I started from Sage Flat, at 5800. The 3400 feet of gain to Olancha Pass was relatively painless and had some nice views along the way.
However, I first hit snow at about 8,500. And when I got up to Summit Meadow (9,200) I thought I had been transported in the Arctic. There was way more snow that last weekend (when I did the PCT from Kennedy Meadows to the saddle before Olancha Peak)! Not the way the spring melt is supposed to be going.
I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to get to the 10,540 summit, and once I got past it the PCT was a virtual white-out. But I saw that the west side of Olancha Peak didn't look bad, so I decided to go for it (completely unplanned). I actually got above the snow fairly quickly; here's the peak from about 200 feet below.
Top of the world for now (apologies for the Photoshopping, but it was cloudy and the original pic was way too dark):
It's pretty steep on the east:
This is northwest of Langley/Whitney. I'm still trying to figure out what the peak on the left is.
The next day I got as far north on the PCT as Death Canyon (disappointingly harmless) and then decided to try cross-country along a stream from Gomez Meadow to Strawberry Meadow. This was all going fine until the stream bed became a shockingly steep canyon (not evident from my map). I got tired of hopping across from side-to-side and climbing up and around snow and boulders, so I finally headed straight up, only to find I had almost made it to the meadow.
So I headed to Brown Meadow instead:
And then to a riverside campsite by the Kern. My guidebook said to ford it near here. Ha.
I hiked out on the Strawberry Trail, part of which is an old stock driveway (an unfortunately common theme on the Kern Plateau) and was as steep as just about any Sierra trail I can think of. No switchbacks! I have a new found respect for cows.
Other than that, lots of cross-country when the PCT was under snow:
And bear tracks all over the place!
And finally, a much needed rest before my descent back to Sage Flat:
