We started that day at 3 a.m. at 6k feet and ended the day at 10k camped in a high mountain basin next to a pristine alpine lake full of willing brook trout. What came in between was personally one of the most physically and mentally challenging days I’ve had since my days as an all state wrestler in Pennsylvania.

Spirits were high at 3am. Ray, my son and I joked and laughed the entire three hour drive to the ranger station in Mammouth, CA where we picked up our hiking permit to enter the John Muir Wilderness by way of Pine Creek Pass. The pass is considered to be “difficult” in term of elevation gain and terrain. That proved to be true during our roughly 5 hour accent into the Pine Creek Basin just over 10,000 feet above sea level. We would gain nearly 1,000 feet for every mile traveled.

Before hitting the road we did a last minute gear check. Primarily we were trying to lighten our loads by not duplicating gear that didn’t need to be duplicated such as first aid kits etc. We also made sure we had some redundancy i some important gear such as backpacking stoves and head lamps. Juan Jr. , Ray and I were able to lighten our packs by a few pounds but I was still concerned that we had too much gear. Everyone’s packs where in excess of 45 lbs. total which could be problematic on the climb that lay ahead.

Let’s put things into perspective. I’m standing on the road on the edge of the desert. See that snow on the highest peak above me? We are going up and beyond that in the the John Muir Wilderness.

Packs off and some needed rest in a rare piece of shade on this section of the Pine Creek Trail. Hiking the 5.5 miles was physically and mentally challenging. Photos don’t put into perspective how steep the trail was nor the rugged terrain. The climb was so steep that most of the trail was a series of switchbacks and boulder scrambles. Not not something easily accomplished with nearly 50lbs of camping and fishing gear on your back. That water fall you see in the background is at about 9,500 ft above sea level. It is the overflow for the lake we will eventually reach after a few more miles of up hill switch backing.

Time to “water up”! There is no shortage of water pouring off the mountain rock. A late snow melt across the Sierra’s made sure of that! We used a filter but this high up, it’s hard to imagine that the water held any impurities. Most of the time we found water shooting out of cracks in the limestone rock. Ice cold and refreshing!

The views on the climb where incredible! This particular shot was taken from the top of a cliff with about 75% of our climb completed. Yes, we came from WAAAY down there! At this point in the climb I was on automatic pilot. My son was handling the hike with 50lb pack like a Himalayan Sherpa hence his new trail name “Sherpa”. Ray and I were basically slogging along at a slow but steady pace to conserve our energy on the climb. I was definitely struggling the most. I felt like I was in good enough shape to make the climb but struggled with the altitude and terrible cramps in my quadriceps. My experience as an all state wrestler was an advantage because I could mentally shut off the pain and keep going. If nothing else, I had the mental and physical toughness to keep pushing. That would prove to be problematic later in our trip though.

The John Muir Wilderness sign marked the end of the difficult climbing that the beginning of the Pine Creek Basin which contained several lakes we planned to fish. We still have a tricky creek crossing to go and some minor rock scrambles before reaching our base camp at the first Pine Creek Lake.