Day 59, June 15: Mile 789 to 804, Over Glen Pass
Start: Kearsarge Pass Trail - Mile 788.9
End: Mile 804.1
Miles: 15.2
Ascent: 4211 | Descent: 3663
The day started with a steady climb up towards Glen Pass. I was hiking near the rest of the group - Cathole, Liz, Tikka, Gus, Boop, Sensei and Squirrel Daddy - and we all caught up to each other at the top of the pass. It was a little chilly so after hanging out for a minute and eating a pop tart for breakfast, I was the first to leave to start the descent. There was some snow to navigate and I ended up slipping and falling onto my butt once, but it wasn’t bad. I had microspikes with me but I didn’t use them.
After the short snow descent, we came to the famous Rae Lakes. I have wanted for years to do a weekend backpacking trip to these lakes, so I was very excited to get to experience them on the PCT! Their beauty did not disappoint at all. Clear aquamarine waters reflected the jagged snowy peaks along the horizon and I could spy trout swimming near the shore. Some of the group and I stopped to take a quick dip in the waters and they were very chilly, but oh so refreshing! The mosquitos were brutal, though, and made our morning siesta very abbreviated.
After the icy plunge, we continued down a long, long rocky descent. Pretty quickly I felt very tired of the rocks that were tricky to navigate and often required big steps down. I tried to minimize the impact on my legs as much as possible by taking small steps, but there was only so much I could do. I was feeling very sleepy and bummed out because my foot was starting to hurt a bit again. I put in music and then an audiobook to try to distract myself.
The group had agreed to meet at a bridge near Woods Creek for a lunch break. I got there and laid out my foam pad and had a lunch of a tuna wrap, and a Nutella wrap. I fell asleep against my backpack for a bit as well, and several others took short naps too.
After an hour and a half or so, we decided we needed to continue on. We crossed a cool metal suspension bridge that only allowed one person at a time. It reminded me of my trip to Nepal in 2017 and the crazy high and long suspension bridges we crossed then. I heard later from my friends that near the bridge was the 800 mile marker written with rocks. I completely missed it, sadly. But I crossed 800 miles, woohoo!
After the bridge was a long, brutal climb. The day was hot, which felt out of place as we were around 10,000 feet. I was still feeling tired and out of it so I kept trudging up but also took a lot of breaks. On some of my breaks I met Bilbo from Ireland, Lost and Found from Pennsylvania and her hiking partner whose name I forgot, oops!
The rest of the group was planning to climb up and over the next pass, Pinchon, but it was far and the day was getting late so I decided to call it and camp near a stream about 3 miles before the pass. The comments on FarOut said the mosquitos were brutal in the area, which was accurate, so I ate a cold dinner of rehydrated mashed potatoes in my tent. While I was getting set up for dinner, Squirrel Daddy showed up and decided to camp with me. A bit later, Boop arrived and joined us. We chatted and ate dinner and then it was time to pass out. Zzzz…