High Sierra Topix

Took this about 2 hours after a PCT hiker moaned that the rain might force him to spend a "zero day" at McClure. Oh, the horror, the horror.

Thanks for bringing me back to reality. I find that too many times I get focused on my goal for the day, and don't "stop to smell the roses".

Wow man, beautiful. Wish I were there now...

trailblazer wrote:Wow man, beautiful. Wish I were there now...

It doesn't look like that right now LOL!

Nice capture gdurkee!...personally I like a "zero" day once in a while.

Most of my days are 'zero days' .... . Those PCT guys drive me buggy. Why not just rent a Stair Master??

I've also skied through there several times. No matter when, it's a pretty magical place.

g.

Windwalker wrote:

trailblazer wrote:Wow man, beautiful. Wish I were there now...

It doesn't look like that right now LOL!

gdurkee wrote: I've also skied through there several times. No matter when, it's a pretty magical place.
g.

As I said, I'd love to be there right now I'd love to ski through there sometime...

What an amazing beautiful gorgeous picture! How lucky you were to have the Rainbow. Very magical & peaceful. The colors are so perfect...I love those shades you see after a storm when the skies are still gray like, but the sun is shinning through a bit..and the trees almost have a fluorescent shade to them. Is that The Hermit? I have not yet been to this area of the Sierra

Thank you George

Beautiful picture George -- it is indeed an incredible place. The heart of the Sierra, I've always thought. I'll never forget the first time I encountered it, after hearing and reading about it for years.

gdurkee wrote:Most of my days are 'zero days' .... . Those PCT guys drive me buggy. Why not just rent a Stair Master??
g.

..on the other hand, they are walking, and it's hard (at least for most people) not to smell at least a few flowers under those circumstances . Just finished "The Last Season" <see my post in that thread, the gist of which is "thanks for a great recommendation, George!">, and while I appreciated the RM quote on "trail pounders," I think there's something to be said for some of this new light-and-fast ethic, as long as it doesn't get out of hand.

That said, on our 2004 JMT hike we had a long chat with only one PCTer, (in upper Vidette Meadow, he going north, we south) and he was quite a piece of work. Had an old Ursack as his only bear protection (kept calling it an "Urksack") and tried to convince us that since PCT hikers were "just trying to get from point A to point B," they shouldn't have to worry about all the regulations in the differing jurisdictions they passed through. Uh, right. He was worried that the Charlotte Lake ranger would get him when he passed the Kearsarge junction (I'd told him she was checking wilderness permits there the day before), and it would be uncharitable for me to express what I was privately thinking

With limited time (in many senses of the word -- I have lots to do in the summer, I now live nearly 3,000 miles from the Sierra, and I'm into my sixties...), I'm torn. Part of me would like to do the JMT again soon, but I'd probably have to do it solo and over just a couple of weeks. Another part would like to wait until I retire, and then do it with my spouse, taking five or six weeks. *Sigh.* Just not enough time in this life, I'm afraid.

Nice shot George. It's almost as if I was just there. Oh yeah, I was! I was lucky enough to have dry weather on my trip. However, I had no rainbows.