Day 11: The almost 2 day pass feat!

Ahh what a morning! First I left camp and headed down an animal path to a creek instead of following the PCT. Next I hot boxed myself in my rain jacket, which didn’t let the rain in or the moisture out to the point of semi-dehydration. And last but not least, I ran out of water because I hadn’t remember to check my camelpack before I left camp! One might think that things couldn’t go more wrong, but they did.

Around 10:20 am we came to our first big snow field at Pinchot Pass. The air was cool, the sun was bright, and the snow was not too soft. This should have been a perfect crossing however all of the sudden my nose began to bleed. I attempted to stop the bleeding with a snow packed rag of sorts, but it only increased the problem. Throwing down my pack I rummaged through the first aid kit to find cotton to shove up my nose. Not a very attractive look, but it sure did the trick. Replay was way ahead of me during my adventure in medical land and was concerned when I reached the top first. Not too worry a snack break of peanut butter and pita replaced the lost energy and we started off down the North side.

It looked like the same old same old from the top. Once we got midway our thoughts changed and the path suddenly disappeared. Typically in this situation we see a pile of rocks marking the path up ahead, but the blanket of snow covered everything. Following a single set of tracks led us in all different directions, so we opted for the divide and conquer method. Replay went one way and I went the other. This plan worked better than we expected and we were down off the snow and back on the path within no time. Little did we know that our celebratory lunch would end quickly when the weather suddenly reared its ugly side.

It first started as a light drizzle and 30 minutes later when the sun was just beginning to shine through the clouds a hailstorm pummeled us with inch thick balls of ice! I was about a mile behind Replay at this point and had a minor freak out as I sprinted down the path calling out her name. She heard my cries and promised not to move from her spot hidden beneath a Redwood. I have no idea where the burst of energy came from but I was thankful that it came. Together we huddled under our own grouping of trees until the pellets subsided and just a light mist was in the air.

We were anxious to get moving because we still had to climb Mather’s Pass before 5pm. From the map Replay estimated we were about 3.5 miles away. As we climbed closer to the snowy pass, we asked the advice of our fellow hikers from the North. More than one group told us to camp for the night and tackle Mather’s Pass in the morning. The snow was deep and this pass in particular was incredibly steep. I really wanted to get the pass thing over and done. We both debated- me opting for a climb and Replay hinging on the fact that it was late in the day. She reminded me of our horrific Forrester Pass late afternoon experience and the reality sunk. Taking the advice of the “experts,” we opted to find a windless spot to pitch our tent and take a bath in the stream just 200 meters down from out camp. It turned into a lovely evening.