PCT Day 64

Bushcamp to Bushcamp

18.1 miles

Mile 979.8

I woke up in the middle of the night to find my inflatable pillow mostly deflated, it must have gained a hole at some point…dang. I ended up using my clothing stuff sack as a pillow, which actually worked pretty well.

Around 5:30 I woke to begin my morning routine. After breakfast I grabbed my socks, stoked to find them dry for the first time in days. Even though my shoes were still drenched, not having to put on cold wet socks first thing in the morning was a fantastic treat.

By 6:30 I was on trail, heading up a mountain towards Benson Pass a mile or so behind Spikes.

After a few river crossings the trail disappeared under a couple feet of snow, so navigating became tough.

As I climbed closer to the top of the pass I didn’t see Spikes’ footprints. I must have passed her while she was lost off trail at some point.

When I reached the top of Benson Pass I waited for a bit, and before long Spikes came walking up. While chatting I mentioned how I figured the remainder of the day should be pretty easy, as the elevation wasn’t too bad…oh boy was I wrong.

As I headed down the pass into the valley below I got stupid lost. Apparently I was supposed to begin ascending the neighboring mountain halfway down my descent, but unfortunately I didn’t realize this until I reached the floor of the valley.

Once I’d realized my error, I took a route straight up a steep snow bank to rejoin the trail rather than back tracking. The snow was crazy deep…it ended up taking me almost an hour to find my way back to the trail.

Finally I reached the top of the climb, the whole time praying Spikes wasn’t following my tracks. I took a minute to gather myself at this waterfall before beginning a long descent.

Before long the snow finally receded and things improved for a time. The trail down into the valley was gorgeous.

When I reached the bottom of the valley it felt like I’d stepped into another world. It was humid, there were massive rivers, tons of birds and bugs and plants unlike any I’d seen thus far in the Sierras.

After crossing three wide but slow moving rivers, I began my climb out of the valley up towards Seavey Pass.

Towards the top of the pass I climbed over a snowy bluff and BOOM, lake to the face!

Out of nowhere was this awesome lake. I soaked it in for a few moments before making the final push to the pass.

At the top I chilled on a rock while enjoying this awesome view before beginning my descent.

Things got real shitty from here. I kept getting lost on my way down and post holing in the soft snow.

Then I had to walk for miles just above a raging river on this steep snowy ridge.

After what seemed like ages the snow gave way to a marshy trail, but the going was still slow due to the muddy conditions.

I was in a pretty crap mood by this point, but the trees in the area were making me laugh a bit.

They all had dongs cut into them…it was a full on dong forest. Spikes later told me that they were T’s for trail, not dongs. Whoops…

I ended up making camp a couple miles shorter than Spikes and I had originally planned due to the huge river we needed to cross. I didn’t feel comfortable doing it alone, and I definitely didn’t want Spikes doing it alone.

I stuck my ice axe on the trail so she’d know where I was before setting up camp.

I setup camp beside the river and made an epic fire. As I sat warming myself by its heat I heard a shout from behind me. I turned around confused to see Spikes standing on the opposite river bank.

It turns out she had been walking along the river and crossed further up. It would be silly for her to recross the river, and I wasn’t going anywhere with my camp already established, so we spent the night with the river between us.

I spent the rest of the night eating dinner alone with my fire as my only companion.

It began to rain mid dinner, so I retreated to my tent for the night. It had been a long tough day, so sleep came quick.

Cheers!