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110 miles of PCT though Yosemite and Carson/Iceburg


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Home Forums Campfire Member Trip Reports 110 miles of PCT though Yosemite and Carson/Iceburg

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  • #1230323
    Joshua Billings
    BPL Member

    @joshua

    Locale: Santa Cruz,Ca

    Hey everybody,
    Just got back a few days ago from my big trip and I must say that it was awesome. I started off going with a hiking partner but the first day out he ended up going back to the car because of an injury, smart move on his part if you ask me. So this left me with a decision to make, solo or home. I ended up going solo for the entire trip. Let me tell you that over half the people I meet on the trail were traveling solo so I started to feel better right away.
    I started in Tuolumne Meadows and ended at Ebbits Pass traveling North on the PCT. I was doing about 10 miles a day and fishing a lot. I caught about 60 fish, all catch and release with no casualties. They were mostly browns and Rainbows. At Matterhorn Canyon I caught about 15 six inch trout with orange bellies. Does anyone know what kind of fish this is..

    One of many

    One of my favorite places on this route was Benson Lake. I got there around 3:00pm on the third day and didn't leave till 12:00pm the next day. This was the closest thing to a zero day I had.

    Benson Lake with it's beautiful sand beaches.

    The next day I started out at noon and got over Seavey Pass just in time to be hit with a thunder storm in Kerrick Canyon. Let me tell you something, if you have never been in a thunder storm in the Sierras, they will humble you with their amazing power. The lightning was striking all around me with less than half a second between flash and thunder. I was pretty unnerved. I pitched my Gatwood cape next to the trail under some small trees in a tiny opening witch happened to be next to the river. I just started to get warm again in my sleeping bag when I heard the river raging next to me start to rise.So I packed up all my stuff again and headed for "higher ground", which is now my trail name dubbed to me by a passing by though hiker named So Far. It was quite an exciting moment for me, but I survived. This was my first such experience.
    As the days went by I could hike more miles and eventually hiked a 20 miler over Sanora Pass. What an amazing place that is. It is like hiking on Mars.

    Near Sanora Pass

    By the end of the hike I was finally just getting into hiker shape and I felt ready to keep on hiking to Canada, but alas, my living family needed me and it was back to work. I missed them truly, but not work. It was great to be on the PCT and meet about 12 though hikers and feel what it is like to be in their culture. Truly free souls. I hope they realize what they have.
    This was a life changing experience for me and I am now truly bit with the bug. So much more to learn and so many more places to go.
    Some of the gear that really worked for me on this trip was: my Gatwood Cape and serenity bug net,my bug head net and bug spray, my Western Mountaineering Alpinelite, my hiking poles, my big agness clearview pad 66"mummy, my Steripen and BPL 1100 ti pot,my platypus 3 liter hoser, and my 7 piece fly rod. My six moon designs Startlight pack was also really nice although it was overloaded for the first half a week before I ate though some of my food. I did a slight adjustment to my shoulder pads by cutting my thin light sleeping pad in half and folding it a few times and duct taping it to my shoulder pads.

    Extra shoulder pad padding.

    Here's me at the end of my trip at ebbits pass.

    All done

    Here are some more photos of my trip.

    Fishing at Benson Lake
    .
    1000 mile mark from Mexico North of Lake Wilma
    .
    Gatewood cape at lake benson
    .
    creek north of wilma lake along Jack long Canyon on PCT
    .
    Dorothy Lake
    .
    Jay Wilkerson, Josh and little Jeff
    .
    creek north of return creek
    .
    I think this is Smedberge lake North of Benson Pass

    Thanks for reading,
    Josh

    #1444269
    Joshua Billings
    BPL Member

    @joshua

    Locale: Santa Cruz,Ca

    Something went funny with this trip report. The pictures are all over the place and over lapping and the captions are all jumbled. Hope you can still read most of it.
    Josh

    #1444294
    Roger Caffin
    BPL Member

    @rcaffin

    Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

    I don't know what happened either, but something silly had damaged the image size data. So I went through and fixed the sizes and sorted out the images. Hope it meets with your approval.
    Nice pics btw!

    cheers
    roger caffin

    #1444305
    todd
    BPL Member

    @funnymo

    Locale: SE USA

    What a great trip, Joshua!

    I'm glad you continued on, and I hope your friend is doing well. Fantastic pics, too!

    I want to go now!

    Todd

    #1444336
    Ken Helwig
    BPL Member

    @kennyhel77

    Locale: Scotts Valley CA via San Jose, CA

    what happened to everyone else???

    #1444350
    Gail Lusk
    Member

    @alohatink

    Locale: In the Middle of No Where!

    Great trip and wonderful photos…
    it looks just like this one to me which is a golden trout.Golden Trout

    #1444355
    David Stenberg
    BPL Member

    @dstenberg1

    Locale: South

    Josh,

    Beautiful pictures! The trout you are holding in the first picture is a brook trout. Thanks for sharing!

    David

    #1444397
    Richard Gless
    BPL Member

    @rgless

    Locale: San Francisco Bay Area

    I'd vote for Brook as well. Note the red stripe down the side of the Golden and the grey panniers and black spots in Gail's picture. The multicolored spots, white lines on the fins, and the bright gold color all look like a male brookie in full spawning colors. Pretty spectacular. Nice pictures.

    #1444463
    Joshua Billings
    BPL Member

    @joshua

    Locale: Santa Cruz,Ca

    Thank you brother Roger,
    Your changes meet my approval.I appreciate it.
    Josh
    P.S. I love your avatar.

    #1444608
    Shawn Basil
    Member

    @bearpaw

    Locale: Southeast

    Excellent report, especially the pictures. Thanks.

    #1446354
    Linsey Budden
    Member

    @lollygag

    Locale: pugetropolis

    Your wonderful report is worth several reads. Higher Ground is an awesome trail name.

    #1446577
    Joshua Billings
    BPL Member

    @joshua

    Locale: Santa Cruz,Ca

    Thanks Shawn and Linsey,
    It was a life changer.
    Josh

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