Pacific Crest Trail: Sierra Nevada Mountains
Pacific Crest Trail: The High Sierras
The Pacific Crest Trail is a 2650 mile backpacking thru-hike from Canada to Mexico known as America’s Wilderness Trail. The route takes hikers through Washington, Oregon and California (Northern California, Sierra Nevadas and Southern California). We hiked the PCT southbound in 2023 after quitting our jobs back in the UK.
The Sierras is widely known as the most scenic section of the PCT but with that comes a brutal elevation profile. Read on to see if we made it through before the snow started falling.
We knew that hiking through the Sierra Nevada mountains would be a huge challenge. This proved to be true, however, by this time we were extremely fit, motivated and excited to start the section. We had been building up to it since the start of the trail, often wondering whether we would make it in time. Many days on the PCT blend together, it might be beautiful but the hours and miles inevitably start to merge. The Sierras is different, every day is distinctive and memorable. There was a huge sense of achievement as we reached another pass then descended to try and find a forest for shelter overnight. As we sat in our tent each night and planned the following day the ascent always looked daunting, but you accept this as a fair price for the wilderness that you’re in.
Something that we gradually became aware of in the Sierras was the vast history of this region. Although we still know relatively little about it, we were trying to educate ourselves and also heard some stories from fellow hikers and locals along the way. Therefore, instead of the usual description of our PCT hike as we’ve done for the other sections, for the Sierras we also want to shed a little bit of light on the historical elements of the trail which we personally found very interesting. As thru-hikers it’s easy to get your head down and walk through an area without thinking too much about your surroundings. We’ve come to realise that knowing more about the flora, fauna, geology, history, etc. of where you are hiking really takes the experience to the next level.
South Lake Tahoe - Kennedy Meadows North - Mammoth: 185 miles
Mile 1564 - 1749
Wilderness Areas: Mokelumne/ Carson-Iceberg/ Hoover/ Emigrant/ Yosemite/ Ansel Adams
Sonora Pass
21 September 2023 - Mile 1637
At an elevation of 2933 metres Sonora Pass is the second-highest pass with a road in California. It was the first high pass we encountered heading southbound and we were met with some light snowfall which made it all the more spectacular. Upon reaching Highway 108 at the pass we got a ride down to Kennedy Meadows North Resort. This time we managed to hitch a lift with several others in an old camper van driven by the husband/father of a mother and son duo who were hiking the PCT together. The Resort is another place that has the vibe of being straight out of an American Western film, complete with a horse ranch, cowgirls and boys and an all-American restaurant. During the journey back up the Sonora Pass highway our driver told us some information about it’s creation.
There are many reasons throughout history that led people to cross through the Sierra Nevadas, one of which was the Gold Rush (1848–1855) when people headed westward in search of gold or silver. The first documented traverse of Sonora Pass was in the late summer of 1852 by a wagon train known as the Clark-Skidmore Company. This was a group of 75 people and 13 wagons pulled by mules which completed the 60 mile pass over the course of 35 days, although apparently only 15 members of the group ended up reaching Columbia in California due to the treacherous conditions. The following year more than two thousand emigrants used the trail but by 1854 word had spread of how difficult the crossing was, so the Sonora Pass Trail was abandoned.
The road across Sonora Pass was built during 1863 - 65, again spurred on by gold and silver which this time had been discovered east of the Sierra Nevada range, meaning that people wanted to connect the east and west to improve transportation and trade of these materials in both directions.
Tuolumne Meadows
25 September 2023 - Mile 1711
For the few days after Sonora Pass we really were in a mountainous landscape that felt more and more impressive. There were a couple of snowfield crossings and cold nights but the beautiful frosty mornings do somewhat make the cold worthwhile because of the glittering, white-dusted landscape that they provide for the first few hours of the morning. We were, however, looking forward to heading down into Tuolumne Meadows for a short respite on some flatter ground. Tuolumne Meadows is situated in Yosemite National Park and is a subalpine meadow through which we followed the crystal clear Tuolumne River for about 4 miles before reaching the base of Donohue Pass.
As well as learning some history of the Gold Rush period, the importance of the history of Indigenous American people also became clearer to us at Tuolumne Meadows. Archeological evidence has shown that this area was home to Indigenous Americans for around 5500 years. For a long time the isolated meadow here provided them with protection from Spanish, Mexican and American colonists. However, this all changed as a result of the Gold Rush. At that time the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation living in the Tuolumne Meadows area had their villages burnt to the ground and they were violently relocated by the military. As recently as 1969 the last indigenous village in Yosemite was removed by the park service.
We only scratched the surface of understanding the history of Indigenous American people but whilst travelling on through California we gained an appreciation of the huge importance of their story. Our impression was that this is an aspect of North America’s history which still needs much more recognition and education in modern day USA.
