Day 44: CS871 to CS896 (25.1 miles - 896.1)

June 20, 2016 - Well it was another long day of getting lost and falling down but I survived and will hit Mammoth tomorrow morning.

I slept really late today, 6:45am as yesterday really too it out of me. As I was packing up I see Salty walk by, I must have passed by his campsite as it was getting dark and missed him. We talked about the day’s plan of camping for the night and he was off as I finished packing up.

Hiking started off easy following Bear Creek for awhile in thick forest. Then about 2 miles in it was a sharp turn uphill for a few miles which followed a very long downhill to 7,700 feet, much lower than I thought. At the bottom I crossed a bridge then it was 7 miles uphill to 10,900 feet Silver Pass. I was hoping there wouldn’t be too much snow because it’s all melting fast making it hard to hike on.

On my way up at the first of many creek crossing I run into Salty and hike all the way to the top of Silver Pass. That pass was much easier than Selden Pass.

At the top we ate lunch then Salty took off a few minutes before me. I wish I had followed right behind because I got lost in the snowfield coming down. When there is that much snow and lots of different footprints going in all directions it’s hard to tell which is the best way. I thought I saw the trail so I went that direction. Turned out it was a trail to some other pass and not the PCT, glad I ran into that hiker. I ended up being a quarter mile from the trail so I went back up to the snow field looking for the trail which I finally found.

It was 3 miles down to the bottom with some snow in places, again afternoon in snow makes for very slippery ground.

Then it was a long gradual uphill to a peak getting great views of mountains and going past some amazing lakes.

Then with a half mile to go I tripped over a rock going head first into some more rocks, somehow I made it through with just some scrapes and bruises. Not to mention this was 2 minutes after falling in the snow. Let’s say I was glad to finally arrive in camp with Salty already there. We talked for a little and exchanged stories from the day before heading off to bed. Plan to wake up early and hike the 10.5 miles to Mammoth to resupply. Most likely I will stay in Mammoth for the night and possible take a zero like I initially planned however I probably won’t since I took that unexpected zero in Independence.

Stream crossing and trying not fall off the edge down the waterfall

View from Silver Pass

Hiking through a snowy meadow after Silver Pass