Start: 0700 - Little Pothole Lake on the Onion Valley Trail
End: 2000 - near Woods Creek
Miles (today): 18 (12 PCT, 6 off)
Miles (cumulative): 856.5 (717 PCT, 89.5 alternate, 50 off)
Going up the rest of Kearsarge Pass wasn't as bad as I had imagined. My legs were fresh, I was well fed, and I was in good spirits. I even did well going down the other side (I wasn't slow today!).
a selfie with Escalator and Kyle before we started hiking
flowers by Little Pothole Lake (where we camped last night)
Making it to the top of Kearsarge felt great
Once we made it back to the PCT, though, we had to go over yet another pass - this time Glen Pass. Going up Glen was a bit of a struggle as part of the switchbacks were covered in snow - this meant we had to scramble up to the next switchback and sometimes we even had to make up our own trail. It definitely wasn't easy.
a frozen lake on the way up Glen Pass
the view from the top of Glen Pass looking back from where we came
I waited for Nick at the top of Glen Pass so we could have lunch together. I'm so glad we took the time to eat before going down the other side of Glen - going down was even more difficult than going up. We had to walk on a lot of snow-covered trail and, because the snow was soft and slippery, I fell several times (the cold snow actually felt good - the sun was so hot!) The slope wasn't as steep as Forester Pass but it was still very slow going.
looking down the other side of Glen - note the snow trail on the right - we had to walk that
At one point there was an opportunity to glissade down the slope (i.e. slide down on your butt). Nick was able to glissade very well; I, on the other hand, completely failed at it. I don't like not having control and it made me nervous to slide down the slope. I ended up sliding on my feet/walking down instead. It would have been much easier to glissade (and probably more fun) but I made several attempts and just couldn't do it. Oh well - better safe then sorry, right?
Nick glissading down the slope
Once we finally conquered the pass, we made our way to Rae Lakes, which was so so so beautiful. Nick even hopped in for a swim - he's insane, the water was freezing! I just couldn't bring myself to jump in even though I was tempted. Hmmm, first I don't glissade and then I don't swim- I'm boring today! (We also didn't hike naked even though it's hike naked day - what's wrong with me?)
Rae Lakes from afar
Rae Lake
At Rae Lakes, we bumped into Park Ranger Victor, who gets to live in a cabin right next to the Rae Lakes. He invited us to check out the cabin and we talked with him for about 30 minutes. He gets to live in a cabin right next to the Rae Lakes!!! (Oh, did I say that already?) :)
Park Ranger Victor
The view from Park Ranger Victor's front porch
another stunning lake
Despite all the beautiful scenery, the best part of my day was getting to walk across a suspension bridge - it was SO MUCH FUN! It was wobbly and as you walked across the whole bridge swayed (which is why they say only one person at a time) but walking over the raging river was so cool.
i loved walking over this bridge!
Soon after the bridge, we hit 800 PCT miles. We aren't even a quarter of the way done!!
It was a long, exhausting day. I know we need to get in big miles to make up for lost time (me getting dehydrated really set us back), but it takes so much longer to walk 18 miles here than it did in the desert. Going over the passes takes time (particularly when the trail is covered in snow) and so does fording all the rivers (I lost count of how many times I had to take off my shoes to walk across a river today). We'll see - maybe it will get easier?
Along the trail:
this little guy was just chillin' on his rock, watching me as I took pictures
glad the trail doesn't cross the river here!