Day 48
Start: Sawtooth Peak
Finish: Kern River Valley
Daily Mileage: 18.3
PCT Mile: 698.1
After our early downhill, we had an early climb, at 2,500 feet our only climb of the day. At least we were hitting this first thing rather than the biggest climb at the end of the day like yesterday. We even had the rare luxury of a stream 1,000 feet up so we didn’t have to camel up at the absolute bottom of the hill as is typical.
I took off ahead and pounded out the climb. It was through nice pine forest at first, but that soon gave way to a burn area. The burn was in the year 2000, and the trees are still gone, replaced by desert scrub. I’m not sure the trees will ever grow back at this rate.
Over the last couple days, the terrain has been transitioning to much more pine forest, with fewer stretches with desert plants. The pine forests aren’t thick and shady necessarily, but it is at least an improvement over full exposure to the hot sun. However, it does limit the views of the surrounding mountains. I’m not sure which I prefer on the balance.
The sun was definitely heating up on my climb, but I crested the ridge after a few miles and had my closest view yet of the snowy Sierra, with a couple ranges of mountains spread out before me. I’m very close to them now, with the unofficial trail gateway only a few miles away. Some of the mountains were almost solid snow, but others were quite melted, at least on their southern sides I was facing. I won’t know truly what it is like until I get in there.
We took a break on top to enjoy the mountain view, but there was no shade since it was a burn area, so we pressed on. We were killing it on time, but just can’t sit out in the sun.
It got hotter and hotter as we descended. The mountain ended, and we started to traverse the Kern River Valley. It was partially burned and partially remaining pine forest. Even in the forest, the heat began to feel oppressive. Not the most pleasant hiking for sure. We drove on for a few miles until we came to a flowing stream and our camp.
