Day 76 – 06 Jun 19. A Lot of Effort for Very Little Result

Today 24.0 km (14.9 mi) of which 21.6 km/13.4 mi is on trail, Total Distance 1480.9 km (920.2 mi). 11 hours 20 minutes (0700-1820)

I slept well and it had cleared when I woke up. I had a little condensation inside but the outside was dry. I was up and packed in good time and on the trail at 0700.

The trail continued downhill to a bridge over a river then climbed a little bit. It was a rocky area and at one stage I went through a neat little canyon.

At the next intersection I turned off the trail as I wanted to see the Devils Postpile which was only 0.75 miles off trail. I started down and then hit snow. It took a lot longer than I expected to get down to the bridge. Just after crossing the bridge I saw a deer which is the first of the Sierras but number 7 for the PCT.

There was more snow to get to the site but it wasn’t to bad to negotiate and I arrived. It was a neat natural attraction. Square columns stacked beside each other. At the left end the columns had bent and it was amazing to see rock bent like this. I looked around and then headed back.

It felt much quicker coming back up the hill to the trail. Back on trail and there was still lovely dirt for a short while and then the snow became more dominant. I was hoping that the lower altitude would mean the next 7 miles were snow free but it was not the case. Instead it was really slow and hard work negotiating the snow and keeping in the right direction.

The one positive is that the snow was nice and firm. However this meant the footprints were very faint and hard to follow.

It was a steep area and the snow over the track was steep slopes which I had to take my time on. I came to a stream crossing and I was not comfortable with the crossing point. It had a lot of obstructions and was flowing really fast. I headed upstream a way and found a crossing point I was more comfortable with.

Once past the crossing the angle of the hill eased but it was still hard work climbing over the snow banks, down to a smidgen of dirt then up the next snow mound.

I could hear a roar from a way off and when I arrived at the waterfall I was blown away by the volume of water thundering down the cliffs. I was very apprehensive about how I was going to cross the river as there was so much water moving really fast. There were some small streams from the overflow of the river which I negotiated ok.

When I reached the main river there was no way I was getting across as it was flowing so fast. I resigned myself to a long walk downstream. However after only 50 meters there was a wider part were the flow was not quite as fast and a bridge made out of a log with the top cut flat. The water was overflowing part of the log but not with any force so I waded to the log, jumped up and crossed. Then it was more wading to another log bridge and more wading to get to the far bank.

I was very relieved to have got across. Now it was back to the snow, up and down, up and down, sidle, up and down. It was very slow progress and tiring.

Eventually I dropped down to a sturdy footbridge and crossed the main river. I was hopeful being on this side there would be less snow but there was more snow.

I stopped for a break not far from the bridge and it started raining so I sheltered under a tree. It only lasted 5 minutes.

After a while the slope got steeper and I was not comfortable. I was kicking steps into the slope and gingerly made my way across. The drop below me went straight to the raging river so there was no room for mistakes. This part seemed to take ages and I was very relieved when finally it flattened out again.

Now it was back to the snow obstacle course, winding through the trees, up and over the snow mounds. There was no dirt track anymore, it was pure snow. It started raining again, then hail, then rain and after 5 minutes it stopped. A little further on it started raining again and I sheltered under a large tree. I sat there having lunch with my umbrella protecting me from the drips the tree let through and then from the hail which was bouncing all over the place. It hailed for quite a while but just before I finished lunch it stopped.

I continued on my slow way. After a while the trail started climbing and some patches of dirt trail appeared. Just before leaving the shelter of the trees it started raining again. This time it was alternating between rain and hail. I stayed under a tree expecting it to finish quickly again but it just continued. Eventually I decided to just continue walking in the rain. I had my rainskirt, raincoat and umbrella so i wasn’t getting wet.

I continued up the hill on the lovely dirt path that was now clear of snow. The trail zig zagged up the hill to a junction. It stopped raining briefly then started again and then stopped for good near the top.

At the junction I turned left and it was back to snow again. There was a rocky area above the trail so I traversed along this for a while before dropping down the other side at the campground. The first site I came to the picnic table was under water. I followed the side road, up and over several snow mounds, to the main road.

The main road was mainly covered in snow so it was up and down again. At the second carpark I turned off the road and onto “High Trail”.

It was back to soild snow again and I followed where I thought the trail was. There was a log bridge over a stream that was a challenge to get up the other side due to the snow bank.

Then the trail disappeared so I headed straight up the hill. I could see the snow ended partway up the hill and I hoped to find the track there. Right where I expected it was the track and it was free of snow.

I followed the track as it Zig Zagged up the steep hill and then along the side. While going along the side there were a few patches of snow but not many. I was optimistic that I would be able to start making some decent progress but unfortunately not long after the dirt ended and it was mixed snow and dirt for a while, then back to snow again. There were very brief appearances of the dirt track but it continued to be mainly snow.

Now it was slowly climbing as I went on the side of the hill. There were some faint tracks which I followed but when I did a navigation check I realised the tracks were too low so I had to climb up the rocks to try and get back to the trail.

Then the trail went on the side of a really steep hill and it was covered in snow so it was a traverse across the steep slopes. I really took my time, kicking the step, pausing and then transferring my weight and doing it again. It took ages.

There was then a short section of dirt trail and then another steep snowfield. This happened continuously for at least 45 minutes.

Finally the slope eased a little but it was still difficult travel. The trail dropped slightly into some trees. I was starting to think about finding a campsite but it was really windy and I wanted some decent shelter. These trees were not blocking the wind so I continued.

Now it was crossing a large open snowfield for a mile. Once again despite the snow being nice and solid it was pockmarked and this made it slow going.

Finally I got to the trees and after pushing on a bit found a site that was sheltered from the worst of the wind. I could hear it roaring in the trees. I was still getting a few shakes but not as bad as the massive gusts that were occurring on the other side of the trees.

Despite having a long day, and working hard all day I only did 13 miles, very disappointing.

The temperature dropped quickly once the sun went down, hovering at 5 degrees C when I went to bed.

Visits: 475