Goal for the day: Exit from Onion Valley for some rest and…

I woke up with a firm decision on my mind: I’d exit from Onion Valley

Granted, that was my plan from way back when I was planning this trek and when I returned to the trail after my Zero Day in Lone Pine with just enough food to make it to Onion Valley (plus one more night of food for safety or if I wanted to go over Glen Pass to spend a night at Rea Lakes before exiting).

But that morning I was dead set on exiting via Onion Valley and not returning to the trail.

Again, that was my initial plan, but the temptation of continuing north on the PCT/JMT had captured my imagination during the planning and at some points along the past 19 days on the trail when I wasn’t thinking of crawling out of the wilderness and quitting.

But the pain in my side I was getting had re-appeared again and the trill of continuing after a rest and resupply didn’t seem that important after 19 days on the trail. I was spent, both physically and mentally. The way I felt, I may just end up having to crawl out after all.

So, I enjoyed the light from the sunrise, had breakfast, and packed my gear for the final time during this trek.

I headed North, putting the dreaded (but turned out to not be that bad from the Southern approach) climb up Forester Pass behind me.

Heading down into Vidette Meadow, I again was happy with how much easier heading North on this part of the PCT/JMT was than heading South. Until I came face to face with another bear on the trail!!

Another boulder bear, that is.

Like the boulder bear along the trail I encountered on day 4 of my PCT Section G trek, it was interesting how this was the second ‘bear’ I saw in the boulders along the trail. It could also just have been the mental and physical fatigue making me see things. But I got a picture and it still looks like’s a bear’s head to me now, so I was obviously as mentally stable then as I am now.

Probably.

I reached the Bullfrog Lake Trail junction and had to choose between heading to Kearsarge Pass on that trail, or heading North another mile to use the Kearsarge Pass Trail.

If I still thought I’d return to the trail after a rest, I’d have used the Kearsarge Pass Trail to exit to save me a little bit of extra mileage and climbing when I returned to the trail.

But I was looking forward to my traditional shower, Diet Coke, real food, real mattress, and a good soak in a hot tub. So, I choose the shorter path with a little less climbing.

The trail snaked it way along some nice lakes as I gradually climbed up towards Kearsarge Pass.

Kearsarge Lakes came into view. The prior day, I had worried I’d have to stop for another night there before exiting, but I had made good progress the day before, so just admired the view and the wildlife.

The only other time I had gone over Kearsarge Pass, I remember it as a horrible climb up from Onion Valley. Like many passes, it wasn’t that bad of a climb from this side. Just took some time.

The final stretch covered some switchbacks, but didn’t fill me with rage, so it was a good stroll up to the top of Kearsarge Pass at 11,760 feet!

I had forgotten that Kearsarge Pass was almost a 12,000 foot pass, like the next 4 passes to the North (Glen, Pinchot, Mather, and Muir-which were all over or near 12k). Thank goodness I was used to the elevation and the climb up from Vidette Meadows was gradual enough not to piss me off.

Then I looked down the East side towards Onion Valley and remembered why I had paid for a mule resupply when I reach this point for my JMT hike in 2020: I didn’t want to have to descend the East side of Kearsarge Pass and then re-climb it after resupplying.

I had climbed it in 2017 for a Onion Valley to Mt Whitney hike and swore I’d never climb that again. I had remembered that in 2020, but forgot after 4 more years.

At least I had already decided to make this the end of my backing treks for this year and only had to descend this step trail with lots of annoying switchbacks.

But the trail from Onion Valley to Kearsarge Pass turned out to be one of those horrible “freaking hard in either direction” trails that left you ready to stop and become a hermit along the trail somewhere. I did have food for another night on the trail, but I just kept going down and down the trail. I only swore a few times when the trail seemed to become a long switchback that extended out a whole lot further than it needed to.

Even the final switchback seemed to go way too far away from the trailhead to make any sense.

But, I did reach the end of the trail after a long descent. Victory!!

And my Jeep was still there after almost 3 weeks. And even started!

Best of all, the can of Diet Coke I had left in the bear boxes was still there and wasn’t that warm! It would satisfy me until I got back down to Lone Pine and could get an ice cold one.

I didn’t think of returning to the trail that night. I Just went back to the hotel I had stayed in before my trek began and during my last Zero Day and left the decision on whether to restart until the next morning.

I needed to rest both my body, mind, and soul that night. As always, the Sunset from Lone Pine was spectacular.

19 days and over 160 miles on the trails… a job well done that I could be proud of and celebrate.

Goal for the day: A very tired success

Day 3 – 13.1 miles – 10 hours 55 minutes
PCT section H – 21.5 trail miles out of 175.5 total miles

(mileage and time approximate and based on GPS tracks which may not be exact and include diversions from the trai

I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, had breakfast, and loaded up my Jeep and headed home.

At that moment there was no part of my body or mind that wanted to return to the trail after a rest down in Lone Pine.

I was done.

Still, I was successful in my primary goals for the trek:

• Survived the first part of Section G tat start with 12 miles of dry trail
• Survived the two 10 mile dry stretches that followed
• Avoided aborting at Kennedy Meadows
• Took an unexpected Zero Day in Lone Pine to fix my boot, avoid bad weather, and recover from the trails and tribulations of the trail
• Completed the entire PCT Section G!!!
• Climbed Mt Whitney for the 4th time!!
• And made it to Onion Valley mostly on my original timeline

I could always do the rest of the JMT and PCT Section H again some other year…