Day 138

Day 138 (pct 28): 22 miles

For those coming behind me, these conditions were on 5/23 after a lot of fresh snow.

I slept in a little this morning since this should be the last frigid night for a bit. It was 25 this morning when I was getting my stuff around and it felt WARM. I got moving around 8 and was able to cross a large stream without having to get wet. It was a bit risky with some long rock hopping on icy rocks, but you gotta risk it to get the biscuit. As I turned around I saw Purge and Ghost Fingers taking off their shoes and socks to Ford it. Tough way to start the day.

Going up Mather Pass wasn’t bad at all. It was pretty gradual and the scenery was fantastic from the snow recently. But once I reached the top and began the descent it wasn’t so chill. On the chillometer I’d say it was a Jim Cramer (thats not very chill). 3rd picture was very not chill, I had to make all those tracks. There were some really steep snow fields I had to walk across and there weren’t really any footprints to walk in with the fresh snow. There was a really faint marking of footateps from people that must’ve done it yesterday before the snow but they were 99% covered. I put on my microspikes and slowly made my way down the mountain taking each step with extreme caution. Sometimes My foot would sink down 4 inches, other times a foot, and other times not at all. There were a few shorts slips and scares but nothing too bad. My right arm was getting tired from putting so much weight on my trekking pole on my high side to remain stable.

The morning was an amazing macro environment with the vast landscape of the pass. But in the afternoon I enjoyed the micro environment of a gorgeous valley. Water was flowing everywhere and there was so much green. The water was crystal clear and even had a tint of green to look like emerald cause of all the surrounding green. Today was probably my favorite day of scenery so far, but it did help actually having visibility.

The area north of Mather pass was one of my favorite places I've ever been.

It was warm in the middle of the day so I took an hour break to dry out my sleeping bag and tent which were still wet. I’m actually kinda surprised how good I was at staying non hypothermic the last couple days with a wet 15 degree sleeping bag which has lost a fair amount of insulation over the years in temperatures below 15 in a wet tent and with a sleeping pad that usually has me sleeping on the cold ground. Quite a combination I got to experience

I ended the day sooner than I had wanted here cause I think if I go too much higher to camp the sites might still be covered in snow. I’m actually surprised this one isn’t. Hopefully tonight shouldn’t be deathly cold so I can get an early start.

I saw some really fatass marmots today they gotta start working on their summer bodies or they aren’t gonna be ready for beach szn. I’ve really had to ration my phone battery since I’m out here longer than expected with the weather and the cold just eats the battery. It lost 40% recently when I hardly used it all day but just cause it was so cold.

May is mental health awareness month. Please consider donating to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at the link in my bio!

Song of the day: Even flow-pearl jam