PCT Day 144, Double Flip and a Flop with a Hop, Day 63

September 3

Mile 1006.8 to mile 986.9, 19.9 miles total, no off-trail miles!

PCT total: 1453.5

Running total: 1579.3

We woke up fairly early (5:45 maybe?) & enjoyed breakfast with Tasty.

We all set off a little after 7 with a descent, and then had the most ridiculously gradual climb up to Dorothy Pass- we gained a whopping 950 feet in nearly 6 miles!! We were cruising!!

Just before the top of the pass we came across Tasty enjoying second breakfast, so we decided to join him. He set off first, and then eventually Matt and I followed- we somehow managed to keep our break to 1 hour flat!

We continued to the stunning Dorothy Lake and then started our gradual descent down for the next 9.5 miles.

We entered Yosemite National Park boundary!

Around 2:30 we stopped for a quick lunch break, and by 3:15 we were hiking again! We still had 8+ miles to go and we wanted to finish before dark.

We eventually came to a creek crossing that both Matthew & I were determined to cross with dry feet. We rock-hopped as far as we could then came to a stand-still on a sandbar. Our options for getting out of this creek dry were nearly non-existent, so I took the only one I saw available: maybe two feet from where I stood was a fairly thin tree stump or a semi-sturdy branch sticking vertically out of the water. I leaned back, putting all my weight onto my left leg, then sent my right leg up and onto the log, using that momentum to push my body up & forward while I reached and hugged a tree on the shoreline. I was then able to walk up the log and into the other side of the creek- yes!! Matthew followed with equal success.

This was Falls Creek, another dry crossing for us. Look at the comments from just two months ago!

Another dry crossing we had…

We continued on to Wilma Lake, where our final climb of the day began. I grew nervous about our climb when I saw that the gnarly looking clouds that I had been eyeing suspiciously for the past few hours seemed to hover above the climb.

We tried to determine which way the clouds were moving and were debating whether or not we should head up if a storm might be rolling in BUT our minds were made up when we heard the thunder. We walked to the far end of the lake, right beneath the start of the climb, and set up camp before 6pm- our earliest yet!!

We ate dinner and as I stood up to pee and go to bed, Papa, a man I recognized from Kennedy Meadows North, appeared. He decided to call his day short as well and set up camp with us, bearing rum as a gift.

Like Tasty, Papa knows a lot of the same people as Matt and I- we hiked with a lot of the same people throughout the desert and yet our paths never crossed- how is that possible?!?

With all of the flipping and flopping that everyone has done, it’s neat how everyone’s paths are crossing!

We ended up talking until after 8 (and I had to pee the entire time!) Shittttt! So much for an early night for an early morning!! Since we called today short, we have a big day in front of us tomorrow with a total of 4 climbs. Woof!

Happiness is: being in camp before dark, having new trail friends, AND THOSE VIEWS!!!