June 25, 2008 Pacific Crest Trail

Destination: Silver Pass Lake
Miles: 6

Adrian:
Our plan was to take the 4 p.m. ferry back to the trail so we could log some time off our feet. Also, it would allow us just enough time to hike to and camp at the base of Silver Pass at 10,900 ft. That way we'd be in position to do the pass in the morning and avoid postholing on the descent.

The ferry ride back was quiet. All of the hikers heading back to the trail seemed to have a kind of lost look on their faces, in complete contrast to the faces of the hikers lining up to board as we disembarked. It's never easy leaving a town to go back to the trail, but this time it just stung a bit harder.

It was 1.4 miles from the ferry drop-off back to the PCT. We hiked a steep 6 miles up to the base of Silver Pass and it felt like I had lead in my shoes, but no matter, we made it. The lake we are camped at is still about half frozen yet I hear frogs singing. They must hibernate under 20 feet of snow.

Kirsten:
Amongst all of the streams, damp, spongy meadow and frozen lake we've found a perfect dry campsite tucked in between some old twisted trees. What a fun little spot.

In a day we'll be in Mammoth Lakes, a town I've always wanted to visit. The last two days there has been a lot of haze from a number of fires in Northern California. The scenery has sadly suffered from this and I've limited my typically rampant photo taking until the skies clear.