Into the mountains!

I’m in Bishop thanks to Debi the Trail Angel, who—along with her dog Poncho—gave me a ride from the Onion Valley Trailhead. The desert finally gave way to mountains, and because the scenery was so varied and spectacular, I’m going to make this post a little different. Here we go, then, a photographic journey from Walker Pass to Kearsage Pass:

Joshua trees? I do believe we’re still in the desert.

Welcome cloud cover during the evening

Getting close to the Sierras!

Uh oh. Did someone else eat at Subway?

Footbridge on the ascent to 10,000 feet

Into the land of tall trees and shade

I confirmed this is a Limber Pine

Someone shed weight by tearing pages from a Lord of the Rings book? I packed them out. Alas, poor Frodo.

Bristlecone pines, like full-size bonsai

Please don’t leave you trash for someone else to carry out! Alas, it joined poor Frodo.

Sometimes decay is beautiful.

This nut job won’t leave me alone! He even shows up in my selfies!

Start up Mt. Whitney at midnight to watch sunrise at the summit? Sure, that’s a good plan.

Alright, that’s worth the early start!

And that’s what I hiked past in the dark!

Not the slightest bit scary, that trail!

View below the notorious Forester Pass the next morning

Can’t go through, so I guess we’ll go over

How does a trail exist here?

Well, that was a trip, but I got down in time for second breakfast.

And finally, Kearsage Pass, on the way down to Bishop…

…where they aren’t bitter at all about their water being pumped to Los Angeles (this mural is a couple streets down from where I’m staying).

Zoom in on the rusty pipe in the mural: LADWP is the Los Angeles water utility. Not bitter at all.

That brings me to Bishop and the start of the next leg of my hike tomorrow. But you don’t have to wait that long to hear more from me (poor thing).