Day 46 – Extra Mile Extravaganza!
Originally published on Mason Hikes the PCT 2017.
Mileage: 12 + 3 to look for the ice axe + 1 to go back to talk to Marla + ? for snowy pathfinding
Extra miles climbing down and then back up… Twice.
I got an early start this morning. Since I felt partially responsible for Marla’s ice axe situation, I figured that the least I could do was go back down to the river to see if I could find it in the lower morning water. Since we wanted to start hiking by 5:30 and the river was 1.5 miles back, that meant that I needed to wake up at 4AM. 😞
I went down to take a look, but the river was still raging and I couldn’t see the bottom. I raked back and forth with my poles to see if I could feel the axe on the bottom, but unfortunately I wasn’t willing to get into a scary river alone at 4:30AM when no one knew where I was. Surprisingly, I did manage to find the hat that she lost, but the ice axe is gone until the waters subside in fall. I tried my best (and safest)!
My view in the morning
When I got back, everyone was waking up and getting ready to climb up Pinchot Pass, which was supposed to be relatively easy. We weren’t necessarily on the trail for the majority of the hike up, but cutting through snow fields and sun cups on a gradual slope wasn’t too bad, especially since things were still firm in the morning. I had no problem getting up without crampons or an ice axe, so I felt better about Marla doing it without her axe.
After we got to the top and I took a quick nap (the girls were jealous), it was time to talk logistics. Storm clouds were gathering in the horizon, so we needed to figure out what to do. Somehow we decided to walk as far as possible (I had nothing to do with that decision, but I wholeheartedly support it) and try to do Mather Pass this afternoon. NICE! I love walking long distances! 👍🏼💯
Teamwork makes the dream work at river crossings
Flame and I raced ahead by boot skiing and glissading down the “trail”, and eventually got to a river crossing right before the ranger station. We crossed and stopped to eat, but I wanted to check with the rangers to see what Marla’s best option was for getting out of this area or for getting an axe. Before I had a chance to find the ranger station, Marla came down, disappeared for a bit, then reappeared with an ice axe in hand! WHAAAAAAAT?!
Apparently the ranger station doesn’t really exist, but is either being built or being replaced. As such, there is just a small platform with a tarp covering some miscellaneous supplies, including, you guessed it, an ice axe! She plans to borrow it until she can get her own, at which point her ranger friend that works down here will return it to the tarp. Hopefully, no one will even notice it’s gone, but I really hope no one needs it anytime soon. 😬
After leaving her with her new ice axe, we continued on the trail to some river crossings. We crossed a few logs with no problems at the first, but then pulled an audible and skipped the next two crossings. The trail crossed the same river twice, so by walking along the shore for a few miles, we avoided two hazardous crossings. Instead, we crossed a few tributaries and a pretty awesome snow bridge. The snow bridges have been pretty sketchy lately, especially in the afternoon, but this one was solid and over some shallow, relatively slow water, so it was a risk I was willing to take.
As soon as we found the trail again, Flame got out his tent and everyone started setting up camp at around 5PM. The girls were really tired, especially Savage because she ran out of snacks, and the weather was pretty questionable, so we weren’t doing Mather today. 😭
Pretty views from the campsite though
I had to accept our 11 mile day, but I was unwilling to accept our soggy choice of campground. It was basically a floodplain for the enormous river a few feet away and was super wet, so I went off in search for a better spot. Just a short way up the trail, I found the penthouse suite of camp spots . It was a perfectly flat, dry, shaded campsite with no rocks and some awesome views to boot. Everything about it was perfect and I’m willing to add it to the number one spot on my list of favorite campsites on the trail. It’s funny that such a simple thing can make me so happy, but it really helped end the day on a high note.
Tomorrow we’re tackling Mather Pass, one of the scarier passes on the PCT, as well as trying to go 17 miles. I’ll believe it when I see it, but for now I just need to keep the encouragement coming and keep spirits high as we get through this amazing winter (summer) wonderland.