...and we're walking....: Forrester Pass and more

Up and hiking by 6 for an early crossing over Forrester. It's the highest point on the PCT and the first of the eight major passes that we go over in the Sierras.

The pass is the nook between the two mountains just above the two guys hiking towards it. There are switchbacks leading up to it, but they are covered in snow, so we basically just had to climb up until we were able to find switchbacks. This was probably the hardest part of the whole deal. Microspikes were my best friend today. There is no way I could have done this without them.

This is the view as we came closer. If you look really closely, you can see a tiny person up there crossing the chute. (The steep snowy patch up high right below the notch. A guy named Ned Tibbits comes every year and cuts this notch in the snow for the spring crossing. In a month or so, there will be no snow, just a path across there.

Once we finally made it on to the switchbacks, the hike up was not too tough. (Except for the lack of oxygen)

This is the view you see as you get up even with the crossing of the chute.

This is why we wanted to get up early while the snow was firm. It's much more stable and not slippery then.

It would be a bad place to fall (duh) but the path was well cut and we used our ice axes for added security on the uphill slope. It probably took all of 30 seconds to get across.

Once across, there were a few more switchbacks to the top and a little snowy climb and we were at the top of The pass!

The view on either side of the pass was unlike anything I've ever seen. Another one of those 'I'm so incredibly lucky to be where I am' moments. We lingered briefly and then had about 5 miles down through snow like this.

The actual trail was completely hidden so again we relied on footprints to find our way down. By the end of the descent, the sun was high in the sky, the snow was soft and we did lots of postholing.

For example, Murphy sunk down in to her hips. (Movin' on went down right next to her but I didn't get the photo because I was laughing too hard)

There were a few spots where walking down was going to take too much time and we could see other 'butt print paths', so we sat down and glissaded (butt slid) down a few hundred feet. So much fun! Makes for a wet rear end, but well worth it.

Feet were soaked so we waited until we were down out of most of the snow (there's always some little pile nearby no matter how low we get it seems.) before we stopped for lunch. Not a bad spot to stop.

Took off shoes and socks and laid them on a rock to dry out a bit and ate a leisurely lunch. It was a momentous day and we knew we were only going a few more miles.

Started hiking and saw our first bear!! He was a little freaked out at first and climbed a tree.

Then apparently he didn't feel too threatened by us, and he came right back down and meandered off.

Got in to camp at about 4, which has not been the case for quite a while. Set up tents in this great spot with a stream rolling by and lots of big pine trees