Miles 799.7–811.3 (11.6 miles)

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Rose: making new friends on top of Pinchot Pass Thorn: camping too early, not making miles (again) Bud: better weather tomorrow, lay in some miles

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Everyone awoke to condensation on everything in their tent because of the proximity of the creek and increased humidity from the weather the day before. I’m still waking up naturally at 5:30 but lazily waiting for my 6am alarm. It’s too cold to leave bed anyways. Except for the tent itself, my good were pretty dry. Everyone with a single wall tent, though, had gotten the foot box of thejr quilts wet. And that is why I swore off single wall tents years ago. Only moderately more convenient when it’s dry, horrendous when it’s wet.

I packed up and moved out. My tarp and ground cloth were soaked, but I wasn’t going to wait around for the sun to hit the bottom of the canyon to dry them out. I climbed for two hours then took a break in the sun on a granite promontory to dry my wares—and to find my handkerchief which had gotten buried in my pack.

Up and up was todays story. +3600’ to Pinchot Pass. The scenery turned from pine to granite boulders amongst the pine to green alpine meadows to brown alpine with small snowmelt lakes and spongy ground to barren rock. Marmots were sunning themselves on the rocks. I watched the clouds, knowing that the thunder was forecasted to return this afternoon. The clouds remained fluffy, if not gathering together to conspire. On top of the pass, the wind was gentle, so fellow PCTers and I ate lunch while SOBO JMTers passed on south (JMTers look like PCTers—same equipment, clothes, etc—just cleaner. Not squatting in the dirt like us.) A chubby ground squirrel lurked for handouts, which we refused.

The thunder started when I was level with some alpine lakes with sparse trees. Perhaps being overly cautious, I snaked next to the tree line rather than follow the trail in the open. The thunder was infrequent, so I didn’t hasten my descent too much.

About 30 minutes into the trees and at the bottom of the climb to Mather Pass, it was lightly raining and starting to lightly hail. I was tired. I wanted a nap, but it felt too early to set up camp: 4pm. One of the PCTers from the pass was setting up his tent. I conceded, thinking of yesterday’s weather, and setup camp despite the early hour.

Turns out the weather passed quickly, but I couldn’t be bothered to pack up again. We gathered for dinner, swapping stories. I packed Bitchin Sauce for my wraps this time. I had double bagged the ziploc it was in but it was becoming a mess. I had to transfer the sauce. It was a messy, multi step process with lots of jokes from the others.

It’s a cold night with high humidity next to yet another river. I can see my breath. So far, no condensation though.

I feel guilty about not pressing on when the weather cleared for not through some more of the storm. I could have made Mather Pass tonight and gotten back on schedule. My schedule is so tight to see Casey. I don’t want to rush the Sierras, but I feel like my role is to hike miles every day. I did not meet the goal for the day, and I am a day behind with my visit with Casey. Guilt.

At camp: OverTheHill, Gibbs, Magic Beans, Mio