Double Trouble - June 27

We started today about a mile back of Glen Pass (11978 feet) and got up and over that by around 8AM. It was a long way down, and often times the downhill parts are more punishing that uphill. See they have these BIG rock steps that are often awkward to step down and the quads just take a smashing the entire time. Easier on the lungs and heart, but certainly harder on the ole legs. We stopped for a quick break, grabbed some water and treated it the new way, AquaMira. Easier, much easier. The Mosquitos were pretty bad and so we pushed on without much of a rest. It was worth it though. The most amazing views of lakes and mountains. So many tiny lakes with the most beautiful, clear water. Nature untouched.


We passed a sign and walked up over this slate rock and I noticed the trail below me, so I back tracked to get on it. MISTAKE. About 10 or so minutes later I thought it just felt wrong, so I checked the GPS and sure enough we were off track. I should have walked up and over that big rock. A little while later we were back on track, crossing creeks on logs and rocks and following the magnificent shoreline around these little lakes. Much of the late morning was pretty stock standard. Mosquitos were pretty bad so we just kept moving. We finally stopped for lunch by a poorly running creek and sat in the sun with just enough breeze to keep us cool and keep the Mosquitos away. After lunch we walked down to where the trail would bottom out in terms of elevation for the day, just around 8600 I believe. At that point there was this long wooden bridge held up by wires. The type you see in movies where the people are inching their way across in terror that it may fall down. There was in fact a sign that said only one person can be on the bridge at any time, and some boards were indeed missing, but it wasn't that bad at all. Besides, I doubt death would result from a fall, it wasn't really THAT high up. Anyways, from that point on it was all climbing. About 3500 feet or so up to Pinchot Pass at 12132 feet. It was a slow slog most of the way. We were both pretty tuckered, but knew it would be so nice to know that we wouldn't have to tackle it first thing in the morning. Oh, in case you're wondering, Team Tokyo wasted about 5 miles back from us. We have deadlines and can't hang around with them for the next week. If we have a REALLY slow morning, they could potentially catch up, but it's unlikely we will see them again until after Mammoth. So we made it here to Marjorie Lake after 7:30PM and we went to work immediately. Putting up the tent, cooking dinner, collecting more water, cleaning socks and undies, drinking Sambucca, blog, pass out.......