Day 46 mile 766.3 – 775.7, plus 1 mile back to the PCT from Crabtree Meadow

Elevation: ascent 2,550 ft, descent 1,387 ft

After our experience with Mt Whitney yesterday how could today compare. Well it turned out to be a pretty great day. We decided to try and sleep in this morning as we had planned only to get in about 12 miles today. Having the tent surrounded by trees helped to block the morning sun and we both didn’t wake until 7:00 this morning. We took our time getting ready and enjoyed our coffee by Whitney Creek, before hitting the trail at 8:40.

The typical trail in the Sierra is either climbing to the crest of a mountain or descending to a river in a valley. The nice thing about getting to the mountain top is you are constantly getting new views as you descend into the next valley.

Today we also had three river crossings. This is a glimpse of many more to come over the next two weeks. So we were prepared for a day of wet feet. The first was Wallace Creek, which was only ankle deep and not very hard to cross. Next up was Wright Creek which was flowing more. This was still fairly easy to navigate but the water here was definitely colder. The last creek was Tyndall Creek, which has a reputation of being more dangerous. We got to this creek which was over flowing into the trail due to the high water volume. We both knew instantly that this would be a much more challenging creek crossing. We both crossed together this time interlocking arms to increase our support. The water was easily to my mid thigh and very cold, but we were able to get across without incident. I even lingered in the creek for the proverbial photo shot 😁. The creeks were spaced out enough that our feet never really dried out today.

Wallace Creek
Wright Creek
Tyndall Creek
Tyndall Creek

We then only had a mile to camp and we arrived at about 2:00, earliest ever. We just got everything set up when Beard Snack, Thursday, Pocket Sauce and Juice came hiking down from the north. They had tried to hike closer to Forester Pass, which we will do tomorrow, but found no tent sites that weren’t completely exposed. It was fun chatting with them and getting to know them better. We then were joined by Skytree, PI, The Finns (Nap and Midnight) and Caveman. So we now have 8 tents in an area that says there is room for 3. Very glad we got here first to have the prime tent site location.

Tomorrow we will all go over Forester Pass which is the highest point on the PCT. There seems to be a possibility of a storm tonight so everyone has batted down their tents. Today was a pretty great day and allowed our legs to rest a bit. Thanks for following along! Link