Today I covered 12.8 miles, 20.7 km. The trail traverses the mountainside high above the meadows from yesterday, before dropping into a canyon to cross onto another mountain ridge. The trail quickly climbs back to 10 689 ft, 3258 m, where I made camp for the night.

I got on trail at 8 am, and immediately faced amazing views over the same meadows which I was walking through yesterday. The trail crosses the mountainside, climbing slightly to reach a saddle up ahead.

The view from the saddle is obscured by trees, but I step off trail about 30 m to get up on some rocks. From up here I can see far off mountains with snow patches on top. These mountains are exactly where I’m headed, and I’ll get the chance to see them up close in just a couple of days.

I begin to descend here, through the high forest of Sequoia trees, into more dense woods. The air gets warmer and thicker as I descend to about 9000 ft. I’ve only spent one night above 10 000 ft, but already, coming down to 9000 ft feels like getting boost.

The trail emerges into a beautiful meadow, surrounded by mountains. Once I cross this valley I fill my water bottles with 3 L and then begin the long climb back up to 10 000 ft.

The climb is very tough, but rewarding. For the first hour I get to see the valleys and mountains below me slowly getting farther away. After a couple of hours, things below look flat, and I can’t see the change in elevation so easily. At this point, I get the first glimpse of Mt Whitney far off in the distance. It looks massive from here and dwarfs all the mountains before it.

Right near the top of my climb, I reach some sharp switchbacks. I have to remember to move slowly and avoid getting lightheaded as I push past 10 600 ft.

I decide to make camp at this point to see how I react to the altitude, and also help acclimate a bit. I will be going above 11 000 ft soon, so any acclimation time will be useful. From camp, I can walk to the edge of the ridge and see the desert far below me, a stunning visual of how far I’ve come in the last few days.