Sawtooth, Spanish Needle, Owens, Lamont, Crag and Smith

After two successful trips in Death Valley, Matt and I had a few more days before he had to be back in Santa Cruz. Exhausted from the heat, but keen to keep hiking, we drove out to the Southern Sierra to climb some SPS peaks around Kennedy Meadows.

Getting ready for our hike at on the PCT

It felt great to be in the Sierra, the weather was very pleasant. One would expect hordes of tourists to be out in the Southern Sierra enjoying the spring weather, but we saw hardly anyone. Aside from a few popular national parks and instagrammable sites, most of California is quite quiet.

The first trip we hiked four peaks: Sawtooth, Spanish Needle, Owens and Lamont. Matt and I hiked the first two together. Sawtooth went, smoothly and then Spanish Needle certainly got our blood pumping to say the least. The “class III friction slab” was certainly the hardest class III I have ever climbed. After some pause we both made the summit, and then rapidly descended back towards safety.

Matt had already climbed Owens, so I packed two days of food and continued south on my own. It was great to be on the smooth PCT again after so much time off trail in Death Valley. The 12 miles went by quickly and I even got to meet a few PCT. I gave each one a tangerine and best wishes for entering the snowy Sierra just north of them.

I camped at the base of Owens and summited the next morning. I sped back northward on the PCT and even passed a few of the PCT hikers whom I had met yesterday. Stoke was high, and I felt ready for the CDT. Lamont was a bit difficult with all of the bushwhacking, and I got a bit discouraged, but soon enough I was on the summit and descending towards the road.

Matt came jogging down the road and we walked the last few miles to the car together. We handed out some more trail magic and chatted with hikers, some determined to push through into the Sierra on the first of May and others with various plans for their hikes.

We drove up to Kennedy Meadows and began scheming for the next day. I was pretty beat from our three trips in the last week, but I knew I’d have some rest coming up after these last two peaks.

We woke up early and hiked north on the PCT towards Crag. After a bit of bushwhacking we made quick work of the class III summit. Our original plan was to descend back to the car and attempt Smith from another trailhead, which would have been a 30+ mile day. Smith looked close, so I suggested going for it from Crag.

Matt was a bit confused that I changed the plan, but he was a good sport about it, bushwhacking through spiky plants for almost a mile to descent the westside of Crag. Spikes relented to wide open meadows, and the climb up Smith was less then 1,000 ft.

Soon we were following an OHV track towards the road, and crossing our fingers for a hitch back to Kennedy Meadows, which would save us 10 miles of road walking in the hot sun.

To increase our karmic odds, I told Matt that (vegi)burgers were on me if we got a hitch before the grill closed. When we got to the road, no cars passed by for a while except for an RV going towards Sherman Pass. We gave up and started walking, but the RV came rolling back and scooped us up.

The couple from England had been trying to take a shortcut over the Sierra, but were turned around by a closed road sign. The road was littered with rocks and debris, but they were surprised that it was closed. Their folly was our feast though and soon we were back at the KM General store eating burgers.

Matt dropped me off on 395 the next morning and after an hour I got a ride all the way to Bishop where I met my friend Malcolm. I was picked up by a man in his fifties who had lived quite an adventurous life. He had guided in Peru, climbed in the Himalayas, nearly summited Everest, and guided most of the major routes in the Sierra. More recently he had gotten his realestate license, had kids and made lots of money.

“I’ve guided some very wealthy men”, he told me, “But they would give up all of their wealth and fame to be in your shoes and wander around and live as you are now. Keep living this way as long as you can.” I promised him I would.