not
particularly difficult to traverse, but it was tiring, both physically and mentally,
traversing on steep snow slopes. When I reached the “notch” in the cliff I could see the
smoke from the fire I had heard about 5 days earlier. The fire was not affecting the PCT,
but there were still some roads closed because of the smoke.
The final 1,200ft descent down to the Sonora Pass was completely obliterated by
snowfields. Fortunately it wasn’t snow cupped and the snow was still quite hard, so I
managed to do a standing glissade most of the way down. I arrived at the Sonora Pass to
find Mary and “Billy Goat” already there. “Billy Goat” had bivvied on the ridge overnight
with seven thru-hikers and come down the slope in the morning. This showed how
quickly the snow was melting as their footsteps had already melted out by the time I
came down in late afternoon.
I had left a supply bag hanging in the trees and I had difficulty in reaching it because
I had been standing on 3ft of snow when I had hung the bag and now that snow had
melted. This is an area frequented by bears so I was pleased that my hanging methods
had worked. Mary gave me a meal of sausage, egg and fried bread, which was much
appreciated. There were a number of White-breasted Nuthatches feeding around the
picnic site at the pass. These are entertaining birds as they climb acrobatically up, down
and round tree trunks in search of insects and larvae in the bark.
Day 68: 17.3 miles 8.25 hours Camp: Sonora Pass
I was attacked by mosquitoes when I got out of the tent at 5.40am. The temperature
had not dropped enough overnight to deter them. The walk in the early morning was
through pleasant undulating woodland. I didn’t dare stop, as I didn’t want to be attacked
by the mozzies. By 8.30 there was enough breeze in a clearing beside Kennedy Canyon
Creek to stop for my second breakfast.
From Kennedy Canyon there was a 2,500ft climb up to the exposed, treeless alpine
ridge leading to the Sonora Pass. I had traversed this ridge twice before and both times I
had finished the traverse in thunderstorms with lightning hitting the ridge not far away
from me; very dangerous and frightening. Today the weather was hot and sunny and
looked settled. Typically weather in the High Sierra would see the sky clear in the
morning, clouding over in the afternoon with a brief storm before clearing in the
evening. On this trip there had often been the build up of cloud, but the storms had not
materialised.
The ascent was easy with only a few snow patches. Surprisingly there was no sign of
footprints in the snow from the thru-hikers I knew were just ahead of me. It was windy
enough on the ridge to keep blowing my cap off and I had lunch in the shelter of the few
bushes that survived in the harsh conditions on this exposed ridge.
The east face of Leavitt Peak had a lot of snow covering the trail. It was not
particularly difficult to traverse, but it was tiring, both physically and mentally,
traversing on steep snow slopes. When I reached the “notch” in the cliff I could see the
smoke from the fire I had heard about 5 days earlier. The fire was not affecting the PCT,
but there were still some roads closed because of the smoke.
The final 1,200ft descent down to the Sonora Pass was completely obliterated by
snowfields. Fortunately it wasn’t snow cupped and the snow was still quite hard, so I
managed to do a standing glissade most of the way down. I arrived at the Sonora Pass to
find Mary and “Billy Goat” already there. “Billy Goat” had bivvied on the ridge overnight
with seven thru-hikers and come down the slope in the morning. This showed how
quickly the snow was melting as their footsteps had already melted out by the time I
came down in late afternoon.
I had left a supply bag hanging in the trees and I had difficulty in reaching it because
I had been standing on 3ft of snow when I had hung the bag and now that snow had
melted. This is an area frequented by bears so I was pleased that my hanging methods
had worked. Mary gave me a meal of sausage, egg and fried bread, which was much
appreciated. There were a number of White-breasted Nuthatches feeding around the
picnic site at the pass. These are entertaining birds as they climb acrobatically up, down
and round tree trunks in search of insects and larvae in the bark.
Day 68: 17.3 miles 8.25 hours Camp: Sonora Pass
Waterfall
Upper Kennedy Canyon
Traversing Leavitt Peak
Traversing Leavitt Peak
Volcanic peak
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