Slow going through the north Yosemite country. The land is split by a series of high, massive granite ridges running east and west. We are headed north. The track thus follows the canyons until meeting with some gouge or crack in the granite wall, then heads directly up it.
A steep trail has a rise of 500 feet to the mile. The trails here are more like 800 feet per mile, as much a rock scramble as a hike.
Once at the top of the ridge, the trail follows it until it intersects with a defect in its wall, and the heads down just as steeply. At the canyon bottom, the pattern repeats. All told, I got in about 5000 feet of climbing (and 5000 feet of down climbing) in 20 miles today. There’s a reason why this country is roadless.
But it is very beautiful. Just a notch down from Yosemite proper with polished granite walls on every side. Also some nice surprises, like the ridgetop lake at the end of a hot climb. Perfect for a quick swim.
Seeing more PCT hikers again now. Hiked and camped with Mishap, who earned his name on his very first day of hiking when a leaky bladder left him with only a liter of water on a 20-mile dry stretch and he also lost his tent poles. He also managed to kill his phone with BBQ sauce at Kennedy Meadows, and lost his maps as well. But a very cheerful and accommodating soul. That is the rule among hikers – grouches and grumps don’t last for a thousand miles of hard hiking. Whatever else hikers may be – dirty, smelly, impecunious, quirky in a thousand ways- they are hardy and resilient.
Granite ridges of the north Yosemite