- Daily mileage 11
- Total miles 774
- Hiked from 5:15 am to 5:00 pm
In the desert, we craved and sought water. In the Sierra, we fear water.
The rest of the crew who were summitting Whitney were up super early, so I was ready to go at first light. The first two or three miles were very chill. Then just as the trail disappeared under a blanket of snow, Yeti (formerly known as Neil of Australia) came along so between the two of us (two half wits DO make a whole wit), we navigated down to Wallace Creek. We even had to don our crampons and ice axes on one particularly steep section. When we got to the creek, we looked up and down but found the best crossing was right at the trail. Now, crossing these creeks is not a matter of walking across a dry bridge. No, you get to wade through fast moving water that was recently snow. But that one went just fine.
Early morning in the Sierra
Neil (Yeti) showboating when we brought out our crampons and ice axes for the first time
About two seconds later when Neil fell over!
After Neil and I had crossed the creek and were pretty much warmed up and dried, a large group of hikers started crossing the stream. One fellow who had lost both of his hiking poles when he got swept in Rock Creek was having a very difficult time in this crossing. When the fellow behind him shouted out that someone had better help him, back in I went. It is what we do for each other up here, but man that water is cold.Where we crossed Wallace Creek
Then it was up the trail to Wright Creek. That is where the day took a turn for the worse. We scouted about a half mile upstream to where we had been told there was a good crossing. I lead the way in and got to about 4 feet of the far side when the current swept my feet out from under me. At that point, I found myself facing down crawling as best as I could in very fast moving, icy water with nobody on that side of the stream to help me. I have no idea how long it took to get to the safety of calmer water and then dry land (it was likely 10 seconds or less), but it felt like an eternity. I got out and immediately stripped down and got into dry clothes. Other than a few scrapes on my legs and hands, the only casualty was one of my trekking poles was sacrificed to the stream. I heard later that at least two other hikers lost their footings in various streams today alone.
Wright Creek. This is not where we crossed, but it gives you an idea of the volume of water we were dealing with.
But, we were not finished with stream crossings just yet! After a slow slog through sun cupped snow, we arrived at Tindale Creek which was raging. Again, prior knowledge told us to go about a half mile upstream for a better crossing. Well that was not good enough for me, being a tad gun shy by now. So three of us went a couple of hundred yards upstream until we came to a wide spot in the stream where the water was only calf deep. Very time consuming, but with a good result.
Sun cupped snow, I hate travelling across you so much.
Imagine walking through these for hours on end.
The hard hiking did result in awesome views
I was thinking of calling it a day there, but the members of the group I was hiking with (Yeti, Nacho, Flame, Sam, Chris and Colten) convinced me to move up the snowy valley a bit farther to set up an easy ascent of Forester Pass which is the high point of the PCT. The group was fantastic in waiting for me when I fell behind (they are all in their twenties and thirties). Now we all camped on a rock outcrop over looking a winter wonderland scene. We are camped at over 12,000 feet and there are rain squalls roaming about. Here is hoping for a quiet night.
Home for the night
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