Chasing Alpenglow

June 19-23; Mile 920-1006 Day 76 I awoke to frost on my pack, tent, and bear can. It was hard to leave the warm embrace of my sleeping bag, and so I took my time getting ready, enjoying the view across the valley where the mountains were bathed in morning light. The trail descended for a while before reaching Thousand Island Lake. I found a nice spot on the hillside to eat my breakfast with the mirror-like water far below. Countless little islands poked above the water, speckling its surface and giving the lake

June 14-15; Mile 855-893 Day 71 Somehow I woke up almost an hour after my alarm, and most of the group was already gone. After the long slog the day before, I figured that my body needed the extra rest. Juniper and I hiked through forest along a gentle trail before climbing up to a nice creek with rocks for resting during a snack break. We spent most of the day hiking together, and since she had done this section recently she let me know when a particularly nice view or lake were coming

June 12-13; Mile 823-855 Day 69 I left camp and began descending once more toward the bottom of the valley. I followed the Middle Fork Kings River for the most of the day through forested slopes. The trail passed into beautiful flat, grassy meadows with streams meandering through and boulders gleaming white in the sun. Granite peaks rose high above, and I stopped and craned my neck toward their lofty heights. I continued to leapfrog with the group that I had eaten dinner

June 11; Mile 809-823 I left camp on the late side and descended past the smaller lakes down to the south fork of the Kings River. The water was gushing, and I was glad I hadn’t tried to cross it in the evening. I put on my sandals while a couple tried to find a way to hop across on rocks. I watched a southbound hiker wade across before stepping in myself. The water was icy and came up to my knees. I faced upstream where the current was strongest, and I used both trekking poles for

June 10; Mile 794-809 I slept in a bit after the bad night before hiking downhill past Arrowhead and Dollar Lakes. Eventually I came to the first crossing of Woods Creek. There was a wet log spanning the first half of the water, but the water beneath it was raging past in a frothing white stream. There was no way I was going to walk across that alone. I waited a few minutes to see if anyone else was close behind, and in the meantime I scouted up and downstream. When no one came, I decided to

June 9; Mile 788-794 + 8 That morning as Finja and I were packing our bags, Nicole seemed to be burrowing deeper into the sheets. And then she told us that she’d decided to stay another day in town. So the two of us set off to get the bus to Independence and then to ride with the trail angel that Nicole had contacted. The hike down Kearsarge had filled me with trepidation for the return trip: I had eight days of food weighing me down as I spent hours climbing up trail that

June 7-8; Mile 788 + 8 Day 64 Finja convinced me that morning to take the Bullfrog Lakes route on our way to Kearsarge Pass. We walked past glittering lakes with fish lapping at the surface before climbing steeply to the pass. I ran into Four Million Pounds and we both cheered as folks from our groups reached the high point. It was a long way down to the parking lot, and near the end of the hike we could smell the wild onions that had likely given the area its name.

June 6; Mile 770-788 I woke at 5 that morning so that I would get to the pass when the snow was firm enough to glissade. I crossed several large creeks – Wallace, Wright, Tyndall – and thankfully they were all low enough to cross by rock hopping. The trail climbed up to a wide-open plateau with incredible views and zero shade. I took a breakfast break upon a granite boulder with the horizon full of jagged peaks. The trail descended back into the trees, and I passed a rabbit