A mile or so back to PCT Miles 767.0 to 775.8

I had set my alarm for 4:30am, with the plan to get over Forester in the morning… while Whitney had been snow free - the north side of Forester had been reported as “posthole hell” in the afternoon… I woke up from a deep sleep groggy at 10am… whoops… my body obviously needed to reset because I can’t remember the last time I slept that late.

I decided right away to make it an easy day and save Forester for the next day… I looked again and again at the map trying to figure out how to work things out with Jeff… not having a cell signal made it hard…looking at the miles and guessing on days made it hard… my insecurities of being slow in this section began to drown out the joy of having someone join me… the idea of two side trails and two extra mountain passes annoyed me… I marveled at all the negative thoughts my inner voice was laying on me… and it hit me… I needed a reset… the plan became clear.. I would have to cancel on Jeff… I would make it to Kearsage and head down and head home. Immediately, pressure off on making it to Bishop Pass… and if not having to push big miles… I felt relieved. I also felt relieved at the idea of not having my second vaccine shot hanging over my head… I started thinking of surprising Charlie when he returned from Connor’s graduation from Emory… and the answer seemed clear… my spirits were immediately lifted, but I still let the decision and logistics muddle around in my head for the entire day.

Leaving at 11 and not being able to just hike into the night because of the terrain that was ahead of me… I set off knowing it would be a low mileage day.

It was another gorgeous day of hiking and another day of what seemed like endless ascending and little descending…. I was able to really soak in the views and take breaks… which was nice because some of the creek crossings and rock hopping left my shoes soaking wet… I reached the last noted campsite on the approach to Forester fairly early and set up camp in one of the most beautiful campsites yet - questioning how I could be so lucky to have this entire place to myself.

I pondered again on options and decided before falling asleep that if I made it to Kearsage the next day I would go home… if I struggled and didn’t make it there… I would wait it out and hike a few days with Jeff and then go home… a win win for me.