6/13–6/20/21

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Sunset Campground

Having left my sister and her boyfriend in Briceburg, I drove south. I passed through Fresno and then headed east to Kings Canyon National Park. A heat wave had just hit California, so I found a campsite at a higher elevation, within the park, in order to stay shaded and cooler. The forecasted highs in the valley were pushing past 100°F, while it was closer to 75°F where I stayed.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any free dispersed sites anywhere near Sequoia and Kings Canyon, so I bit the bullet and paid for one. It was just as well, as on Tuesday I would have to stop in at the Giant Forest Museum (within Sequoia National Park) for my backcountry permit, so this paid site within the park put me closer in order to step out from work for a quick minute.

The sun setting as I drove east from Fresno on E Kings Canyon Rd, I suddenly found myself on a steep, narrow road cut into the side of a cliff. With no guard rail or retaining wall, darkness descending, and countless twists and turns, it quickly became a nerve-wracking drive. But, driving slowly, I eventually made it to Sunset Campground.

The High Sierra Trail

My backpacking destination this week was the High Sierra Trail (HST). I was quite excited for this one as a way to wrap up my time in California. At 72.2 miles, the HST crosses over the Sierra Nevada, starting on the west side – near the giant sequoia groves – summits Mt. Whitney – the tallest peak in the contiguous U.S., at 14,505’ – and exits out the east side at Whitney Portal. I looked forward to observing the changing landscape from the relatively wetter, more forested western side of the range, to the tall jagged granite peaks, and the dry desert on the eastern side.

There were a couple of complicating factors for this trip: 1) Reserving a permit online in advance proved to be impossible due to the competition. 2) Crossing over the Sierra Nevada is all well and good, except that there is no direct road to take me back to the other side of the mountains in order to return to my car. The shortest route is a 300-mile, 5.5-hour drive around the southern end of the mountain range.

It turned out to be much easier to secure the permit as a walk-up than I expected. 25% of daily permits are reserved for walk-ups the day before, so I decided to bank on this, with a backup route if necessary. I simply showed up 10 minutes before they released the daily permits for the next day at 1pm, and I was only second in line. If I recall correctly, there were something like 18 available permits left for the HST.

Resolving my transportation issue after finishing my hike proved to be more difficult to figure out. Public transportation options seemed so convoluted as to be more complicated than the problem itself. And you can forget about paying for a 300-mile taxi ride. So I simply decided to leave my car at the trailhead in Sequoia National Park, and build an extra day into the trip to account for 300 miles of hitchhiking around California. Seeing as most of the drive involved well-traveled roads, it seemed feasible enough to be reliable (not to mention fun).

Congress Loop (3 mi, +554’ / -554’)

I started the day on Wednesday with a quick run/walk on the Congress Loop, which is a 3-mile paved trail that passes by the General Sherman Tree (the largest tree in the world by volume!) and several other giant sequoia groves. There were a lot of people on this walk, as it’s one of the most popular tourist attractions in the park. But I figured I would be remiss if I didn’t at least take a peek at the giant sequoias.

It was quite interesting to learn about the giant sequoias at some of the wayside exhibits. Like this one here, for instance: https://www.nps.gov/places/000/why-so-big-and-so-old-accessible.htm. Some fun facts about the General Sherman Tree:

• The General Sherman Tree is the largest tree in the world by volume at 52,500 cubic ft, and by weight at 1,385 tons.
• General Sherman’s base is 36.5 ft in diameter. General Grant’s is 40 ft.
• Looking up at General Sherman for a 6-ft-tall human is about the equivalent of a mouse looking up at the 6-ft-tall human.
• General Sherman is estimated to be 2,200 years old. This is about 1,000 years younger than the oldest known sequoia. How is that? Location. Where growing conditions are best, sequoias grow faster.

I had thought about combining this loop with my HST hike, but I was obligated to store the food in my car in a bear storage locker for the duration of my hike. And these lockers were only available at the Crescent Meadow Trailhead. So I hopped back into my car after the Congress Loop and drove on over.

Day One: Crescent Meadow to Big Hamilton Lake (16.6 mi, +4,466’ / -2,934’)

I finally started down the trail from Crescent Meadow around noon. I was greeted by a lush forest and an interesting sign regarding the creation of the High Sierra Trail.

The trail ascended in elevation, and before long, the trees opened up to show breathtaking vistas as I dipped above and below treeline. I passed a few people along the way, but it wasn’t nearly as busy as I had expected from the dearth of permits available online.

At one point, as I approached a set of switchbacks up a hill, I ran into a man about my age, who proceeded to warn me about the bears he’d just seen at the top of the hill.

