2 miles on the Whitney Spur Trail to the PCT Junction. Mile 767  to 775.34.

We have been told that the trail starts to get real after Mt. Whitney. There are navigational challenges, a number of river fords, near complete snow coverage, and of course Forester Pass, the highest point  on the PCT. Today, we were about to get a taste of what hiking in the Sierra durinf the largest snow year on record is all about.

We started our day at 4:00 and were walking by 5:00. Getting ready in the cold is hard when all you want to do it stay in your warm sleeping bag. As we covered the last two miles on the Whitney Spur Trail, it felt weird to see familiar landmarks. I am so used to moving forward in one direction that backtracking had a weird sensation to it. One of the draws of the PCT for me is that everyday brings something new and unexpected. You literally have no clue what is around the next bend, and you only have yourself and your friends to count on.

As we turned onto the PCT at the junction, we knew today would test our resolve and determination. There were three major river crossings and a lot of snow travel to get into place to cross Forester Pass the following day.

Stream crossings in the Sierra can always be dangerous during the spring melt off, but during the biggest snow year on record, where parts of the Sierra received 200 percent above average snow fall, they can be deadly. We were armed with maps and a recent snow and river report to help us ford the rivers at their “safest” points. But in reality, the conditions are changing daily so you really need to see the rivers with your own eyes and walk their banks to find the safest place to cross. The knowledge that many people have turned back on this section and bailed at Lone Pine or even skipped the Sierra all together to head up to Northern California sat in the back of our minds. However, we are of a mind that you need to see something for yourself and make your own decisions. Unfortunately, many people are falling prey to fear mongering and rumors.

The first stream crossing of the day was Wallace Creek. We arrived early in the morning and walked up stream to the widest part of the creek where it was overflowing it’s banks. It is generally safer to cross at the widest part of a stream because it is shallower and the current less strong. The narrower parts of a stream tend to be deeper and have a strong flow since all the water must fit through a narrow channel. The creek actually looked a lot better than we feared. We decided to cross it individually and stripped off our pants, put all electronics in waterproof bags, and put our packs on with the belts unbuckled in case we fell and needed to ditch them. I crossed first in my neoprene socks, the envy of the group, and made it safely to the otherside. The water came up to my knee, but I felt secure the whole time. After crossing, I immediately stripped off my shoes and socks and toweled off my feet. The water is all snow melt and freezing.

After sunning ourselves, we walked about a mile to Wright Creek. The river was deeper and flowing a lot faster than Wallace Creek and we scouted up the river. In the river report, it said there was a tree crossing down river, but we got distracted when we saw people on the opposite bank. They showed us where they had crossed and we decided to cross there. Since the river was running fast, we decided to cross in groups. Originally we planned to do river crossings in two groups of three, but when Shades tagged onto our group, we ended up having to do one group of three and one of four. A group of three can form a triangle, which is more stabile and solid than a square.

The first group to cross was Bedazzled, Vipr, Shades, and myself. I crossed with my back upstream providing a break in the water for Vipr, who was the shortest in the group at 5’4″. I called out directions, water level, and obstacles as we crossed. Saying things like, “the water is at my croch, don’t cross your legs when you walk Bedazzled, and we are entering the deepest part of the river.” We made it across fine except for a moment when Bedazzled freaked out and stopped moving in the middle of the stream.

Next was Burnout, Voldy, and Fun Dip. They had apparently formed their group earlier in the day, but it turned out to be a bad combination since Burnout is 6’4″ and Fun Dip is 5’1″. Because of the difference in height and the group’s decision to link arms instead of grabbing each others shoulders, they didn’t have a stable structure. As the crossed the river, Burnout’s steps where too long, and Fun Dip’s too short. This caused the group to get out of step. Burnout was yelling at Fun Dip to move and pulled her backwards while Voldy was frozen and bent forward we heard her yell to Burnout she “don’t leave me.” It looked pretty scary from where we were. At one point, Burnout lost his balance and put a had down on a rock in the river that was just below the surface to steady himself. We were all nervous,  but they eventually made it too the bank safely.

Fun Dip was pretty shaken up since the water was up to her hips and she almost lost her balance when Burnout pulled her. Her hands were shaking even a couple of minutes after crossing. To make matters worse, a pair of hikers came along and let us know that theyou crossed on the big tree crossing down stream.

We decided to reorganize groups as we sat on the bank drying out and eating our lunch.

After the crossing, the trail completely disappearing under snow and we were left to navigate with our GPS, the steps of those before us, and natural landmarks. On top of that, the snow was sun cupped and had soften under the sun so you would break through the edges of the sun cups and contort your body in an effort to stay up right. It was a miracle no one twisted anything.

We still had 4 miles to get to Tyndall Creek, which was the largest and most dangerous crossing of the day. We climbed a ridge of snow and found a flat meadow covered in God knows how many feet of snow. It was ringed by mountains and we where the only things moving for miles around. Occasionally, we would pass by the top of a tree poking through the snow. It was beautiful, austere, and humbling. It felt as if the mountains had eyes watching us cross their domain judging our every step and deciding if they would let us pass.

After breaking trail across the snowfield, we eventually found the boot track of other hikers and followed it. Since they had packed down the snow, it was almost like being on a highway and we made good time.

We passed between mountains and over a ridge before we descended to Tyndall Creek. It was a torrent of water and rapids  that stood out in the snow field like a black smudge on a white wall. What we saw was impassible with snow banks of a couple feet on either side so we started to walk up stream over the sun cupped snow. Progress was slow and the few areas that looked potentially fordable had runouts into rocks or over waterfalls. We continued upstream about .3 miles and the river broke into two tributaries. This meant the flow wasn’t as strong and it was shallower. After some debate, we found a fording spot acceptable to us all and we formed groups. This time it was Shades, Fun Dip, Bedazzled, and myself in one group and Burnout, Voldy, and Vipr in the other.

Shades and I faced each other with Fun Dip and Bedazzled between us. We locked arms on shoulders and crossed into the river with me stepping backwards the whole way. I called out commands to move, stabalize, and change direction. We all preformed well with Fun Dip and Bedazzled crossing their legs as they stepped only one or two times. After we finished, we reflected on our crossing and we were all pleased. The snow banks on either side of the river were scary, but the place we forded had a dirt bank that stuck out about a foot and gave us purchase to step up and crawl over the bank. The worst part was having no ground to sit on except snow. We pulled out our little foam sit pads and pulled off our wet socks and shoes.

We watched Burnout, Voldy, and Vipr cross successfully too.

We ended the day with a half mile trudge in wet shoes to some trees where the snow had melted around their base and set up our tents on rocky soil. At least it was better than snow.

Today was an awesome day and tomorrow we will hopefully cross over Forester Pass. It should only be two or three days before we make it to Bishop where we all will get our first shower in over two weeks.

Wildlife: Pika