Day 59, The Thunder Rolls

Part 2, The Sierra Nevada, Day 59

The Thunder Rolls

Miles: 21.68

PCT Mile: 901.13

I was all business this morning. There was a 3,000 for climb to start the day. I would be going over the final pass before town; Silver Pass. KC, Shepherd, and I all started early going uphill. The skies started out clear.

I crossed many streams early on without getting my feet wet. Poles come in handy on crossings, but mine live on the back of my pack these days. The last week has taught me that, for me, trekking poles are utterly useless. I'm mailing them home when I get to Mammoth

The path went right under Silver Falls, which is treacherous in wet years. 

This was another cool trail cut into the mountain side. 

As usual for this week, storm clouds were gathering above the mountains.

It was a long hike uphill, as the trail just kept going and going. Shepherd, KC, and I all kept the same pace and raced up the pass. I fell behind to take pictures, of course, since the scenery was amazing.

I had to stop and do the math when I came upon this trail message:

The math was off, so the person who did this was wrong. It was close though. In about 3 miles from here I'd be one third of the way through the trail. That's pretty cool! 

I knew I was getting close to the top when I hit snow. It was only a few patches. Whereas the previous high passes were 11-13,000 feet, these later passes are all around 10,000 feet or lower. I can definitely feel the lower elevation, and it's not as hard going up. My pack is also super light since I'm close to resupplying. 

I arrived at the top to KC trying to pelt me with snowballs. We hid and as soon as Shepherd arrived we threw snowballs at him. The three of them played baseball with snowballs and trekking poles, it was fun. 

The others arrived on top of Silver Pass one by one. We all took in the views. 

Shepherd kept commenting on these awesome storm clouds in the distance and he kept trying to sing "The Thunder Rolls," by Garth Brooks, which was funny because of Shepherd's Aussie accent. I played the song on my phone and Mr. Smith, Shepherd, KC, and I all sang along to the chorus. It was pretty fun. Then there was this squirrel:

He was the bravest squirrel ever. He kept coming within feet of us and started gnawing on our packs. We kept chasing him away, but he returned every time with renewed vigor. We were planning big miles today with lots of elevation loss and gain, so we all headed down the mountain. 

We stopped for lunch and I tried on Shepherd's pack and then Mr. Smith's pack and o couldn't believe how much more comfortable they were than my pack. It was like a slap in the face that is been suffering for 900 miles with my pack. The pack I have had no support, especially for someone like me who carries more weight. Hopefully I'll soon be carrying my brother Pat's pack. 

It was a tiring day with another 2,000 foot climb, but we were excited to resupply, so the miles flew by. 

I came upon Purple Lake and it was so beautiful, one of my favorite lakes so far. The path wove by, around, and right through parts of the lake. 

I found Mr. And Mrs. Smith sitting at a saddle watching the sky. It looked like an ugly storm was right in front of us and they proposed that we wait to see if it moves away. 

The thunder was pretty loud, but after ten minutes we just hiked on. I'm getting really sick of these storm clouds. Thunderstorms are the norm during this time of year.

The storm clouds were surrounding us but we didn't get rained on. We got lucky. It was very windy and cold though. 

I mile before our camp at Deer Creek, I saw this:

900 miles hiked so far! Not bad. A hundred miles away from a a really big number, but I'll be quiet about that. When I got to the camp, I was surprised how crowded it was. Weekend backpackers who smelled like soap and perfume were all over. Teflon arrived and told me that the others were stopped a mile before with cell reception. Not this again...I set up my tent and cooked potatoes with every added food item I had. I go big when I resupply the next day. 

I've been out 7 days and after this physically demanding section, I'm ready to zero in town. I plan on waking up early to hike to Reds Meadow and catch the bus to Mammoth. 

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