PCT Season 2 Episode 6 Crabtree Meadows to Forester and Kearsarge Passes

Join me for the next leg of The Hiker’s Log: Crabtree Meadows to Forester Pass to Kearsarge Lakes and out over Kearsarge Pass, about 21 PCT miles plus the side trail to Onion Valley. Hiked June 21–23, 2026 – part of a 200-mile trek through the Sierra in summer of 2026. Crabtree Meadows, around mile 767 and 10,300 feet in Sequoia National Park, is the last soft ground before the Kings-Kern Divide — Whitney Creek and the staging meadow for Mount Whitney. From there the trail climbs to Forester Pass, mile 779.5 and 13,200 feet, the highest point on the entire Pacific Crest Trail and the boundary between Sequoia and Kings Canyon. The south side is a set of switchbacks blasted into the cliff in 1930–31. A plaque just below the crest remembers Donald Downs, 18, who died after a blasting accident during that work. North of the pass the trail drops into the Bubbs Creek drainage, then climbs to the Kearsarge Pass Trail junction near mile 789. Kearsarge Lakes sit under the Pinnacles; Kearsarge Pass, 11,709 feet, is the door to Onion Valley and Independence — and a common Sierra resupply. This episode is the High Sierra doing what it does: thin air, granite, and a pass that does not care about your itinerary. I’m hiking the PCT with Parkinson’s and using every step to push back on it, while raising money for research. Your support helps the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Donate: https://give.michaeljfox.org/fundrais... Trail updates and photos: Instagram @hikerdad1000 Like, subscribe, and hit the bell so you catch the next section north. #PacificCrestTrail #PCTThruHike #ForesterPass #KearsargePass #HighSierra #JohnMuirTrail #HikingVlog #ParkinsonsAwareness #MichaelJFoxFoundation #TeamFox