June 24, 2017
Bishop to Onion Valley, foot of Kearsarge Pass
Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hike: Day 50
After we each weighed our packs and laugh-cried about how heavy they were, Santa’s Helper gave us a ride up to the Onion Valley Trailhead. The road was open almost to the top. His van overheated at the bottom, so he pulled over for a minute. We all thought him pulling over was a sign for us to get out of the van and walk the seven miles up to the trailhead. But we held our breath and waited for him to say something, giving each other side eye in the nervous silence.
After a few minutes, he pulled back onto the road and took us within half a mile of the trailhead. Lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky. We couldn’t drive all the way to the top because the snow melt was flooding and washing out the road (good sign!) but we had saved nearly seven miles of road walking.
During the drive we had seen thunderclouds looming over the mountains, hoping that those weren’t our mountains we were going back to—maybe that was a different part of the Sierra?
They were, indeed, our mountains. At the trailhead, I looked up at the switchbacks leading to where we would stage ourselves for the pass tomorrow. Dark swells of clouds gathered over our ascent. That did not feel like a good omen. That felt like a very bad omen.
Despite our lighter gear, we got halfway up the climb and were already far behind everyone. We put rain gear and pack covers on because it really looked like this thing was going to dump on us. Since everyone had already passed us, I assumed we wouldn’t see them again.
But once we passed the lake, we saw Yeti, and then we saw EVERYONE! We were glad to be done early, and delighted to be among friends.
I’ll tell you about town now. What happened before we headed out.
Sonya Opts Out
Before we headed out, I had that feeling in my stomach. Alex and I mailed the heavy gear home to lighten our packs, and went back to the hostel to finish packing. Our room door was open, looking out on the patio, and Sonya came over to talk. To tell me that she was now having second thoughts about continuing into the Sierra.
I think she was spooked about coming down Kearsarge pass when it was slushy, and spooked about Ben falling in, spooked about Glen pass ahead and all the swollen creeks. Getting spooked once can change your whole mindset. She told me she had some thinking to do, and a few more phone calls to make, but after we finished our errands, she came and told me she had decided to skip ahead to Truckee with Ben and Sara, Justin, the sisters, Land Mammal, and Gary/Fat and Sassy.
That was hard to hear, I think for everyone. She was a big, steady, loving personality in our trail family. So steady. So even-keeled. Someone as even-keeled as Sonya getting spooked out of the Sierra didn’t feel good. I walked inside to try and keep myself busy so I wouldn’t dwell on it and go into an anxiety spiral. I walked right into the hostel dining room where Payless and his gang were having a ‘war planning meeting’ at the hostel dining room table. These are the rivers that people have gotten swept down. These are the passes that have the most technical ascents and descents. Quickly nosediving into the reality of how woefully unprepared I was just hours before I would step back into the wilderness.
We gathered and waited for Santa’s Helper to come get us. What an agonizing wait, and one that took place in absolute silence.
A confidence boost from Mom and Dad
Oh, and then, just as we had started walking up the Onion Valley trail, I decided I should call my parents. They were worried, which meant regaling me with rumors they had heard in newspapers in Minneapolis about how bad the conditions in the Sierra were this year. Half a world away in Minnesota, newspapers were regaling my parents with the stupidity of what we were about to go do. Were we sure we needed to do this? Mom asked. Was it really worth it? They implored.
But for now, all I can do is take it one pass at a time, one creek crossing at a time, make sure we’re safe and have enough food, and take the time to enjoy the beauty of what is around us. How could this not be worth it? It’s a part of the world you can only see by taking yourself there, and part of one of the most majestic mountain ranges, in a year that only happens once every few decades. We just need to use our brains, be safe, and take it one thing at a time.
