Day 81 – 11 Jun 19. The Delayed Crossing

Today 26.9 km (16.7 mi), Total Distance 1613.4 km (1002.5 mi) 10 hours 35 minutes (0730-1805)

It was much warmer than normal when I woke up, nearly 8 degrees. As I was finishing packing up inside my tent the sun came over the mountain and it was quite pleasant packing everything away. For the first time in a couple of weeks I started the day without a jacket.

The trail passed another lake and then headed downhill to a Wilma Lake. The descent was nice, not to steep but step enough to make some good progress.

At the lake I headed left around it to the outlet. I missed this and climbed a steep snow bank to get a view of the river which was actually the main river, Jack Creek, and not the outlet. It was a massive river flowing really fast with a huge volume of water.

I decided to head back down to the lake to see if I could get across at the outlet. Once there I saw the trail, well under water, including a nice cobblestone section. I dropped down the snow bank and walked across. I had thought it was only lower thigh deep but it started getting deeper and I was just above crotch height. I was having to hold my pack front pockets up and go on tippy toe. Luckily I had taken my shorts off.

On the other side I headed to the crossing point of Jack Creek and it was a definite no. Fast and deep. I looked at my map and saw I was heading up the valley for 8 miles so I had plenty of time to cross. I decided to wait until after I was past a few feeder streams to try and cross.

The 8 miles went quite fast. It was pure snow and I was weaving through the trees most of the time, gaining or losing height to find the best places to walk. It was a steady climb up the valley but I barely noticed.

There were a couple of patches in the open which were marginally faster, despite the sun cups to negotiate. In some places they were sun buckets they were so big. I was feeling ok, average energy and no niggles.

The feeder streams were pretty big and it took some careful site selection to find crossing points. At the head of the valley I crossed the last feeder stream and started looking for a place to cross Jack Creek. It was still pretty big but I got lucky and in a narrow spot I found a snow bridge that looked solid still.

Happy to be across the monster Creek I stopped for lunch.

Now it was a gentle climb until leaving the creek and then a more sustained climb up the side of the hill and then dropped down at Dorothy Lake.

I headed up the left side of the lake, stopping to admire the rocky mountains surrounding the lake. The travel was all on sun cups so not the easiest. Once past the lake it was a short steep climb and I was at Dorothy Lake Pass.

Now it was downhill to Lake Harriet which actually had parts clear of snow and ice. I dropped down past that into the valley.

I needed to cross Cascade Stream and saw in Guthooks there was a log there. When I got there it was obvious the log had been swept away so I headed upstream to find a crossing point as it was too deep there.

Only a few hundred meters away I was able to cross on a snow bridge. Now it was downhill for a while. I was finding the terrain difficult to read for some reason. There were not many big features and it was hard to detect the more subtle features in the snow and trees.

I started heading down a hill on a section of dirt track but luckily stopped and rechecked my map as I didn’t expect a steep hill. Sure enough I was on a different track so I had to head back and go the correct way.

I knew I was getting close to the 1000 mile mark so I kept checking my GPS to get to the exact point. I wasn’t sure if any of the previous groups had made a marker so kept an eye out. I didn’t see anything so just past the mark I made a little marker with pine cones.

It was also overdue for 1,600 km mark so I took a photo of that too.

Now I continued down the hill for a bit and then up and over a saddle before dropping down for the final descent of the day next to Walker River. It was another raging river but I had seen that there was a bridge to cross it so was not worried.

The drop did not take long and the beautiful bridge came into sight. I was so excited to have a bridge and not have to negotiate another swollen river.

Just after the bridge I found a little spot of clear dirt and set up camp.

I only have 14 miles to get to Sonora Pass, but they are steep miles so it will be a full day. Yesterday I had confirmed with Sonora Pass Resupply that I would not make it in time so needed to delay the resupply to 13th. I will camp at the pass and be there when they arrive.

I enjoyed a little bit of sun but it disappeared behind a big mountain early so I snuggled into my sleeping bag and read for a while.

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