Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - June 9th
Day 54: Sunday 9th June Rae Lakes – Mt. Wynne
I had been descending from the Rae Lakes for a couple of hours when I came
across the two Joes from Southern California, still in camp at 9am.They had started
from Campo on 22nd April. They were much heavier loaded than the AT veterans from
the East and they were each carrying a big luxury item: a guitar.
I stopped for my main morning break at Woods Creek. Fortunately this was
crossed on a suspension bridge; otherwise it would have been a dangerous crossing. The
bridge was only for pedestrians and I wouldn’t have fancied riding a horse across the
creek. Fortunately, in June, we didn’t have to put up with horses on the trail, as they
couldn’t cope with the snow. So far today the stream crossings had been relatively easy
and I had kept my feet dry. Most of the streams could be crossed on logs, but great care
had to be taken, as they were usually very slippery, especially in the early morning
when they were often covered with ice.
I now started out on the 3000ft climb up to Pinchot Pass. I had to wade through
several ice-cold streams, but nothing difficult. The two Joes and “Sailor”, from
Sacramento, came through while I was having an afternoon siesta in the sun. “Sailor”
had come over Glen Pass this morning and intended to go over Pinchot Pass tonight.
Even travelling light this was quite an undertaking. He was trying to make up for the
three hours he had lost yesterday when he had missed the route up to Forester Pass,
which is just a nick in the ridge and went up to a more obvious pass further east.
Unfortunately the descent from that pass would have been extremely difficult in virgin
snow. Navigation on the PCT is generally easy; just follow the path! But with snow
covering the trail, it was much more difficult as the route wasn’t cairned or blazed as it
would have been in Europe.
The afternoon walk was up a lovely alpine valley. Snow patches made the route
difficult to follow, especially since the route was marked in a different place in my PCT
guide and on my map. Rather than risk getting caught on Pinchot Pass as it got dark, I
camped early on another picturesque site in the high mountains. The temperature
started dropping rapidly as the sun set behind Mount Wynne and at over 11,000ft I
expected another cold night.
Day 54: 11.4 miles 7.02 hours Camp: Below S. face Mount Wynne
I had been descending from the Rae Lakes for a couple of hours when I came
across the two Joes from Southern California, still in camp at 9am.They had started
from Campo on 22nd April. They were much heavier loaded than the AT veterans from
the East and they were each carrying a big luxury item: a guitar.
I stopped for my main morning break at Woods Creek. Fortunately this was
crossed on a suspension bridge; otherwise it would have been a dangerous crossing. The
bridge was only for pedestrians and I wouldn’t have fancied riding a horse across the
creek. Fortunately, in June, we didn’t have to put up with horses on the trail, as they
couldn’t cope with the snow. So far today the stream crossings had been relatively easy
and I had kept my feet dry. Most of the streams could be crossed on logs, but great care
had to be taken, as they were usually very slippery, especially in the early morning
when they were often covered with ice.
I now started out on the 3000ft climb up to Pinchot Pass. I had to wade through
several ice-cold streams, but nothing difficult. The two Joes and “Sailor”, from
Sacramento, came through while I was having an afternoon siesta in the sun. “Sailor”
had come over Glen Pass this morning and intended to go over Pinchot Pass tonight.
Even travelling light this was quite an undertaking. He was trying to make up for the
three hours he had lost yesterday when he had missed the route up to Forester Pass,
which is just a nick in the ridge and went up to a more obvious pass further east.
Unfortunately the descent from that pass would have been extremely difficult in virgin
snow. Navigation on the PCT is generally easy; just follow the path! But with snow
covering the trail, it was much more difficult as the route wasn’t cairned or blazed as it
would have been in Europe.
The afternoon walk was up a lovely alpine valley. Snow patches made the route
difficult to follow, especially since the route was marked in a different place in my PCT
guide and on my map. Rather than risk getting caught on Pinchot Pass as it got dark, I
camped early on another picturesque site in the high mountains. The temperature
started dropping rapidly as the sun set behind Mount Wynne and at over 11,000ft I
expected another cold night.
Day 54: 11.4 miles 7.02 hours Camp: Below S. face Mount Wynne
 |  |
Fin Dome across
Rae Lakes
Rae Lakes
Mount Cotter from
Arrowhead Lake
Arrowhead Lake
Fin Dome
Joe and Joe
Woods Creek Bridge
| |
Woods Creek
Mount Cedric-Wright
and Collisseum
Mountain from camp
and Collisseum
Mountain from camp