Mile 860 to 873.

I wanted to address the fear mongering that has plagued the Sierra this year. Since 2017 was a record breaking year for snow fall, with some areas receiving 200% above average accumulation, the Sierra have quite naturally been the talk of the trail. In fact, some people even decided to postpone their hike this year to wait for a more “average” year. On trail, people have quit, flipped, or taken weeks off the trail. The sad thing is that a lot of this has to do with fear mongering and the shear ignorance of the people offering options on the Sierra.

When you go into town, people who couldn’t hike five miles if their lives depended on it tell you the Sierra are impassible. Online, people tell you you will die. Other hikers say the rivers are impassible. My group has always had a “let’s see for ourselves and make our own decisions” attitude. We aren’t going to let other people project their fears and insecurities on us. We are all of one mind in this.

When we entered the Sierra on June 9th, we were a group of seven. Now we are a group of four. Three people met challenges and obstacles that took them out of their comfort zones and pushed their limits enough that they were willing to quit the trail after 84 miles in the Sierra and a total of 786 trail miles. For the four of us that remain, Vipr, Fun Dip, Bedazzled, and myself, we are enjoying the shit out of the Sierra.

Today, we completed our 171st mile in the Sierra, and we are having the time of our lives gaining every pass and fording every river we come to. Our skills are being tested, our bodies bruised, and our minds challenged, but we are meeting every obstacle head on and finding a way to succeed.

If you have a good skill set, mental fortitude, and a good group of friends, you can succeed and get through the Sierra. We and the other hikers currently doing it are proof. You just have to be able to deal with discomfort, preserve, be resilient, and realize that this thru-hiking thing isn’t always going to be sunshine and roses. You will fall on your face, lose feeling in your toes, wake up at 1:00 AM to climb a mountain, and cross full rivers and steep snow slopes. The rewards out here, however, come in spades. The comradery with your group, the feeling of achievement when you climb a 12,000 foot pass, the adrenaline rush when you step into a swift river, and the list goes on. You earn your rewards out here, and that is why I love it.

Today, we woke up at 4:00 and gained Selden Pass at just under 12,000 feet and then we walked down to Bear Creek, rumored to be one of the hardest river  crossings. We ignored the point where the trail crossed the river, and looked at our topographical maps. We found a spot upstream where there were four tributaries. We navigated off trail to each tributary and successful crossed them. We didn’t know what they looked like before hand, but we read the rivers, used our heads, and minimized as many risks as we could.

It was a great day and we all fist bumped after the last of the group made it across the final tributary. We have completed the last major obstacle of this section, and we are even set to arrive in Mammoth on July 2nd, two days ahead of schedule.

The Sierra have taught me to always see for myself and make my own decisions. Only you know your skills, experience, and risk tolerance. You should never let anyone scare you into a decision or make your decisions for you. More likely than not, they are projecting their own fears onto you.

Wildlife: Deer, Marmots, Trout, Rabbits, and a small bird with a black head, gray body, and black tail with vertical white stripes on either side.