PCT 2018 Day 34, May 26, Saturday.
Start mile 778.7, near campsites, less than one mile from Forester Pass, elevation 12.3k.
End mile 788.5, then take the Bullfrog Lake Trail and Kearsarge Trail 7.6 miles to Onion Valley Trailhead and hitch 11 miles to Independence
Miles walked: 17.4
Several people started up Forester Pass before me in the morning, even though I camped closest. One couple, camped 5 miles away, got up at 3:30AM to get to the pass while the snow was still hard. I was glad to follow some fresh footprints.
Going down Kings Canyon was several miles of snow, and post-holing started relatively early in some spots, even as early as 9AM, though breaking through the snow crust was rare, it did happen. Kings Canyon offered terrific views on descending.
Further down the canyon, past the snow, the need for food resupply required that I exit the PCT, and climb Kearsarge Trail from 10.8k elevation up to Kearsarge Pass at 11.8k.
Then an infinite set of switchbacks brings me down to Onion Valley Trailhead at 9.2k.
The trail was very popular with day-hikers. On the way down I met Groundhog and MouseTrap, and we decided to stay at bunkhouse at Courthouse Motel. I had called on the way down, and they had space for hikers on this busy Memorial Day weekend.
I got a ride down with Skidmark and Chief, with their parents, who had left the trail temporarily to stash food in a bear box at the trailhead, and then would return hiking at Kennedy Meadows. They quizzed me on trail conditions at each pass, all the way down to the town of Independence.
Finished audiobook The Girl On the Boat, by P G Wodehouse