Day 77 – 07 Jun 19. Two Passes in One Day; Island and Donahue

Today 27.8 km (17.3 mi), Total Distance 1508.8 km (937.5 mi) 10 hours 20 minutes (0700-1725)

I woke up to my alarm but decided to lay in for a bit longer. It was cold because of the wind. Last night the wind was roaring through the trees but apart from the occasional gentle shake I was relatively sheltered. It was 5 degrees C but felt much colder.

Once up I was quickly packed up and on my way. The snow was hard so I had my crampons on. For some reason the right one was digging into the ball of my foot so I put some padding there.

I could only occasionally make out footprints so for the first few miles it was my own navigation. I headed along the hill, dropped down to where the map said there were lakes, but I only saw white.

Then it was a slight uphill before going beside a river where I picked up the tracks again, firstly up and then dropping down to Thousand Island Lake which I imagine must be impressive in summer.

From there it was a sort steep climb and then a steady climb up to the pass. It was the easiest pass so far. I was feeling ok. My energy was fine, though I did take a couple of rest stops going up the hill. My knee tweaked in the first 5 minutes then nothing which is a relief.

The first pass done I now headed down along the side of the hill first and then straight down into the trees.

This side of the hill was sheltered from the wind so I was able to take my jacket off. I lost the tracks in the trees so made my own way across the stream and then up a steep hill.

At the top of the hill where I was going to start going around the side of the bigger hill I came across the tracks again.

Now it was a steady climb, keeping mainly to the side of the hill. The snow was still in good condition and I was able to keep in the footprints on the side of the hill without worrying they were going to give way.

I went above a flattish plateau and then the final long climb up to the pass. There was nothing technical about climbing this pass but it was a long continual climb which was tiring. I was stopping frequently to rest.

As I came around the final corner and saw the pass ahead of me I could make out a person climbing. I did not expect to see them again as I was slow going up the hill.

The wind was back and it was really cold. I thought as long as I was climbing I would stay warm but the wind was too much and I ended up putting my jacket on half way up the hill.

At the top of the pass I took my normal video and photos.

Looking down into the valley I was heading to it looked free of snow so I was really excited that I may have dirt trail.

I headed down the steep hill. The snow was in perfect condition so I was able to almost run down, digging my heels in.

At the bottom of the first part I caught up to the person I had seen ahead. He was snow shoeing and it looked awkward. As the snow was quite firm I wasn’t sinking in so I am not sure why he was using the snow shoes, possibly for traction down the steep hills. He was section hiking and heading to Yosemite.

I continued making good time down the hills until a junction of tracks. One went straight and it looked really steep and long and the snow looked much firmer which would make digging in my heels harder. Some tracks traversed left and then down a shorter steep bit and then gentler downhill. I was not keen on the really long steep hill so took the left.

Once at the bottom looking back up I am really glad I took this option. I could see the man very tentatively going down the really steep bit. He did not look at all comfortable and I do not blame him. I tried yelling to tell him to go left but he couldn’t hear me. I left before I had to see if he made it or fell.

Now it was an easy downhill, winding through the pine trees. There was one big stream to cross but I found a sturdy snow bridge and crossed with ease.

The tracks had disappeared again so I made my own way down the hill. There was one steep section where I found some tracks but it was slow going as I wanted to make sure the tracks were firm, and some of them were too far below so I needed bridging steps. This was really steep and I was glad to get down back to just moderately steep. I continued down to a stream and decided to have lunch there as there were some rocks in the sun to sit on.

After lunch I traversed left around the mountain until I found the trail. It was mainly under snow and difficult to stay with. I took a direct route and met up with the trail again at the bottom of the descent by the river.

Now it was following the few meters of trail in-between the snow banks. The few bits of trail not under snow were under water. My hopes of having a dirt trail were dashed. Instead I had a frustrating and tiring time. It was constant up the snow, watch for postholing, down the snow, through the water on the trail and back up the snow. It was tedious, repetitive and tiring. Do you get the idea I did not enjoy it.

The good things were the interesting river that was beside the trail sometimes, the wide open swamps, the Squirrels in the open fields and the profusion of birds.

Finally the trail was largely clear of snow and I was able to relax a little, though I was still wading through streams and the water collected on the trail.

I marked the 1500 km mark, a few km over but near enough. This was the half way point for my first thru hike but I am no where near half way on this trail yet.

At 1715 I filled up with water and then started looking for a campsite. It was harder than I thought as it was either rocks or swamp.

Eventually I found a patch of stones and set up camp. I laid out my shoes, socks, gaiters and inner soles in the nice sun and by the time the sun disappeared at 1920 the worst of the wet had dried.

I am going to sleep to the accompaniment of noisy frogs which is a new experience on this trail.

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