Bushcamp to Bushcamp
37.5 miles
Sobo mile 1856.8
Total mileage 4509.8
I had made the right choice to begin hiking at 2am rather than linger in my wet tent shivering. The stars were out and I immediately began to warm as I walked.
As I approached Mather Pass the sun began to peak its rays over the mountains behind me, adding to my warmth.
The final switchbacks up the pass were absolutely brutal, extenuated by my tired legs from lack of sleep. Towards the top I began to hear coyotes howling all around me, it was pretty eerie, but kinda awesome.
At the top of the pass I took a break to pull out my wet quilt and strap it to the top of my pack to dry as I hiked on.
Before long I’d reached the valley below, and began my hike up towards Pinchot Pass.
I passed a couple alpine lakes on my way up as lite snow began to sprinkle down. By the time I’d reached the top the cloud had passed and I enjoyed sunshine for the next few hours.
Around 4pm the weather began to deteriorate again as I headed towards my third and final pass of the day, Glen Pass.
On my way up I ran into two older hikers with massive external frame packs who told me I was massively unprepared and ignorant for being in the wilderness with such a small pack…it bugged me that they’d judge me based off my appearance, but I just laughed it off, told them to be safe and hiked on.
It was 5pm and I still had 9 miles to go until I would arrive at Bullfrog Lake near Kearsarge Pass, where I’d planned with my buddy FedEx to meet up. He had my resupply for the next two day that he was hiking in for me.
However, the weather continued to degrade, so we decided it wouldn’t be safe for him to go over Kearsarge Pass, or I to go over Glen Pass. The new plan was to meet up the following morning, so I made camp at Dollar Lake just as snow began to fall.
P.s. Hey Sasquatch! Thanks for the beer fund contribution. I’m stoked to hear you’re digging the blog! I was born in Germany, so we’ve got that in common along with the love of the trail!
Cheers!