[pct-l] Scary Stuff ahead

[Marion Davison]

As a section hiker I have hiked all the trails mentioned in the Emigrant 
Pass Wilderness.  The alternate route through Northern Yosemite, up 
Matterhorn Canyon, over Burro Pass and Mule Pass, past Crown Point, 
Crown Lake, Peeler Lake, over Buckeye Pass and down Kirkwood Creek  to 
Piute Meadows is stunning, although I found the trail to be a little 
sketchy and hard to follow here and there.  Hardly anyone travels up 
here.  To avoid Sonora Pass, one would continue on trail beside the West 
Walker River, ending at the highway 108 at Leavitt Meadows, where there 
is trailhead parking, a campground, and probably easy hitching to 
Bridgeport, or west to the Sonora Pass trailhead.  Heading north from 
the highway at Sonora Pass, the PCT is easy.
  I agree with everything Donna said about the descent to the highway 
from Sonora Pass.  Once you leave Kennedy Canyon, you climb steadily to 
a long exposed ridge.  We parked at Sonora Pass and hiked south on a 
cold, cloudy day with occasional showers.  Going south it was not really 
scary.  I did not get the sensation that I was going to fall when 
traveling uphill.  On our return trip two weeks later, the weather was 
clear but extremely windy.  It was therefore very unpleasant on that 
exposed ridge.  As we did the descent to the highway (It's August, no 
snow) I slipped on the little lava ball bearings on the slanted trail 
eight times.  I was quite terrified and swore I'd never hike this piece 
of trail again.  When I got home I threw away my shoes and got new ones, 
since I no longer trusted the tread on those shoes.
There is a clear, obvious, signed trail to Leavitt Lake, leaving the PCT 
from the ridge.  At this point you have already ascended from 8580 feet 
in Walker Meadow to 10, 600 feet at the trail junction.  If you take 
this route to Leavitt Lake you drop 1000 feet in 1 1/2 miles, then walk 
a jeep road a couple of miles to the highway.  To me it seems like a big 
pointless up and down, and I don't like walking jeep roads.
Were I doing it again, and wanting to dodge Sonora Pass, I would leave 
the PCT just past Cascade Creek, take the trail down to lower Piute 
Meadows and West Walker River, and out to Leavitt Meadow.  Or go a 
little farther on the PCT to the Long Lakes Junction and hike out to 
Leavitt Meadow past Chain of Lakes. These routes are foot trail all the 
way to the highway.
Another route is to leave the PCT at the top of Jack Main Canyon, go 
west over Bond Pass, and take trail through Emigrant Wilderness, thru 
Summit Meadow, Grizzly Meadow, past Emigrant Meadow Lake, over Brown 
Bear Pass, past Lunch Meadow, Sheep camp, and down to Relief Reservoir 
and northern Kennedy Meadows where there is a campground, resort and 
store and you should be able to hitch back to Sonora Pass trailhead.
I've hiked all these trails over the past many years.  The most striking 
thing about them is the amazing lack of people, compared to Yosemite and 
Sequoia.  It's all spectacular country.
If you are thinking about doing these routes get the Tom Harrison map of 
Emigrant Wilderness or the Tom Harrison Yosemite National Park 
Recreation Map (if you are considering the Burro/Mule Pass route)
Marion