My reply? “Oh sweet!”

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow as I quickened my step up the hill.

Up to this point, I had never seen a bear in the backcountry. But I knew there are only black bears in Sequoia; no grizzly bears. Black bears are generally skittish and not very aggressive (think giant raccoons), unless you get between a mother and a cub or surprise it. And to be fair, I did approach cautiously as I neared the top of the hill, staying on high alert to ensure I didn’t run right into them, but instead viewed them from afar.

And sure enough, through the trees, I caught a brief glimpse of two bears. I’m sure they knew I was there, but they paid me no mind and soon descended the other side of the hill. Elated, but still cautious, I remained alert as I slowly continued down the trail, but I never saw them again.

I pushed on to make it to Big Hamilton Lake for the night, which seemed a good place to stop just before the steep switchbacks to Kaweah Gap. It was an absolutely beautiful place to camp, despite the number of people there – with a pristine lake situated at the base of a sort of cirque. But being as tired as I was, I quickly set up my tent, ate dinner, and completely forgot to take any pictures of the lake.

Day Two: Big Hamilton Lake to Kern Hot Spring (21 mi, +4,216’ / -5,527’)

Knowing I had a big day ahead of me, I was the first to leave camp in the morning. The switchbacks up to Kaweah Gap rank, in my mind (subjectively at least), as one of the more tiring ascents I’ve done, ascending over 2,100’ (about half of the day’s gross elevation gain) within the first 3.1 miles.

But oh, the views upon reaching Kaweah Gap were an incredible sight. Descending the other side and walking through that alpine meadow was one of the most beautiful moments of the trip…

Until I got ambushed by a bloodthirsty swarm of mosquitoes. These were hands down the worst mosquitoes I have ever encountered in my life. They came seemingly out of nowhere and were suddenly all around me. I walked faster, which usually is enough to keep clear of the bugs, but they were not deterred. I didn’t even know where to slap on my body because they nearly literally covered every square inch of it.

I ended up throwing down my pack, putting on my head net (thank goodness I had it!), and then applying Picadarin lotion while running around the meadow in circles like a crazed maniac in vain attempt to avoid the mosquitoes.

And the Picadarin worked! It was almost like an invisible barrier between me and the mosquitos. I was immensely grateful for that purchase (and felt better about it than using DEET). Between my head net, loose shirt, and applied Picadarin lotion, I was able to make my way out of the meadow without getting completely eaten alive.

I made a detour to Moraine Lake and then descended into Kern Canyon. It was pretty impressive to see how cleanly and obviously the canyon had been carved by glaciers – one can tell from its U shape, rather than V shape (which would be carved by rivers).

As I headed north through the canyon, the sky began to darken and I heard thunder rumbling. I think this was the first time it had threatened to rain since my first day in Utah, almost 2 months ago. But instead of rain, hail suddenly began falling from the sky. I rushed to take some shelter behind a large boulder and waited out the hail, shivering.

Once the storm had passed, I slowly stood, muscles cold and tight, and continued on. And within a mile I arrived – thank God – at Kern Hot Spring, a naturally occurring hot spring out in the backcountry. I gratefully dipped my toes into the water and quickly warmed up. Soon enough a group of three other backpackers arrived and we all sat around the spring, chatting. They were also doing the High Sierra Trail, but at a slower pace than me, so I had no luck on asking them for a ride.

Day Three: Kern Hot Spring to Guitar Lake (19.8 mi, +5,425’ / -872’)

I left before my new acquaintances early in the morning. It had thunderstormed all through the night, and was still drizzling a bit now, which was unusual for California. My acquaintances at the spring were all from California and had commented on how they had never even backpacked in the rain before this point. I found this a bit comical, being from Pennsylvania. The first three days of my first backpacking trip had been in the rain.

Eventually the rain cleared, a blue sky appeared, and I found myself on the Pacific Crest Trail. I stopped to chat with a PCT thru-hiker while we ate lunch, we swapped stories, and I found myself a bit jealous of him hiking the entire PCT. But meanwhile it turned out he was jealous of me traveling all around. Go figure!

As I walked, I passed more and more PCT hikers going in the opposite direction, coming from Mt Whitney. I chatted with them here and there and their stories began to paint a picture that didn’t sound too good:

“It was a whiteout snowstorm up on the summit!”

“We had to turn around!”

“It was too dangerous with the thunder and lightning!”

“I heard there’s a wildfire and they shut down Whitney Portal!”

