Day 48
Published:
Today I hiked for over twelve hours. In the desert this would mean that I travelled at least thirty miles; in the Sierra, all that time moving today amounted to a hard-earned nineteen, to end at Mile 800.9.
I rose at 2 and was walking by 3, initially with the whole group who camped together (Tuah, Roadrunner, Giuseppe, Pipe Bomb, Frogger). Soon Roadrunner and I pulled ahead and were slowly working our way to Kearsarge Pass. The moon was just a sliver so navigating the completely snowbound trail up to the pass was done by following the bootpack and using my phone’s GPS when totally lost. I traversed the steep snowfields which scared me a few days without even identifying it as the same section of trail. Even with only three days between my first and second trips to Kearsarge pass, the snow has rapidly melted and consolidated, and the bootpack has significantly deepened, probably from Memorial Day day-hikers. Anyways, the way up was not so bad, and in fact the way up Glen Pass five miles away was also pretty easy. It’s what came next that sucked.
The descent down Glen Pass towards Rae Lakes was pretty sketch. A steep and very faint boot track descended down towards a more mellow ridge on my right, making forty five degree angles with the fall line to my left. Pictures don’t really indicate the steepness, but here goes.
After making it down in one piece around 9 am, we began to experience crappy snow conditions—the first postholes of many, and lots of slushy sliding. The long flat section around the beautiful Rae lakes was particularly torturous, as by the end I was making a posthole with every step.
After a belated lunch, we soldiered on to continue the descent, hoping to find less snow coverage at the lower elevations. This hope was fulfilled, and the last three miles to camp were mercifully only twenty percent snow covered. Camp is at 8500 feet, my lowest elevation camp since the desert. Tomorrow a short day up and over Pinchot Pass. Here’s two photos of my epic two-legged and waist-deep posthole which trapped me against a boulder until I dug myself out with Roadrunner’s axe.
