Stats

Start: Tyndall Creek – Mile 774.7
End: Kearsarge Lakes – Mile 788.9
Elevation Max: 13,110
Elevation Min: 9,566
Elevation Change: 3,738 up & 2,903 down
Average Heart Rate: 131
Walking Time: 4 hrs 32 minutes
Date: 5/21/2022

The Walk

Sleeping in felt amazing. I slept like a rock. At 7 I started to pack up. I planned to take it easy and head out around 8. I had breakfast with Quest then Grahm and Jack rabbit came walking up. They had camped a few miles back.

It was nice to see them, we figured to run into them at some point today. They headed out and I left about 10 minutes after. Quest was still packing up and eating breakfast.

Less than a quarter mile into the hike I heard a loud rushing. A stream was just ahead. It had a row of rocks in front that looked like a passable trail to stay dry. I stepped on the first rock and everything seemed okay.

But the second rock sent me flying. I didn’t notice the layer of ice of the rock. I caught myself but one shoe went in. I tried again and made it 2/3 of the way before I slipped again. Now both feet were wet. But oh well, today would be snowy with wet feet anyways.

We camped right at the base of a 2k climb into forester pass, the highest point on the PCT. I was happy to have done Whitney yesterday because I had already been higher than that elevation. The altitude didn’t bother me on Whitney, so I figured I’d be okay.

I climbed up the first 1.4K feet fairly easily and enjoyed the beautiful views. Mountains were towering above as I approached the pass. It was beautiful. They were jagged, not rounded like the desert mountains we were used to.

The trail turned to snow and wound through a meadow. I followed foot steps and had to find use my app to find the trail a few times. Eventually I got to the base of the pass, which was the final climb.

I saw Jack rabbit and grahm just ahead and finished the climb with them. As we went up the views behind kept getting better. We saw 3 lakes in the meadow, framed by mountains.

The top of the pass opened into a whole new world. We were over 14k feet and a steep, snowy descent was in front of us. But the view opened up into a long valley framed by mountains. It was beautiful.

We climbed down through the snow for a few hours and found an amazing spot to break for lunch. We had a stream flowing right by us.

The rest of the day we marveled at the beauty around us. I heard a stream below 3 feet of snow and could even see the river through a small hole. But I couldn’t reach in with my hand.

As we walked the views got better and everything was perfect. The forest thickened as we descended and life returned. So many plants and animals thrive when the snow melts. The snow melt fuels raging rivers and lakes.

The trail opened into a beautiful meadow with a wide river flow. Framed by a beautiful forested mountain range. We all stopped and sat for 20 minutes in silence, taking in the beauty.

We walked through the rest of the day and finished with a climb off the PCT and partially through Kearsarge pass. Around 1.5k feet in total. We were all wiped at the end, but grateful to be at Kearsarge lake.

It was a beautiful camp site with one alpine lake flowing into another iced over alpine lake. I set up a tent and ate dinner . Quest showed up and had dinner, he had taken an hour detour on accident. But we were glad he was back and made it.