[pct-l] JMT Hike, Sequoia Kings Canyon

[kborski@yahoo.com (Karen Borski)]

I've been a bit of a stranger to the list lately, as
work has me swamped with travel and stress-filled
days.  Oh what fun it is to work in a grey-walled
cu-bi-cle!!!  Ho ho ho.

Also....Andy (aka Bald Eagle) and I just returned from
another distraction: 10 days in California.  We did
the non-PCT section of the JMT from Tuolumne Meadows
to Yosemite Valley.  The scoop on Half Dome is that
it's officially closed on the last 1/2 mile to the
summit from dawn to 4pm.  After 4pm, it is open.  If
anyone's interested, that is.  We didn't make a
night-hike of it, too tired and trail weary, I guess.
Or maybe it was the rain that turned us off.

We opted to hike down the Mist Trail instead of the
JMT from Little Yosemite Valley into the Big valley.
The Mist trail is awesome:  it goes down some very
impressive stone stairways right alongside huge
waterfalls.  The trail became increasingly crowded
with touristas as we descended, but we felt better
once we arrivedon the valley  floor (cold and wet from
rain) to find a hot dog stand at the trailhead,
complete with cokes and sausage dogs.  If you're gonna
suffer from crowds of day hikers, you might as well
have some hot dogs.

We spent the rest of our trip hiking in Sequoia/Kings
Canyon Ntl Parks, including a happenstance hike with a
PhD in Forest Ecology that answered nearly all one
million questions I could generate about giant
sequoias and the Sierra forests.  Very cool.  We hiked
some obscure trail down into a remote and large grove
of sequoias that grow in a long canyon and on
ridgesides.  We hiked up to near the Great Western
Divide (past Pear Lake) and tested our new Silva
"real" compass and map/compass skills.  No GPS for us,
no thanks.  We got a kick out of taking bearings and
guesses and then still not really knowing where we
were even with a $20 topo and $30 compass and
360-degree above-treeline views.   Now, that feels
like wilderness.  Or idiocy.  One or the other.  But
we like to think it was the vastness of the
wilderness.

Unusual Wildlife seen:  one black bear in a sequoia
grove, two spotted owls in a sequoia grove, one
ultralight weekend hiker in Yosemite Ntl Park complete
with running shoes

Still have an eye on El Nino, but we are more and more
sure that next April will find us on in Campo, trying
once again for that far-away Canadian border.  We
shall see.

Hoping to stay more in touch with the list.

Best to all,
Nocona
AT'98
PCT Campo-Independence '00



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