When at first you don’t succeed, try try again…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having learned from my failures to hike more than a single day from Walker Pass and Kennedy Meadows on the PCT Section G the prior year, I set my sights on challenging this section once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, I’ll start in late June to try to avoid the hotter August temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second, I’ve been counting ounces and have slimmed down my backpack weight. It’s not really any lighter than last time (approximately 48 lbs each time), but I’ll be able to carry 7 liters of water this time. And hopefully no leaks that doomed my attempt last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m also planning on either starting the hike pre-dawn or late afternoon to beat the mid-day heat. The fact that I am 6 days away from starting my hike and am still debating those two options in my head is a concern. Mostly it’s the logistics of staging my Jeep at Onion Valley (my primary goal for this trek) and getting to Walker Pass at a better time than last time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’d prefer to make the first day a short day, but that does mean I have to deal with the waning heat of the day and hope things cool down as the Sun starts to lower behind the first (treeless) section of the ridge I have to climb to start this section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting before dawn would mean camping at the nearby Walker Pass Campground and would leave a full day’s hike ahead of me. Even with some tree cover once I reach the ridge line, it may still get too hot on this first part of section G for a full days’ hike to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 12 miles to the first water on the trail is also a concern and the reason for wanting to start with 7 liters of water to start. I had 4 liters, plus the leak last year. That is the longest water-less stretch of section G, so once I conquer that I hope to be on the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, resupply at Kennedy Meadows, Horseshoe Meadows, climb up the West side of Mt Whitney, then return to the JMT\/PCT and go north to Kearsarge Pass and end there…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, the JMT\/PCT North of that point is one of the hardest and most beautiful part of the trail. During planning, I kept thinking I should just continue up the trail all the way to Yosemite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have resupply buckets ready and detailed goals for each day…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It will end up depending on how I feel at Onion Valley, how much my company begs me to come back to work, and how badly I want to use all my vacation time to be away from civilization for 5 weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the very least I’ll take a zero day or maybe 21 or 28 zero days to decide. I could always split it in two parts, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stay tuned…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PCT Section G Day 0 – Planning, preparation, and getting there…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n