August 5, 2014
We awoke to frost on the tent and packs! Daveed said he was cold overnight, no wonder! The storms cleared and the sun came out, what a beautiful sight! Now I know why Muir called the Sierras "The Range of Light". When the sun came up over the mountains, everything lit up. The shifting light was beautiful. I took at least a dozen pictures from this exact spot over the course of about 15 minutes:
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| The Range of Light |
Once the sun was up higher and reached our tent and the surrounding ground- EVERYTHING out on the rocks to dry! Everything was damp from the previous 2 days, so once the sun was out it was yard sale time, lay everything out!
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| Sun almost on the tent, can you spot Daveed? |
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| Yard sale |
Just as we finished packing up, Tiphane and Jackie Ray came bounding by! Everyone was in a better mood today with clear blue skies overhead. We headed up, up, up to Pinchot Pass (12,086 ft) first thing this morning. Great views of the mountains surrounding last night's camp and awesome views to the south from the top of the pass. Big mountains with jagged tops.
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| Lake Marjorie |
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| Heading up to Pinchot Pass |
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| Looking north back at Lake Marjorie, halfway up the pass |
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| Looking south from the top of the pass |
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| Looking north back at Lake Marjorie from the top of the pass |
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| Pinchot Pass, elevation 12,086 ft |
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| Pinchot Pass with the Clan! |
We went down, down, down the pass all the way to 8500 feet from 12,000 feet. Woof. My feet and knees hurt! After a few hours we stopped for lunch with Tiphane and Jackie Ray under the shade of a small clump of trees. We had a lovely, relaxing lunch enjoying the surrounding views. Then we followed a pretty river, Woods Creek, all the way down into the valley.There were several pretty waterfalls.
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| Heading south, down from Pinchot Pass |
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| View from lunch spot |
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| Headed down into the valley |
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| Woods Creek |
We came across several creek crossings today which weren't as scary or sketchy as yesterday's, but still demanded attention.
When we arrived at Woods Creek camp, we crossed a suspension bridge! The Golden Gate of the Sierras! It was cool but freaky when it moved and swayed! And don't forget about the missing boards, don't step there!
We found Tiphane and Jackie Ray and set up near them. This was a very popular camp spot as there were a dozen or more others camped here. I finally got to do some laundry since the sun was out- my sun shirt has been fermenting for almost 4 days and smells like vinegar. WOOF. I went down to the creek with Tiphane and Jackie Ray as they had laundry to do as well. We all stuck our feet in the creek and rinsed off.
After laundry we all huddled together to make dinner in a small sliver of the fading evening sun. Jerome and Seanesey arrived a short time later and we hung out with them too. I saw these 2 Asian gals in a nearby camp and seized the opportunity to get my picture taken with them as we all 3 had the same jacket, haha! The jacket of my peoples is apparently the Patagonia nano puff! I thought it was funny, they didn't really seem to think it was funny but they did say they noticed I was wearing the same jacket. Daveed couldn't believe it when I walked up to them to get a picture, haha! :)
Psyched for resupply on Thursday in Independence! Showers, laundry, food! Super hungry but have to ration my food. I regret leaving so much stuff behind at Muir Trail Ranch! Tomorrow is our last hiking day with Tiphane and Jackie Ray- they will go on to Whitney and we will exit for a day to resupply. Really going to miss them! :(
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| Alpineglow starting to color the surrounding mountains |
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| Camp at Woods Creek, elevation 8547 ft |
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