September 7th: Upper Palisade – South Fork King’s Crossing (8.3 miles, 1,260′ elevation gain)
Cumulative Distance: 179 miles
Cumulative Ascent: 30,685 feet
Woke up around 0730 and left camp sometime before 0900. I barely slept again. Everything itched and hurt, and I kept fluctuating drastically between hot and cold all night. I woke up incredibly swollen, especially around my eyes. Weird. Maybe it’s the altitude? I’d have to keep tabs on that throughout the day…
Swollen eyelids. Ended up going away, thankfully.
Woke up to a gorgeous view over Upper Palisade Lake
Glancing up toward Mather Pass (the dip)
Slooooowly made my way up Mather Pass seeing a pika on the way (!!!). Mornings were getting harder and harder; every new pass was a slog. Got up to Mather just before 1100and met a bunch of people while we sat around snacking (Kathryn from Philly, Leo from Long Beach- represent!, Jenny, and Dave). While we were standing around, there was a GIANT boom that echoed all around us. It was quite frightening and we couldn’t tell exactly which direction it came from. There were no immediate signs of a rock/landslide around us, so we continued chatting. About 5-10 minutes later there was another boom, this time we all agreed it came from somewhere from the southeast. Was it dynamite? We had no idea, but were thankful it wasn’t anywhere close, whatever it was.
Up and up looking back over Upper Palisade Lake
Little Upper Palisade and the Palisade Range in the distance
Back to my epic surprise playlist real quick: just as I was climbing the final stretch to Mather, the Family Matters theme song came up next under my friend Annalise’s name and I laughed my ass off playing it on repeat until I reached the top. I was having a horrible morning and it was exactly what I needed to cheer me up. I mean, listen to it. (Made a little video for your viewing pleasure if you click that link.)
MATHER PASS!!!!
Pano on Mather looking west
Looking down the other side
Having others around to take photos was pretty awesome
One last shot before heading down
Anyways, the whole way down Mather was incredibly easy and beautiful. I spent the whole day listening to music and enjoying myself. I hiked with Leo and Kathryn until we stopped to filter some water, where we met up with the crew I camped next to at Palisade. Kathryn is a marathon runner and had been averaging about 25 miles each day, so she wanted to quickly continue on as she was attempting to finish the trail in I believe 10 days or so. Found out before she left that she has a grandmother with the maiden name of Rousseau somewhere in Massachusetts, maybe Worcester area, which I thought pretty crazy. Small world- wonder if we’re related? Leo and the Palisade crew all headed out as well and I relaxed by the creek for a while.
Lots of switchbacks descending down Mather
When you dip, I dip, we dip (Mather Pass)
Tomorrow’s pass way in the distance
Strolling through Upper Basin
The photo does NO justice to how vibrant and red this actually was
At the bottom of Mather I ran into one of my FAVORITE Ladies of the JMT- Rachael(?) (aka Cherry). We swapped trail conditions, talked about LOTJMT, took a photo together, and parted ways.
LOTJMT!!!!
Down into lodgepole pine
Turn around, stick it out! Even marmot’s got to shout…
I arrived at the South Fork of King’s River crossing sometime between 1400 and 1500 and decided to stop for the day, even though it was still early. I was almost an entire day ahead of schedule and really wanted to take care of laundry, my body, and mental health. It almost felt like a zero day since I had so much time to relax. I bathed, washed all my clothes, charged all my devices, laid out in the sun to get a tan, swam around in the river, and did a ton of leg stretches to hopefully sleep better that night.
As the sun started setting a man crossed the river and was struggling to find a campsite for the night. I offered him a small spot next to me and he came over to chat for a second before turning in. I lit a fire for my first time the entire trip and burned any papers I didn’t need anymore. It felt nice to have a fire for once, but as I type this all up now I’m realizing I was actually just above 10,000′ and shouldn’t have since fires are prohibited above that elevation. Oops.
Aside from the morning climb, it was a great day. Treating myself to hiking less than 10 miles was definitely worth it!
I’m the trouble starter, punking instigator. I’m the fear addicted, danger illustrated…
Oops.
trips and trailmix 