Day 54 - Forester Pass

(Originally written on Saturday, June 27)

Holy smokes. I am beat. The hike today was brutal, but probably not for the reasons you would expect.

At 13,200', Forester Pass is the highest point on the entire Pacific Crest Trail. So when I got to the top I said, "It's all downhill from here." And in terms of net elevation, I was right. But of course there are many thousands of vertical feet left to be climbed.

I haven't been sleeping very well lately for a variety of reasons. Last night's reason was new. The mac and cheese I had for dinner didn't sit very well and kept me awake for a lot of the hours I should have been sleeping. It was cold, too, which made matters worse. It got down to about 36 degrees. So anyway, I started hiking this morning at 7, very unsure of how my stomach would react. It seemed to settle down but I was still very tired. Back to a full pack weight and at high elevation, I was feeling every step. My original hope was to have lunch at the top, but in retrospect, I'm just happy I made it to the top! The climb was much more difficult than yesterday's ascent of Mt Whitney, both technically and physically. Physically because I was carrying a full pack. Technically because the hiking surface was so much more difficult. Essentially, for about five miles today we were in snow. Not surprisingly, it was immediately before and after Forester Pass. The snow was in various stages of melting because we had a beautiful day with nearly zero clouds. So what happens when the hard top crust of the snow softens in the sunlight is that oftentimes your leg will shoot through the crust and you'll be left with one leg above the snow and the other will be mid-thigh deep in it. It's something we call "postholing" and it takes lots of energy. Of course, there were streams flowing under the snow because of the snowmelt, so by the time we got finished with the snow section, everybody's feet were absolutely soaked.

It was a fantastic day, though, and I've got a bunch more photos to prove it!