Mile 956.4 to 969.5 – 13.1 miles total hiked on PCT

It was a little out of my range, but if I could make it to Benson Lake, I’d like to camp there.

Miller Lake was the first scenic spot. It would’ve been a nice place to camp the night before, but I couldn’t make it that far. Either way I almost doubled my distance from the last time I did this section of Yosemite 4 years ago.

Then I descended into Matterhorn Canyon. It’s a lovely canyon that some people say is the wilderness equivalent of Yosemite Valley, but without the cars, roads and pizza. 😀

After walking through the canyon, I started to climb up to Benson Pass. it wasn’t a hard climb, just took time.

Well, it’s not a 12,000 foot pass like the ones in the southern Sierra, but I climbed BENSON PASS today at 10,107 feet!

It was another one of those passes that you couldn’t see both sides of the pass from the middle.

Volunteer Peak was one stand out feature of this area. I would see it for the next two days.

It was getting late in the afternoon when I realized I would not be able to make it to Benson Lake.

As I descended from Benson Pass, I checked out some of the campsites near the trail. But none of them had a view of Smedberg or Benson Lake.

So, I decided to stop at Smedberg Lake. It wasn’t as big as Benson Lake, but it was a pretty lake. Unfortunately, the overcast skies would probably mute any sunset or sunrise colors.

The last time I tried hiking this section of the PCT, it took me four days to get to this lake. Doing it this time in just TWO days was very rewarding. Just shows how much better condition I’m in plus all the miles I put in on this hike have paid off.

There was some very nice color at sunset so the clouds didn’t hurt my enjoyment that night.

The clouds didn’t worry me… yet.