High Passes of the High Sierra

After my side trip up Mt. Whitney, I continued on a breathtaking journey through the High Sierras, taking the next six days to hike over five major passes ranging from 11-13,000 feet. The snow at these elevations can often be a problem but, ironically enough, because of my ankle injury, I actually have arrived into this area later than I had planned. Also this year, because of extended heatwaves, the snow has melted quickly and so it really hasn’t been much of a factor at all. Thank goodness, because the boulder fields and the swollen rivers are a lot to contend with in addition to my heavy pack.

In this section I typically rose at 4:30am to be on trail by 5:30 so that any snow I would encounter would be crusty and easy to walk through with my micro spikes. This also gave me a jump on the day so that I’d have enough hours to descend the valley, cross the many many raging rivers and get myself in position to summit the next pass the following morning. My friend Tom from Massachusetts accompanied me on the first two days. 

Join me for a journey through this fantastic landscape:

Up and over Forrester Pass, 13,153 ft/ 4,009 m

Elevation gain for the day: 2,049 feet

Elevation loss for the day: 1,399 feet

Up and over Glen Pass, 11,926 ft / 3,635 m

Elevation gain for the day: 2,139 feet

Elevation loss for the day: 3,649 feet

Up and over Pinchot Pass, 12,107 ft / 3,690 m

Elevation gain for the day: 3,796 feet

Elevation loss for the day: 2,146 feet

On this day, my trek was cut short by a huge thunderstorm complete with hail and lightning. Luckily, I had just crossed the biggest of rivers before the rain swelled it any more, and I found a group of trees to set up my tent and escape the storm. I was so cozy, I actually took a nap through it all. 

Up and over Mather Pass, 12,100 ft / 3,688 m

Elevation gain for the day: 2,082 feet

Elevation loss for the day: 4,339 feet

The morning after the storm, a layer of fog added to the beauty of the mountains, but the trail up Mather Pass was a bit tricky as much of the trail was now washed out from the storm. The rivers were big and fast in the morning as well! 
After summiting, I descended into the valley below and had to contend with some smoke blowing in from a forest fire down in Fresno. 

Up and over Bishop Pass, 11,972 ft / 3,649 m

Elevation gain for the day: 3,485 feet

Elevation loss for the day: 2,313 feet

On this morning, the smoke had cleared a little to give me some views of my last big pass for this section.

Whew! Aren’t you exhausted? I was! After all that, I needed a break and a resupply of food, so I headed off trail into the sweet Eastern Sierra town of Bishop. Can’t wait to see the next section of the Sierras!