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Day 65 – 26 May 19. Over Pinchot Pass and Exhausted

Today 15.6 km (9.7 mi), Total Distance 1302.8 km (809.5 mi). 10 hours (0700 -1700)

It only snowed lightly during the night and had stopped when I got up.

I was ready quickly and as I was packing my pack Scout briefly got up then went back to bed. There was no sign of movement from Cheese’s tent.

It was 0 degrees when I started walking and I was well covered up.
I crossed the suspension bridge which was looking pretty covered in snow. I was glad I did not have to cross the river.

The trail was actually dirt for nearly a mile. It was a stream for the most part but it was easy enough to walk up the sides or on the rocks. The trees and bushes were covered in snow and it was really pretty.

There were a few streams to cross and most of them had logs or rocks to be able to cross without getting my feet wet. On one of the skinny logs there were footprints of a single animal that looked like cat footprints. They were not much larger than an average dog so I assume bobcat,

Slowly there were more snow patches. It started snowing, lightly at first and then heavily. I was hoping to get as much of the dirt track completed before it became buried in snow. There were old footprints, yesterday or the day before, to follow. Sometimes they were not visible so I just continued to guess where the trail was going and eventually I would meet up with the footprints. At one stage I saw some birds which I think are Grouse that were making the booming noise.

Eventually the trail was completely covered in snow and I followed the faint footprints along the side of a steep hill and down across an area of willow trees and fallen logs before getting into the pine trees.

Now I lost the footprints again but I knew I just had to follow the stream up hill. I picked the best path I could through the trees, to reduce the ups and downs, though it was a steady uphill. The snow varied between nice and soft postholing.

I was really tired. My legs were tired, my pack felt heavy and I was out of breath quickly so I was taking lots of mini breaks to catch my breath. It stopped snowing.

Eventually I met back up with the footprints and followed them through the trees until we turned a corner and started climbing above the trees. Now the footprints were barely visible and frequently disappeared. I followed them up a hill and then they were gone for good.

I knew I had to keep climbing this hill and then turn slightly left and continue climbing for a while. I knew the big mountain now on my left was Mt Wynne and that Pinchot Pass was to the left of the mountain.

I crested part of the hill and now I could see the pass. I needed to keep the same height and go around the side of the hill I was on to meet up with a small spur and then follow the spur up until just short of the ridge then follow along the side of the hill to the pass. The weather was deteriorating again and visibility was variable. Thankfully I knew where I needed to go so was not to troubled by this.

I was taking ages to get up to the ridge. I was having to stop nearly every 20 meters to have a quick break. The last climb was really steep, though I did not know this as the visibility had rendered the slopes impossible to judge. I was having to kick steps to get up and it was only when reaching up to start the next step that I realised how steep the hill was.

It seemed to take ages to get to the top and then I started heading across the hill to get to the pass. Once again I only realised how steep the hill was when I put my walking pole below and realised the steepness of the slope.

I took my time; planting my ice axe, kicking a step which took several kicks to get secure, and then planting my ice axe annd starting the next step. It was tiring work and I was resting every 4 steps.

I dropped down slightly below some rocks and then it was the final hill to get up, once again very steep. I thought this was meant to be an easy pass but it was not. I was very steep, exposed and it was hard work kicking the steps.

Just as I was getting to the top of this last slope the wind picked up and it started snowing. By the time I was at the top visibility was less than 5 meters. There were no photos, I only stopped long enough to pull my buff up over my nose for protection from the driving snow and then I started dropping.

Thankfully there were a couple of rocks to give me some perspective but basically I just kept heading downhill. It didn’t matter how I got down as I knew I would be following a valley down and could not get lost. As I got lower the visibility increased but the driving snow did not cease.

I was now just looking for somewhere to camp, preferably with trees to shelter me from the snow and wind.

I went further than I expected but finally found a nice little hollow with trees around me. I was exhausted but thankfully not cold .

This as been the most physically demanding day of the whole trail so far. I cleared an area using my plastic dinner plate and set up my tent. My priority was to get my mattress inflated and get my sleeping bag out to get into it. I boiled some water for my bladder as a hot water bottle for my feet. Then I got dinner soaking and had a hot chocolate.

I was warm while I was walking but cooled quickly once I stopped so it was nice to have hot food and drink in me and to be tucked in my sleeping bag.

When I went to sleep at 2000 hours it was -4 degrees C.

Visits: 560

2 thoughts on “Day 65 – 26 May 19. Over Pinchot Pass and Exhausted”

  1. So glad to see your posts again. You have an awesome blog!

    Yeah, Pinchot Pass kicked my ass too. But I didn’t have to deal with snow.

    You really seem like you know what you are doing, and I hope all the newbies behind you will read your blog so they know what they are in for, and how to respond to it.

    Cheers!
    -Glide

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