Day 49 & 50 were probably the toughest days to-date (or it could be just recency bias). Started out early on Day 49 to cross Seavey Pass which was not a demanding ascent but the descent involved going down a steep snowy slope which ended in a river and then traversing across this slope making sure you didn't slip into the river. The river itself was fast-moving but shallow and ice-cold. So, a false step would make you very uncomfortable at the least. Luckily it was not a long traverse and I crossed it without incident.
But before that, went by these beautiful lakes in morning light
Post Seavey Pass, both Sofie and I decided that we could get to a campsite at 1000 miles if we hustle. It would be long day (27+ miles total), but doable.
What I didn't count on was slipping down at the water edge after crossing the creek (btw, all so-called creeks are raging rivers at this point in the season where lots of snow is melting and going into these creeks). I slipped and fell backward. The creeks are almost always shallow so there is no real danger, but I was wet till waist with ice-cold water and a part of my backpack was also wet. Luckily it was still early in the day and the sun was out. I figured I would dry out with time, which I did. But, further on, there were so many creeks and streams to cross with no choice but to wade across that the lower part of my legs never dried throughout the day. At some point, you just used to cold & wet feet. There was one more ignominy waiting later in the day. I had figured that since my feet were anyway wet, why bother trying to find dry spots/rocks to cross any wet crossing and just go straight through them. Would save me time, especially since half the trail seemed to be a watery mess like this.
In one such muddy mess, I stepped into it and immediately sunk to my waist in muddy water 🤦🏽♂️. If I had taken my step a few inches to the left, it would have been fine. So, then I had to step into the next creek and clean the mud off my pants as much as possible.
Even at the end of the day, a couple of miles from the campsite, there were yet 2 more water crossings that I had to wade through as well as cross snow that was slushy. So, it was pretty much 100% of the day that my feet were wet and icy-cold. Pains of going through the Seirras early in the season (or anytime during a high snow year, I guess).
But, finally this 🙂
It was perhaps my longest day with almost 15 hours of hiking but achieved the goal!
One of the main reasons to hit 1000 miles the previous day was that we would have a shorter day (less than 17 miles) and reach Sonora Pass/Hwy 108 crossing from where we could hitch a ride to Kennedy Meadows (North) Ranch & Resort for a hot meal and proper bed.
Started reasonably early around 5 am today and it started out as an easy climb. But slowly the weather started changing. It started out partly cloudy but as I was going up higher, the wind picked up quickly and the fog started rolling in too. Wind speeds of around 40-50 mph became a constant. On the mountain top, there were no trees or even plants for any kind of wind protection. It was a loooong walk across the mountain with wind blowing you from all sides. Then there was some rain & sleet where the drops felt like razor blades hitting your skin. There were long snow fields with limited visibility.
I met another hiker, Owen, on one of the icy slopes and we slowly hiked together. What I had imagined would take a couple of hours took 4+ hours to cross the mountain ridge.
However, the trail was not done with us. The descent was treacherous with the actual trail buried under the snow on a steep slope.
With a lot of glissading and slow snow traverses, we finally came down. Finally, saw other hikers too (had hardly seen other hikers the last 2-3 days) on the descent. Guess everybody was aiming for KM (North)!
On reaching the Highway, there was some trail magic with cookies and soda 🙂 provided by the parents of one of the hikers. Awesome! A few minutes later, we got a ride to the Resort and very fortunately, we got the last dorm room available with 5 beds in it!
It was definitely an adventurous & interesting (as in the Chinese saying "May you have an interesting life") 2 days and Seirras gave a good glimpse of why it has the reputation of being tough!
Data:
D-49
D-50
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