The Adventures of...: Days 54-55

Day 54, 10 miles, endpoint PCT mile 814

Today's pass du jour was Pinchot Pass at just over 12,000 feet. I was anxious heading up to the pass, with memories of the somewhat scary descent down Glen Pass still fresh in my mind. On the way up we crossed paths with a southbound hiker; I asked him how conditions were on the northside of the pass (my downhill). "Piece of cake," he said, without any hesitation. He went on to say the worst snow was actually coming up for us on the south side, but even that wasn't terrible. Hearing all this eased my mind and I was able to get rid of some of the trepidation I had.

At the top we enjoyed the view but hurried to start the descent before any more snow could melt. The southbound guy was right: the north side of the pass was easy. Whatever snow there was could either be easily walked through without too much hassle, or completely avoided by taking a short walk around the snowy patches.

As we made our way down the mountain we passed by numerous lakes, each more beautiful than the next. We dropped down into a forested valley, hit a water crossing just above 10,000 feet, then began climbing back up towards the next pass. Tomorrow it will be Mather Pass, which we will again time to hit first thing in the morning.

Close to where we camped we ran into Steven, a guy originally from Oregon who was living in Utah before leaving to hike the PCT. We first met Steven in Wrightwood where we shared the cabin in the woods with him. We last saw him at Kennedy Meadows; he was planning on staying another day or two when we left. Because we have slowed our mileage way down, most of the people we have met hiking over the last 700 miles are now days and days ahead of us. It was nice seeing a friendly face again and catching up with Steven. After today he will be putting in some 20 mile days, so we will likely be far behind him, just like the others.

Josh going up up up.

Trail views.

The pass we just came over.

Trail views.

A Marmot's smile.

Camp, again hidden off the trail with complete solitude.

Full Moon!!!

Day 55, 16 miles, endpoint PCT mile 830

Before bed Josh made a last minute decision to put the rainfly on the tent. This proved to be fortuitous; when we woke up this morning the rainfly had a layer of ice on it, but we were warm and dry inside the tent with no condensation. Rainfly for the win! It was definitely hard leaving the tent for the chilly air outside. Since we knew Mather Pass was waiting for us, we didn't waste any time.

The ascent to the pass was somewhat mundane. There was the usual uphill slog, which my legs are tired of, but used to now with all these passes. There was no snow, and since we camped about 1,000 feet below the pass summit, it really wasn't too difficult getting up to the top.

The descent was something different. The downhill on the north side of the pass was covered in icy snow and jagged rocks. It rivaled the sketchiness of the Glen Pass descent, with my only consolation being that my pack was at least a little bit lighter having two less days of food in it. For a heart pounding hour or so we scaled down rocks and over snow fields, usually with no idea where the official trail was.

Once the mess of the pass was over and done with, we went past the Palisades Lakes and through a gorgeous meadow where a hiker later down the trail told us he saw a bear. We had a long 11 mile downhill through a forested valley, then started uphill towards the next pass, Muir Pass, which we are not planning on getting to tomorrow.

We hiked part of the end of the day with Lady Pants, who is one-fourth of the Guatemalans we met in San Diego on day one (remember them?). It was pretty crazy seeing him again after nearly two months on the trail. Tomorrow we may do a side trail and a scramble up to a nearby peak. Stay tuned!