I ran into a ranger along the way. She confirmed that there was a fire cause by the lightning, and they had in fact closed down Whitney Portal to deal with it. She informed me that the forecast for tomorrow was uncertain as well: there was a good chance of thunderstorms, so she advised an early start and playing it by ear.

Not knowing whether I would be able to summit Mt Whitney in the morning, or whether I would be able to exit out Whitney Portal, the only thing I felt I could do was press on and hope.

That night I camped out in a beautiful alpine meadow by Guitar Lake, and tried to choose the most protected spot in case of inclement weather during the night. I spent the evening talking to other hikers and watching marmots scurry about while I ate dinner.

Day Four: Guitar Lake to Mt Whitney to Whitney Portal (15.6 mi, +3,340’ / -6,495’)

Since the chance of thunderstorms was generally higher in the afternoon, I started early in order to make for Mt Whitney’s summit before then. I woke sometime around 3:30am and poked my head out of my tent. I was impressed at the line of headlamps already dotting the switchbacks up to the ridgeline. I flicked on my headlamp, quickly packed up, and rushed to join them.

From many days of waking before sunrise in the backcountry, I knew the shifting colors of dawn all too well. And yet it still amazed me as morning hues began to light the sky.

The sky remained clear, with no indication of inclement weather. I continued to ascend along the path, through talus and scree fields, until I finally reached the summit of Mt Whitney. It was quite a surreal experience standing there at 14,505’ on the highest point in the contiguous United States. I spent a long while there, soaking in the view, not knowing if I would ever have this experience again.

While on the summit I started talking with a couple, Justin and Christina. I breathed a sigh of relief as they confirmed that Whitney Portal had been shut down yesterday, but thankfully had been reopened today. I had figured as much, with the number of day hikers, but the confirmation was comforting. Eventually the three of us headed down toward Whitney Portal together.

The way down the knee-pounding 97 switchbacks on eastern side of the ridge was long and seemingly never-ending, the path cutting back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. It made me ponder: whoever decided to make a route up to the summit by cutting 97 switchbacks to the ridgeline? It must’ve taken a lot of work and planning. Despite a little monotony, the views of the jagged peaks were quite astounding.

Eventually Justin, Christina, and I made it down to Whitney Portal and all agreed it was time for a burger and beer. It was great getting to know them and hearing their story (they had driven out from Arizona just to summit Mt Whitney as a day hike – which is 22 miles and 6,650’ elevation gain) while telling them about my trip.

When we finished our burgers and beer, Justin and Christina offered to drive me out to Lone Pine, the nearest town. They lamented that they couldn’t take me closer to my destination back in Sequoia National Park, though I’m not sure whether they thought my plan to hitchhike 300 miles impressive or stupid (maybe they didn’t know either).

So with hitch #1 (if you can call it that) under my belt, I was dropped off by the side of US 395 and I stuck my thumb out.

300 Miles of Hitchhiking

Before too long, a middle-aged woman stopped to pick me up. She was heading back to LA from a backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada. And that meant she could take me all the way to the junction with CA 58 – about 110 miles away. Not too shabby for one ride! It turned out she was an avid backpacker as well, so we shared stories from our various trips and gave each other recommendations.

She felt bad leaving me right at a major highway intersection – it really wasn’t a great place for someone to pull over – so she graciously drove me a bit farther down CA 58 to a Love’s Travel Stop in Tehachapi. I thanked her for the ride and the conversation and then she left me there.

As I looked around, the first thing I noticed was the McDonald’s next to the convenience store. And that meant one thing: milkshakes. So, the next thing I knew, I was standing by the side of CA 58, a dirty (and likely smelly) vagabond, milkshake in one hand, thumb out in the other hand.

I waited a long while by the side of the road there. I grew slightly nervous as I noticed the sun setting, while I was only half-way back to my car. Though I supposed the worst-case scenario was that I simply pitch my tent somewhere and start again in the morning, so I didn’t really see too much reason to worry.

Eventually, someone pulled over. I walked up to the car and was greeted instantly by two screaming toddlers. Their mother, a woman about my age, told me that she lived in the area and couldn’t drive me too far, but she could take me to a better spot to get picked up than this one. Not seeing many other options, I agreed and hopped in.

She told me that they had just spent the day at the beach and the kids were tired, thus the screaming. We drove across town to the spot she had in mind. The sun having set by now, she asked me what I was planning to do for the night. I told her I might just grab a motel room in town. In the end she decided to drive me to Bakersfield, the next city over, which was 45 minutes away. I felt bad, having her go so far out of her way for me, but she insisted.

