Butterfly on Daisy off the side of the road. | DAY -3: Aug 28 (Sun) Stanford --> Taiga PassNOTES: Josh, Paul, & I (we would meet Jenny later) traveled by car to Taiga Pass; we camped about 1 mile off road just east of pass |
Seagull chasing bugs at Mono Lake (we stopped at Mono Lake on our way to Lone Pine). | DAY -2: Aug 29 (Mon) Taiga Pass --> Lone Pine NOTES: After dropping us off in Lone Pine, Josh dropped his car off at Whitney Portal and hitchhiked back to Lone Pine; we camped in park in Lone Pine. |
Flower in Bishop. | DAY -1: Aug 30 (Tue) Lone Pine --> Bishop --> Mammoth Lakes NOTES: We traveled by buses, from Lone Pine to Bishop and Bishop to Mammoth Lakes ($5-9 each); we met up with Jenny in Mammoth Lakes, and made an impromptu food drop at Red’s Meadow (we would come through there after about 4-5 days of hiking); Jenny dropped her car off at a friend's house in Mammoth Lakes; we camped in Old Shady campground in Mammoth Lakes. |
Josh and Paul cooling off in the Upper Lake near our campsite. | DAY 1: Aug 31 (Wed) Mammoth Lakes --> Tuolomne --> Upper Lake about 600 ft below Donohue PassHIKED: 11.4 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds NOTES:We got to Tuolomne by an early-morning YARTS bus, and started our hike from there. Heavy packs!
|
Josh and Paul playing Yahtzee at Marie Lakes. | DAY 2: Sept 1 (Thu) Upper Lake --> Marie Lakes, NE of largest lakeHIKED: 6.4 miles (4.4 along JMT); hiked over Donohue Pass (11,056 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds/bit windy NOTES: I climbed a peak west of camp at Marie Lakes. |
Thousand Island Lake with Mt. Ritter in background. | DAY 3: Sept 2 (Fri) Marie Lakes --> Rosalie LakeHIKED: 13.2 miles (11.2 along JMT); hiked over Island Pass (10,205 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds/bit windy NOTES: Josh and Paul caught a fish at Rosalie Lake and threw it back for good karma. |
Rainbow Falls near Red’s Meadow. | DAY 4: Sept 3 (Sat) Rosalie Lake --> Red Cones, just on south side of Crater LakeHIKED: 15.5 miles (12.8 along JMT) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds NOTES: We stopped at Red's Meadow store to pick up food drop #1; we took a side trip to Devil's Postpile and Rainbow Falls. |
Cooking trout on the fire at Purple Lake. | DAY 5: Sept 4 (Sun) Red Cones --> Purple LakeHIKED: 10.8 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds NOTES: Jenny hiked back to Red's Meadow to get a lost handkerchief and met up with us at Purple Lake; Josh and Steph climbed Red Cone Crater to the south of camp to see sunrise on Minarets; Jenny climbed Red Cone Crater on return trip; Josh and Paul caught 2 trout and cooked them on a fire. |
Long exposure of the stars at our camp just south of Silver Pass. | DAY 6: Sept 5 (Mon) Purple Lake --> Lake just south of Silver PassHIKED: 8.7 miles; hiked over Silver Pass (10,895 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds NOTES: I climbed up a ridge to southwest of camp. |
Squirrel on trail. | DAY 7: Sept 6 (Tue) Silver Pass --> on north side of Bear Creek about 0.1 mile down Bear Creek TrailHIKED: 12.9 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds |
Our granite campsite at Marie Lakes. We stayed here 2 nights. | DAY 8: Sept 7 (Wed) Bear Creek --> west side of Marie Lakes, near middleHIKED: 6.5 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds except some cirrus in east in afternoon/cold and windy night NOTES: I climbed the ridge to the east of camp and climbed the spire to the west of Mt. Senger; others explored also, although Jenny’s heel was hurting her so she took it easy. |
Steph bouldering on our exploration day around Marie Lakes. | DAY 9: Sept 8 (Thu) rest/explore day at Marie LakesHIKED: 0 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds except some cumulus around sunset NOTES: Josh and I explored to the west of Marie Lake, scrambling up a prominent class 3-4 ridge system. |
