Hiking over Pinchot Pass was easier than the previous two passes, but it still involved a long uphill slog through large snowfields and scrambling across a couple of treacherous outcrops of razor sharp rocks. By this time I had grown somewhat used to the High Sierra landscape of barren, brown peaks dusted with snow and interspersed with forested river valleys. It contrasted greatly with the mostly tree-covered mountains and gray granite in the Tahoe area where I grew up, only a few hundred miles to the north but significantly lower in elevation.
From Pinchot the track wandered down to the South Fork Kings River where a ranger had posted a sign warning not to cross the raging waterway at the trail. Instead we followed the ranger’s suggestion to trek upriver for 1.5 miles to a green meadow where the river braided into five or six smaller streams. Incidentally this was also the only point along the entire PCT when a ranger checked my permit. After a couple of false starts we managed to find the crossing and rejoin the PCT on the other side, winding its way back up toward the river’s headwaters and Mather Pass.
Russell on the Road 