July 7th, 2021
Rae Lakes to Somewhere along Woods Creek
I woke up and immediately missed my family. I packed up slowly, eating my fresh food for breakfast. An avocado and cherry tomatoes wrapped in a tortilla, my savior. I was the last one to leave the campsite at Rae Lakes. I walked along the lake and saw a deer. I thought about petting my dog. I thought about laying my head on my fat cat’s belly. I wanted to be home. I walked through woods, then a clearing, then woods. I was taking a snack break when I ran into another hiker that I’d met near Rock Creek, and then again at Kearsarge Pass. His name was Edwin and we hiked together for the rest of the day. It was nice having someone to talk to, but I still missed my family.
Edwin was faster than me so I knew this would be the last time we ran into each other. We crossed the Woods Creek bridge and he went ahead of me to grab a good site near the creek.
I text Rob at 6:38, “Made it to camp, cried the whole way there.” It was true, I did.
July 8th, 2021
Woods Creek to Pinchot Pass to Lake Marjorie
Edwin and I woke up at around the same time. I am not normally an early riser, but there was something about the mornings out there. He left a few minutes before me, and I was alone again. I had a huge pass to tackle, and I was not looking forward to the climb.
Pinchot Pass sits at an elevation of 12,050 feet, which is higher than any other pass I’d crossed so far, but would not be my highest - that would be Mather. It was a long, uphill walk to the top though. I walked for several miles uphill. I broke my coffee cup while I was taking a snack break. I missed my family.
I got to the last steady section of steep uphill before the top of the pass and saw a guy I’d been leapfrogging all day. We both looked equally miserable. Seeing other unhappy people made me feel safe for some reason. “This pass is…” he said. “Gruesome,” I replied. We both slowly made it the last mile to the top. Slowly. There were a few other people at the top and we joined them, followed by a few more people. I found out the guy was part of a larger group, who all eventually made it to the top. Also at the top was a solo PCTer, and two couples. I’d see all five of them a few more times. We all sat at the top and talked about how we hated the climb up, how we were glad it was over. We honored the pass. The view was beautiful though. One by one, we all left to brave the steep decline to the lakes below. We all camped near Lake Marjorie, feeling peaceful and glad to have Pinchot behind us. Tomorrow, an even higher pass.
