9.49 San Joaquin Ridge and onto various Peaks thereafter
Looking back towards 'painting' beauty Jen crests one of many peaks, Mammoth Mountain in background. Scene of a hike planned for Friday. Like a 'desert' crossing—terrific feeling for TE Lawrence After some tiring hikes earlier in the week, we decided to pursue a shorter one bearing in mind that we planned a major hike for the day following. We set out along an off-road track with Mammoth Mountain to our rear and the Minarets ahead. We don’t think one could be faulted for stating that some of the most beautiful scenes possible surrounded us. It was reminiscent of hiking on South Island, near Queenstown, New Zealand. As an aside, we often see similarity in parts of that country with Hawaii and mid-to-northern California. When we reached the ridge after a 1,000 feet climb, we could not stop. That’s not because of brake failure; rather, the overwhelming nature of the position encouraged us to continue. This meant that the short hike became nearly 10 miles on the day. ...