July 7, 2024 - Day 51

Some immediate climbs to start our day today. I mentioned the Mackenzie that maybe this is good - we’ll eat the frog first so to speak. The climb itself wasn’t anything crazy compared to our last days but we seemed to all not be mentally prepared for it. At the top, we met some weekend warriors from San Diego taking some pictures before Mackenzie and I moved down towards Rae Lakes.

Rae Lakes was beautiful. Crystal clear glacier water full of Brook Trout and plenty of places to swim. After jumping off some rocks and drying off, we met a guy with the trail name Camel. He’s a PCT thru hiker from Tasmania yet he means business. He’s hiking the PCT for the most part, but making climbs up to what is also known as the High Route - a point navigation trail through some of the craziest ridge lines and climbs. He was on the PCT when we met him and after asking where he was headed, he pointed in one direction. So no trail, just a paper map and a compass. We asked him how he uses his compass when he’s lost and he showed us the cool technique he’d been using this whole hike. Safe to say we won’t be doing that but we tipped our cap to him.

After lunch, we had a tremendously long climb down hill towards a valley floor. We went up 3,000 feet to go down 6,000. We gathered by a suspension bridge before we started another 4,000 foot climb up. Mackenzie and I decided to stop a bit back from the next pass were approaching as it’s getting dark and there’s some possible rain coming. We’re both exhausted and after some ramen bombs and other carb dense food, we’re stoked to lay down for the night.

Happy trails…