PCT Day 60 – Kearsarge Pass to Bishop.

June 3, 2026

Total PCT miles: 0

Non PCT miles: 5.7

Total: 6.7 miles / 9.2 km

Total elevation gain: 878 ft

Total elevation loss: 2628 ft

Steps: 14884

Woke up this morning in this beautiful campsite very excited to get to town. It can be quite the process to get out of the mountains and into one of the nearby towns. PCT hikers typically resupply out of a few common routes. The first real exit is Cottonwood Pass into Lone Pine which we skipped. The next pass is Kearsarge Pass. The closest town from there is Independence but it’s a small town with few services. Most hikers, including our group go to Bishop which is about 50 miles from the trail head making this normally one of the more difficult rides to arrange. Fortunately I was able to use my Garmin Inreach to contact Kieth who will be picking us up at 10:30!

Not only can the ride be difficult but it’s a 7.4 miles hike from the PCT over Kearsarge Pass then down some 2600 ft to the trail head. In the Sierra you can leave every few days if you choose but it takes a lot of time. So balancing food carries, mileage and resupply is difficult. But the call of town food is strong and the pack is light so it was time to giddy up!

We were on trail by 6 am with way more time than we needed to walk the remaining 5.7 miles to the Kearsarge pass trailhead. We didn’t want to risk being late for our ride and Ness and myself would be up that early anyways.

The hike up and over Kearsarge Pass provided great views into the Sierra behind us and eventually the valley on the other side. It was mostly well graded but after a week in the mountains we were tired and moved slower than we aught to.

The way down is really well graded thankfully because we will have to make this 2600 ft climb with a full 7 day resupply in two days. Just over the pass we passed a frozen alpine lake. As we descended the temperatures got warmer the lakes now unfrozen. We passed several day hikers and several people camping at the various lakes down the trail.

We arrived at the parking lot with well over an hour to spare. We met a woman who was driving a jeep with a camper trailer who is supporting her husband on the PCT. Man it would be nice to have a camper waiting for me at all the trail heads! She gave us some cookies and water we didn’t have to filter and we chatted while we waited for our ride.

Keith arrived at 1000 dropping off his group of hikers and picking up 7 of us to bring to Bishop. This is now the Third time I have met Keith and I’m sure I’ll be lucky enough to meet him again. From the parking lot down to the valley below it’s a 5400 ft elevation drop down some very twisty turney mountain roads during which the temperature increased by near 12 degrees and my ears poped

More than once. The ride to Bishop with the Sierra to the left and Inyo Mountains to the right was incredibly beautiful. Some day I’ll have to take a road trip down here.

If your ever in Bishop I highly recommend the Erick Schat Bakery and Wonderland Chinese food! After we ate we settled into the motel 6 and were later joined by ReRoll and Yukon. Putting 4 people in a room makes it a lot more affordable although slightly less comfortable. Let me tell you the smell of a room with 4 thru hikers in it is something else.

Now for a good night sleep and what I know will be a very busy zero day.