The End of the Seirras (D-52 1016.9-1034.2; D-53 1034.2-1060.5; D-54 1060.5-1083.5)

Finally, the end of the Seirras (remember the Beauty & the Beast tag) is almost here. At least, officially and by the change in terrain and scenery. Hopefully I will be reaching Echo Lake tomorrow morning and that's the official end per Far Out app. Supposedly, the Seirras are the toughest part of the PCT. I can definitely attest to it being physically demanding and mentally challenging, especially since it was early in the season with lots of snow around and lots of snow melting resulting in sketchy snow traverses & water crossings. I am sure the trail will remain "adventurous" in the next 3 sections - Northern CA, Oregon & Washington - too (esp the last).

In the last three days, I didn't cross any high passes but it was lots of constant ups & downs with plenty of trail still covered by snow & water, which meant lots of painful way-finding and losing the trail. Did I mention already that I hate way-finding? 😬 I think I am done with snow and hoping it goes away soon. There were also couple of so-called Death Traverses, only cos a fall would mean sliding a loooong way down. But they were actually easy as long as one was careful and slow.

I have been hiking with Sofie, Owen & Cinnamon last three days, or at least, meeting them occasionally on the trail and at the end of the day, which is very pleasant & something to look fwd to. Tomorrow we split apart due to our different zero day schedules, but hopefully I will meet Sofie & Cinnamon later on (Owen is taking a few days break).

The last three days have been rather uneventful and in fact, I seem to be jaded by the beauty of Seirras by now 'cos I took only 1 pic on D-52 (see above).

Getting ready to get on the trail after a shuttle ride from Kennedy Meadows North

An artistic pic 😋

A snowy traverse to Noble Lake

Bare hillsides with the trail going up, definitely indicating a change from a typical Seirras trail

Nice new PCT signage

Alpine lakes - still fascinatingly pretty (in case you didn't notice, my notes now have video links too, like this one of the Alpine lakes)

A couple of those long snowy traverses which drastically reduces your pace

An abundance of natural toilet paper (they are good!)

Finally, the return of trail magic - at the Carson Pass info center

Hiking along in the twilight

Cowboy camping tonight

Data:

D-52

D-53

D-54

Comments

My gear and my tramily (D-97 @ 2148 - Zero day)

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Monthly Data Update (M-4; Day 91 to 118)

All data below in italics is for M-1, M-2 & M-3 respectively, for comparison. M-4 is 28 days (all other months were 30 days) Distance traveled on PCT: 702 mi / 1130 km ( 631 mi / 1015 km; 554 mi / 892 km; 798 mi /1284 km ) Total time: 281 ( 280; 280; 320 ) hours Total ascent: 126,923 ft / 38,686 m ( 117,830 ft/35,915 m; 99,040 ft/30,190 m; 123,951 ft/37,780 m ) Total descent: 128,161 ft / 39,063 m ( 115,912 ft/35,330 m; 99,730 ft/30,400 m; 123,921 ft/37,771 m ) Highest point: 7174 ft / 2187 m ( 9407 ft/2867 m; 13,120 ft/4000 m; 7580 ft/2310 m ) Average distance/day: 25 mi / 40 km ( 21 mi/34 km; 18.7 mi/30.1 km; 26.6 mi/42.8 km ) Average distance/hiking day: 26 mi / 42 km ( 21.8 mi/35.1 km; 21.3 mi/34.3 km; 26.6 mi/42.8 km ) Average time hiking/day: 10.0 ( 9.3; 9.3; 10.7) hours (incl Nero days) Average pace: 2.6 mph/4.2 kmph ( 2.3 mph/3.6 kmph; 2.0 mph/3.2 kmph; 2.5 mph/4.0 kmph ) Number of Zero days:...

Pleasures of being on PCT (D-16; 303.7 - 328.8 miles)

Heading out from the cowboy camping experience last night, I was looking forward to Deer Creek Hot Springs that is apparently very popular among the locals too & tended to get crowded during the weekends, even though one has to hike in a mile or so from the trailhead parking (or hike 308 miles on PCT 🙂). Reached it early enough, but still it was chock full of people - locals & thru-hikers both - most of whom had camped there overnight in spite of it being a No Camping zone. People were lazing around in some of the pools in various states of undress, as it was a clothing optional area. It was way too crowded for me and I decided to head out. But, as I was heading out, I saw a small pool of water with nobody in it and the water was pleasantly hot (not just warm). Pool I "discovered" away from the crowds Close-up of the pool Me in the pool 😋 What a lovely feeling to be in a hot pool, especially after not having had a hot ...

A thru-hike attempt

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