PCT: Barker to Alpine

 Seven 8 o'clock hikers set off for an ambitious day: Barker Pass north on PCT to 5 Lakes Basin and down to the road into Alpine Meadows ski area.  This involved shuttling 2 cars from Alpine to Barker to start the hike and shuttling the third car afterwards.  A loooooooooong day!!  Although we had to not dawdle, we were easily out-done by the 4 thru-hikers that we met.  They hiked faster than we did but stopped to adjust things and charge their solar batteries so that they could use their iPhones.

Sierra Primrose

Alpine Lilies

 The weather was perfect and although the trail was long, the views close by and faraway were spectacular.  Gardens of wildflowers beckoned us forth as streams crossed the path forming meadows and large green areas.  Sometimes Mule's Ears coated hillsides with Corn lilies thrown in.  Sometimes it was wet enough for large stands of Thimbleberry and Alpine Lilies, Columbine, Monkey Flowers (yellow and magenta), and Larkspur.  Drier, rockier areas sported Leichtin's Mariposa Lily, Scarlet Gilia, Buckwheats (Sulfur and Lobb's), Mountain Sorrel, Penstemons (azure and mountain pride), and the rarer Sierra Primroses and Balloon Pod Milkvetch.  I'm sure I left out important ones but you get the idea. 

We ate lunch near Twin Peaks in a shady glade with great views of rock formations and Lake Tahoe (which we saw a lot of the day).  After hiking around the peaks, we said good bye to the Tahoe Rim Trail to continue on the PCT.

The thru-hikers were young and a bit unenthusiastic by this time.  They looked a somewhat beat up, especially around the feet and ankles.  One was craving a burger so badly he had plans to go out at Alpine.   We told him that he would get to Squaw by the next day and maybe there was a place to eat at the top.  To my surprise, he didn't seem to know that, even though he was from Chico and Sacramento and had been to High Camp before.  The kids were from different areas of the country and seemed loosely connected, even though hiking alone.  They were very remindful of the book Wild.

Synapse Rock

Looking north, Tinker's Knob looks knobby

From Frank:

The map from yesterdays hike is attached.  The map says we went 13.95 miles,
my GPS reported 14.3, and the other two GPS receivers reported slightly more
than mine. Every time I sit down this morning then try to walk again my
calf's are reporting that it was at least 20 miles!

In the early afternoon we could see a reservoir off to the west.  I tried to
follow my gps in that direction and found the Hell Hole reservoir.  Now that
I see everything on a computer screen I see there were two reservoirs in
that direction, the Hell Hole and the French Meadows. I'm not sure which we
were looking at.  I have not been able to draw a straight line from anyplace
on either reservoir to anyplace on our hike without having to look through a
ridge or mountain.  French Meadows is a couple hundred meters higher so my
best guess is we saw French Meadows, and the Middle Fork of the American
River flows into it.

I think Peter asked how accurate I thought my GPS was for elevation
readings. My guess was plus or minus 100 feet.  So I checked the GPS
recordings and the highest elevation it recorded was 8600 feet.  When I
looked to see what our location was at that time the National Geographic
Topo map reported the elevation was 8400 feet. At our highest point we
should have had really good view of the sky.  I'm no longer convinced the
elevation readings from my GPS are within 100 feet.  Now Peter's GPS has a
barometer in addition to the GPS radio, so his readings of elevation change
should be much more accurate than mine.

An absolutely fantastic day, with incredible vistas both east and west, huge
contorted trees from the snow loads, fascinating rock formations, a
continuous floral display, great weather and fun company.  My calfs might
not agree, but it doesn't get any better than that!

Twin Peaks

Lunch Spot

Elly:  My app says 8,425 feet was the highest and that we walked about 14.5 miles with a 2,165 foot elevation gain.  All of us agreed that the hike was a bit too long for us but we enjoyed it so much anyway.  Most of it, that is - the last part was painful.