Maverick and Lodge Pole on the PCT.

Friends on the PCT

Maverick says: It's a dark picture but those are some of our fellow hikers around a bonfire at Vermilion Valley Resort

And there's the only dog that I know of this year that has made it thus far all the way from Mexico. Her trail name is Leftovers, and she is performing a trick where she turns into a statue when you put a treat on her nose!

Some kind of giant really cool moth Lodge found at Reds Meadows.

Golden Trout Heaven

Maverick says: There seems to be golden trout everywhere up here.

Waterfalls, lakes, and more fish. These are the biggest I have caught so far. The one on the far right is a 15 inch Rainbow Trout, the others are Golden Trout and the two big ones are around 13-14 inches. We ate good that night and the fish tasted amazing!

It was a Rock Hut!

Maverick says: There's a shot of the Rock hut on top of Mure Pass. This pass was the snowiest by far, with no trail as there was miles and miles of snow covered ground. It was great

Dad and I have been above 10 thousand feet for a week now. There are snow covered mountains and lakes with fish and no one around. Just the handful of hikers that we started the Sierras with we run into and sometimes camp together, most of the time it's just me and pops and we are constantly stunned at the beauty and seclusion. We talk about how great it would be to try and get family and friends out here but then remember how hard it was to get here and that we are miles and days away from the nearest road.

Getting Closer to Independence

Maverick says: Here is the ride we got into Independence, look at how chuck full of packs the back seat is.

And when we got to Independence there just happened to be a trail legend rolling through town. That's Geared Up to the right our trail compadre, and Billy Goat in the middle. Billy Goat as put in more than 40000 miles on the PCT

Since we summited Mt Whitney we have been on the John Mure Trail and it has had the most amazing vistas, mountains, and alpine lakes that we have seen thus far.

Coming Down the Mountain

Maverick says: A view from the top of Forester and another picture after we made it down. Can you even see how we made it down?

There's dad super tired after going over snow and basically rock climbing down the backside of a mountain!

It seems the further into the Sierras we go the more amazing it gets

Ice Age 2013: The Pacific Crest Trail

Maverick says: Once we finally got up to the ice sheet on Forester we were surprised to see a small path cut in the ice. Apparently our fellow hiker named Slim spent 5 hour chipping away at the ice the day before. Slim you are the man. Unfortunately it had partly melted and was refrozen overnight but it didn't take me too long to chip new footholds to make it safe again. I felt partly responsible to make sure the pass was safe considering there were some hikers right behind us and I had already made the statement, "I don't care how thick the ice sheet is. I'll spend all day hacking away if that's what it takes" Not to mention the fact that a lot of people told us we might not make it through and that it was dangerous, even the rangers and some mountaineers that usually are the first ones over the Sierras had said it was to early and the passes were impassable, but us and the group decided to go anyway. :)