Our food resupply at the Muir Trail Ranch. Heavy packs again! | DAY 10: Sept 9 (Fri) Marie Lakes --> east side of Piute Creek just off trailHIKED: 11 miles (10.2 along JMT); hiked over Seldon Pass (10,880 ft) WEATHER: cumulus clouds/brief rain at ranch NOTES: We picked up our food drop at Muir Trail Ranch; also we bought some fuel and sent emails. |
Big Dipper and tent in Evolution Lake basin. This was one of the first times we used the tent, since it was beginning to get colder at night. | DAY 11: Sept 10 (Sat) Piute Creek --> SW side of Evolution LakeHIKED: 11 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds except a few cirrus |
Looking back from Muir Pass. | DAY 12: Sept 11 (Sun) Evolution Lake --> unnamed lake 0.5 mile east along trail from Helen Lake, just after Muir PassHIKED: 7.8 miles; hiked over Muir Pass (11,955 ft) WEATHER: sunny but cool NOTES: I climbed Mt. Solomons (13,034ft) SW of Muir Pass. |
Lunch break and bath time at a stream. | DAY 13: Sept 12 (Mon) unnamed lake --> Deer MeadowHIKED: 12 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds |
Evening light near our camp just south of Mather Pass. | DAY 14: Sept 13 (Tue) Deer Meadow --> Lake east of Mather PassHIKED: 7.5 miles (7 along JMT); hiked over Mather Pass (12,100 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/cumulus clouds in adternoon NOTES: I explored around the lake in the evening; Josh and Paul caught 2 fish and cooked them on the stove. |
Mile-long shadows on our climb of Split Mtn. | DAY 15: Sept 14 (Wed) Lake after Mather Pass --> North end of Lake MarjorieHIKED: 7.5 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds NOTES: Josh and I did a morning climb of Split Mtn (14,058ft) east of Mather Pass (2h up, 1.5h down); I explored cool geologic area east of Lake Marjorie in the evening. |
Sunrise colors at Lake Marjorie. | DAY 16: Sept 15 (Thu) Lake Marjorie --> Dollar LakeHIKED: 12.8 miles; hiked over Pinchot Pass (12,130 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds |
Our camp at Bubbs Creek. The last time we would be low enough to have a fire. | DAY 17: Sept 16 (Fri) Dollar Lake --> Bubbs Creek, about 1.5 miles from Road’s End junctionHIKED: 10.4 miles; hiked over Glen Pass (11,978 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds NOTES: Paul and I hiked 1 hour to Rae Lakes in the dark to see sunrise at 6:30am. |
Forrester Pass. | DAY 18: Sept 17 (Sat) Bubbs Creek --> Lake about 4.2 miles south of Forrester Pass, just off trailHIKED: 10.3 miles; hiked over Forrester Pass (13,180 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds until some cirrus in evening to south |
Looking towards Mt. Whitney, just before Guitar Lake. | DAY 19: Sept 18 (Sun) Lake after Forrester Pass --> Guitar Lake just west of Mt. WhitneyHIKED: 12.7 miles WEATHER: sunny/hot/cirrus cloud build-up in west around sunset NOTES: A ranger told us a storm might hit the area within 36 hours, so we decided to do early morning moonlight climb of Mt. Whitney the next day. |
The four of us on the summit of Whitney (from left to right: Jenny, Paul, Steph, Josh, (bear)).. | DAY 20: Sept 19 (Mon) Guitar Lake --> summit of Mt. Whitney (14,498ft) --> Consultation Lake east of Mt. WhitneyHIKED: 11 miles (5.5 along JMT); hiked over Trail Crest Pass (13,650 ft) WEATHER: sunny/hot/no clouds/cold on top of Whitney but not too windy NOTES: We all woke up at 2am to summit Whitney (14,498ft) in the moonlight and see sunrise from the top; we got to camp at around noon and relaxed for rest of the day |
Morning snow at Consultation Lake. It was ironic to end in the cold and snow, since we had had warm sunny weather the entire hike. | DAY 21: Sept 20 (Tue) Consultation Lake --> car at Whitney PortalHIKED: 5.5 miles WEATHER: rain below 10,000ft, snow above/no sun/mild temperatures NOTES: We woke up to a snowstorm at 2:30am; hiked out at 7:30am; got to car at 10:30am; stopped for lunch at bakery in Bishop; got back to Stanford by 9pm. |
Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP
