Mile 793.4 to 802.6 plus 2 miles walking rivers.

I put warm feet into wet socks, then into wet shoes, and stepped on wet ground. A lovely way to start the morning. At least I was in the middle of the snowy Sierra, whose beauty is a salve to almost any aliment.

Our footsteps gave a satisfying crunch as we walked across a winter wonderland of frozen lakes and snowy mountains. Our bodies quickly warmed as we walked the two miles to the Arrowhead Lake Outlet. The lake was a mix of snow, ice, and flowing water and its banks were snow covered. We went up and down its banks looking for a place to cross. There were two main options. One at the official PCT crossing that had some submerged rocks near the closest bank before it got deeper  with some trees submerged under water. The water was flowing at a decent pace and probably about hip deep on me. I thought I could successfully ford it there, but Vipr and Fun Dip weren’t too confident. The other crossing point was potentially deeper and had a runout into a waterfall. We decided to wait on a rock pile for the big group that we camped with to arrive.

While we waited, Fun Dip and Viper talked about how swimming the lake was our best option. That sounded like instant hypothermia to me, and there was no way I would be swimming the lake.

When the big group arrived, a bunch of them just plopped down and sat on rocks waiting for someone to tell them what to do. A few more responsible ones walked up and down the river. Alarmingly, some actually though it was a good idea to go across the crossing with the horrible runout. Luckily, the brighter heads in our and their group looked at a topographical map and decided to skirt the right side of the outlet and walk down stream to another potential crossing point. As luck would have it, there was a large solid snow bridge over the raging waters and we all crossed safely.

Two miles up, we encountered Baxter Creek, which was flowing pretty good and fairly wide. People scouted up and down the river without much success. I arrived a little later than the main group and scouted down stream where the river was wider and the flow was divided by little areas where bushes were growing up. Since all the rivers are overflowing their banks, it isn’t uncommon to have little islands of shrubs in the swollen  rivers.

Rather than just looking and guessing where a good crossing might be, I dropped my pack, took my trekking poles, and waded in. I looked for a spot where the river was widest and broken into forks. Once there, I looked for a route that took me through the shallowest part. The first spot I tried, I made it all the way across, but the freezing water came up to my groin. Not a good crossing spot for someone like Fun Dip, who is 5’1″. When traveling in a group, you need to keep in mind that you are not just looking for a spot where you can cross, but one where everyone can cross. After a quick survey, I found a route that went across a spot were the flow of the river dipped down. It only came up to my knee. Perfect!

The majority of the group came down, and I led them across the river successfully. About four people crossed at another spot up stream, but it was a more difficult crossing. I saw one of the guys slip and put his hands down to stop his fall.

After the crossing, we dried our shoes and socks out for a bit before continuing on. As we went, the trail dropped elevation and we were out of the snow! There was actual trail to walk on and it was so nice. The only downside was that more often than not, the trail, itself, was a river.

Giving up on the hope of dry feet, we sloshed through the water and flooded meadows. Luckily, we had views to keep us captivated. “This is what the Sierra must look like in summer,” I thought. It is June 24th after all.

We continued on to an unexpected raging river flowing down out of the mountains and over the trail. When I arrived, the main group had been there for a couple minutes. Again some were just sitting around and others were looking at the unnamed seasonal river saying it was impassible.

I looked down stream and saw the river running into the raging Woods Creek below. It didn’t look too promising so I head off up stream to scout. The river was in a channel between two peaks and the sides of the channel were pretty steep. I scrambled over loose rock and through brush as I made my way up. From what I could see, it looked like there was a flat-ish pass at the top. After about 20 minutes of getting scrapped up and finding my way around obstacles, I found the jackpot. A snow bridge spanned the top of the pass. 

Not only was it large, but it was solid too. Definitely safe enough to cross. I hurried back down river to let everyone know and was surprised to see just a few people milling around and a tent set up. The majority of the group had decided to go back down trail (who walks backwards on the PCT!?) and set up camp. They were actually planning to attempt to cross the river in the morning… I told everyone still at the river about the crossing spot and someone ran down to tell the others who had completely set up camp by then. Vipr and Bedazzled were still at the river so I led them, Ten Gallon, and Wing It 20 minutes up the river and across.

It look us another 20 mintues to get back to the trail. Once there, we decided to wait for the others to cross and come down. When the first group, composed of Wiz Kid, Cowboy, Scotty, and some others, did, you wouldn’t believe what happened. They just ran on by. We didn’t realize at first, but they where trying to get to the camping spot and snake the best campsites. What a bunch of losers. Not only did I spend 40 mintues round trip finding a crossing point, but my group and I waited about 30 mintues to make sure they got across safely. There was talk of putting peanut butter on their tents to attract the bears, but we refrained in the end.

When we got to camp, they already had their tents up in the choicest spots. Vipr loudly declared, “Harley since you found the river crossing, why don’t you choose your site first.” Thanks Vipr. The people who came into camp later did thank me for finding the crossing. Some of them apparently thought they were going to have to head back to Bishop.

Being with this big group kind of sucks. Bedazzled and I are ready to break off. Hopefully Vipr, Fun Dip, and maybe one or two others will come along.