But first she had to drop her kids off with her parents. So she called them and we made the detour. We pulled up into the driveway, and suddenly there was an angry man standing outside the passenger door, yelling “Get out of the car!”

I got out.

“Let me see some ID!”

“Dad, stop! You’re being a dick!” yelled my new friend.

“We don’t know who the hell this guy is! He could be a serial killer for all we know!”

“He’s just a hiker who needs a ride!”

I showed the angry man my license and he took a photo of it with his phone.

“Now I’m gonna take a picture of you! So if you try anything, I know exactly who to go after!”

I gave him my biggest smile while he took my picture.

And as suddenly as he had appeared, he walked away. I got back in the car and the woman and I each apologized to each other for the situation. I expressed my gratitude as we drove off, considering she was taking a couple hours out of her day to help a random stranger. Her reply was interesting:

“I’ve been with my kids all day, and they spent the entire car ride back screaming and crying. I could really use a break to talk with someone my age.”

“Well, I am happy to oblige.” I answered with a smirk.

It was fun talking to her as we drove. She told me about her life and her family. She was born and raised in the area. I told her about my life and my trip, and she was impressed that I was doing it alone.

At some point, a memory from the week before popped into my head: Ryan, in the parking lot at Yosemite, telling me that if I made it to Bakersfield he could offer me a ride. Wait, Bakersfield? That’s exactly where I was heading! So I called up Ryan. I think he only vaguely recalled our conversation, but nevertheless he agreed to pick me up at a gas station on the northern edge of the city.

So my new friend dropped me off at the gas station and I thanked her before she drove away.

Before long, Ryan arrived. We discussed where I was heading and where he would take me tonight. He offered two options: 1) He could drive me up to the entrance of Sequoia National Park tonight. 2) I could stay at his place that night and he could take me early the next morning. I chose option number two, as it was already getting late and it would be nice to sleep in a real bed rather than finding somewhere just outside of the park to pitch a tent in the dark.

So we drove to his place in the foothills of Sequoia National Forest, where he lived with his father. It was quite remote – I didn’t even have cell service! Ryan fixed me up some leftovers (for which I was so grateful) and offered me a beer, and I ended up spending the rest of the evening talking, eating, and drinking with him and his dad.

That night I slept in a real bed in the guest room (how luxurious!), the next morning I took a hot shower (how necessary!), and then Ryan and I were off. We stopped at Sequoia Coffee Co in Three Rivers for coffee and breakfast burritos (which were excellent) and then he dropped me off at the entrance to Sequoia National Park. I thanked him profusely for his incredible kindness to me, a stranger – giving me food, beer, a place to sleep and shower, and an 80-mile ride.

And once again I stood by the side of the road, thumb out, looking for hitch number 5, and it did not take long at all. There is only one road through the park from this entrance and it goes almost directly to the Crescent Meadow Trailhead. So everyone coming into the park that Sunday morning had to drive right past me. And I stood right next to the big “Sequoia National Park” sign – where everyone likes to stop and take a picture.

Two men from India stopped for me and I hopped in. They excitedly asked me question after question about what I was doing. I think I must’ve been something of an interesting and entertaining anomaly to them, as they were living more traditional lives – go to grad school in the U.S., get a high-paying job, follow a particular career track, etc. (I can almost hear my father’s voice somewhere in there…) So I told them stories and gave them backpacking tips as we drove. Hands down, the funniest question-and-answer exchanges must have been:

Q: “Where do you go to the bathroom while backpacking?”
A: “Well you have two options – one, you dig a six-inch hole in the ground, you find a good tree branch to hold onto, squat, and then poop in the hole; two, you find a good tree to hold onto, squat, poop on the ground, and then dig a hole for it afterward.”

Q: “Where do you shower while backpacking?”
A: “I don’t.”

I also enjoyed the Indian music they were playing, so we swapped contact information and they shared some playlists with me. And finally, they dropped me off at my car. 300 miles of hitchhiking around California complete in less than 24 hours; plus several new friends made, and free food, beer, shower, and lodging. I was quite proud.

Trip Stats

Miles driven this week: 274
Total miles driven: 5,092
Miles hiked this week: 76
Total miles hiked: 386.3
Elevation change: +18,001, -16,382’
Total elevation change: +63,523’, -67,274’
Nights slept in Obi the Subaru: 3
Nights tent camped: 3
Nights slept in a building: 1
Total nights slept in Obi the Subaru: 35
Total nights tent camped: 9
Total nights cowboy camped: 7
Total nights slept in a building: 7
Time since start of trip: 58 days
States visited since start of trip: 10
Miles of hitchhiking: 300
Number of hitches: 5