Mammoth - Independence - Kennedy Meadows South: 202 miles
Mile 1750 - 1952
Wilderness Areas: John Muir/ Sequoia - Kings Canyon/ Golden Trout/ South Sierra
Muir Pass
05 October 2023 - Mile 1815
Between Tuolumne Meadows and Muir Pass we had quite an eventful time! On the 27th September we reached the town of Mammoth Lakes and word had spread amongst PCT hikers that snow was forecast. After much deliberation (as always on the PCT) we decided to wait it out in Mammoth Lakes until the 2nd of October by which time the snow had fallen and then mostly melted away. We left Mammoth Lakes armed with our new cosy sleeping bag liners and ready to finally get back on trail. Over the next couple of days we went over Silver Pass and Selden Pass, so straight back into some exhausting hiking leading up to Muir Pass on the 5th October.
The 3648m high Muir Pass was one of our favourites of the High Sierras. After a 4:30am start we waded across a frosty Evolution Creek and followed the valley gradually up and up. A few hours of hiking led us up to the deep blue lakes named Wanda and McDermand. After lunch here, a final push took us across a moon-like barren landscape to the highest point of Muir Pass where Muir Hut is situated. The ‘hut’ is actually a sturdy stone one-room building complete with little windows, a stove and some deer antlers to provide natural decoration. Instead of taking refuge from bad weather we actually went into the hut to get some refuge from the sun that day.
The pass and hut are named after John Muir, a naturalist and conservationist who was known for being passionate about preservation of the American wilderness. He was actually born in Scotland in 1838 but as a child emigrated with his family to the USA. After extensive hiking in many states he started his efforts to persuade the government to adopt a forest conservation policy. This was a big contributing factor towards the designation of Yosemite as a National Park in 1872. Another of his interests was developing hiking routes for public use and eventually in 1938 (the 100th anniversary of his birth) the John Muir Trail was completed. The Pacific Crest Trail follows the John Muir Trail for 170 miles through the Sierras, including over Muir Pass.
Unfortunately, during Muir’s pursuit of wilderness conservation he didn’t take heed of the fact that these are ancestral lands for Indigenous American communities. They were left with no voice in the conservation efforts. It seems strange that what is obvious now was not obvious then, that these communities were part of the landscape, had evolved alongside it and were deeply connected to and greatly respected the world around them. Whilst Muir’s conservation legacy lives on there are also many lessons to be learnt, if it is sadly not too late.
Mount Whitney
11 Oct 2023 - Mile 1887
After Muir Pass we had gone over 5 more passes during the course of 5 days before reaching Mount Whitney. For us as SOBO hikers it provided a big milestone at the end of the Sierras and although not technically on the PCT, a majority of hikers take the opportunity to take a detour and ascend Mount Whitney with it being the highest mountain in the contiguous United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) at 4421 metres.
We didn’t want to fully commit to attempting to summit Mount Whitney until seeing the forecast a day or two before. It was now a decent way into October and we still had 2.5 days of hiking to go after Mount Whitney before reaching the end of the Sierras section in Kennedy Meadows South. In the end we decided to go for it and hiked up Mount Whitney with two PCT friends on a cold, icy and windy but super sunny day. It was so cold in fact that the water in our water bottles was actually freezing as we were hiking, resulting in slushy water to drink. We were treated to spectacular views from the top, as well as an unopened whisky miniature left at the summit which we duly opened and took a swig each to warm the cockles.
Mount Whitney takes it’s name from the geologist Josiah Dwight Whitney. The first documented successful summiting of the mountain was in 1873 by a group of three fishermen who therefore called the mountain Fisherman's Peak, although this name didn’t catch on. In 1965 there was another attempt to change the name of Mount Whitney and this time it’s even more odd; there was a movement to rename it after Winston Churchill who had recently died. Again this didn’t end up happening.
As you would expect, the first known name for what we call Mount Whitney is actually its Indigenous Newe (Shoshone) name Tumanguya, meaning “old man” or “guardian spirit”. For most PCT hikers the name Guardian Spirit is probably more apt, whether starting or ending the Sierras, having someone or something to look after you will never go amiss as you carve your way through the wilderness.
Looking back at photos from our time in the Sierra Nevada Mountains it really does seem other-worldly. As much as we tried to soak it all in at the time, we are still left wanting to go back to this area and hike it all over again. No words can do justice to the snow capped mountains, green valleys and deep blue lakes that greet you around every corner. I lost count of the amount of times we turned to each other with looks of “How is this landscape real?!”. It’s certainly no wonder that so many people have been drawn to the Sierras across millennia and continue to find sanctuary in this place.
