South side of Pinchot Pass. PCT did a curvy 'S' over a lot of snow to get to it. I did a somewhat straight line.
5-30
About mile 813
We got up early today and had 5 downhill miles to get us down to around 8000 feet. That's practically sea level for us. We have been at 10-12000+ everyday, it seems like. At the bottom I saw Boomsticks and his dog Leftovers, who came running up to me. Geared Up is with them. They are friends from Portland. After that it was like 3000-4000 feet of climbing to Pinchot Pass, and a bridge crossing that felt like it was going to flip over. It was one of those bridges that goes over lava to the castle with a dragon guarding it. That was a tough afternoon and took way longer than I thought it was going to. The south side of Pinchot was pretty snowy and hard to navigate a good way up. I took some time to figure out exactly where I was and where the pass was with the compass reading skills my Uncle Mark taught me. Thanks, Mark. I got a perfect match and made as straight of a line to the pass as I could, bypassing all the snow and zigzags the PCT did. It saved me an hour, or so, I'm guessing. Once I got up there, the north side looked easy so I took my time, found a non-snowy route down, and took about 10 steps in snow that didn't have rock or ground right under it. After that I took my time and enjoyed the walk. We met up before a creek, then had to get our feet wet, to end the day. I did it barefoot since it wasn't that bad, and I have bigger shoes that would take some time to dry. Got set up at camp on the earlier side and had an hour or so to BS and chat. Fun day, lots of great views. It was nice not having to trudge through snow on the north side of the pass, too. Mather Pass (~12,100) is 4 miles away tomorrow, yet another 12,000 footer. But no scary talk about that one either, so it shouldn't be bad. We get to sleep in too, so we don't go over it in the morning when it's icy!
Leftovers (aka Kia), yawning???
About mile 813
We got up early today and had 5 downhill miles to get us down to around 8000 feet. That's practically sea level for us. We have been at 10-12000+ everyday, it seems like. At the bottom I saw Boomsticks and his dog Leftovers, who came running up to me. Geared Up is with them. They are friends from Portland. After that it was like 3000-4000 feet of climbing to Pinchot Pass, and a bridge crossing that felt like it was going to flip over. It was one of those bridges that goes over lava to the castle with a dragon guarding it. That was a tough afternoon and took way longer than I thought it was going to. The south side of Pinchot was pretty snowy and hard to navigate a good way up. I took some time to figure out exactly where I was and where the pass was with the compass reading skills my Uncle Mark taught me. Thanks, Mark. I got a perfect match and made as straight of a line to the pass as I could, bypassing all the snow and zigzags the PCT did. It saved me an hour, or so, I'm guessing. Once I got up there, the north side looked easy so I took my time, found a non-snowy route down, and took about 10 steps in snow that didn't have rock or ground right under it. After that I took my time and enjoyed the walk. We met up before a creek, then had to get our feet wet, to end the day. I did it barefoot since it wasn't that bad, and I have bigger shoes that would take some time to dry. Got set up at camp on the earlier side and had an hour or so to BS and chat. Fun day, lots of great views. It was nice not having to trudge through snow on the north side of the pass, too. Mather Pass (~12,100) is 4 miles away tomorrow, yet another 12,000 footer. But no scary talk about that one either, so it shouldn't be bad. We get to sleep in too, so we don't go over it in the morning when it's icy!
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