Around 7 we left dollar lake. Dr Chonzy and me both had our breakfast of home run pies (49 cents from the grocery store in lone pine) and were ready for our big day. It would involve around 5000 combined feet of climbing over 15 miles. Early in the morning walk we spotted a very large black bear. It was the biggest one I have seen and was not more than 40 feet from dr Chonzy and probably 55 feet from myself. As soon as it saw us it bolted up the hill. It was gold in color and much bigger than the ones I have seen in washington and in the zoos. It made my morning, and I ended up getting a half decent picture. The day continued with the crossing of a very rickety old bridge over the very swift wood creek. At this point the 4.8 mile 3400 foot clim began. On this grueling stretch we saw many John Muir Trail hikers and they all wanted to know about the snow conditions on forester pass. This slowed us down substantially. Around 1 and after scaling a large ice sheet and crossing a four mile snow field we finally reach the top of Pinchot pass at 12000 feet. Here we took a much deserved lunch. About 40 minutes after us the womens group of serenity, 3times the lady, yardsale, and tails with her dog skeeter. We took a long break and decended 4.5 miles to our camp site. The scariest river crossing so far took place in this segment. It was across the south fork of the king river. I was very afraid and at one point thought I was going to fall. But luckily I made it across and survived to cross the fourth of the five major passes tomorrow in Mather pass.
No comments:
Post a Comment