October 11

Today my PCT hike continues. Louis and I left our comfy campsite and made our way slowly to Forester Pass. Every step was an effort as we pushed through snow that had settled at a depth that was past our ankles. In some areas the snow would be drifted as deep as our knees as we made the ascent to the highest point on the Pacific Crest Trail. As we climbed, the snow got deeper and the drifts did as well. Near the top, I was blazing the trail through mid-thigh deep snow drifts and constantly plowing through knee deep snow. I reached the top at 13,200 ft. and was looking for the trail and almost fell down a chasm! I realized this as I was walking on a cornice that started to give away. I found the trail, and had to wade through a snow drift that was higher than my waist with that same chasm to my left. I waited for Louis to catch up and he went first on the descent. The south side of Forester Pass is carved into a granite face where there is no room for error. On the southern descent we had multiple snow drifts well above our waist and were in constant contact with the granite wall farthest from the abyss. In retrospect Louis mentioned and I have to agree that this pass was more intense physically and emotionally than our battle with Firecreek Pass in the North Cascades of Washington. 

It was only 4 miles to the first campsite after Forester Pass, but it took us two full hours and then some to get here. The snow is still hiding the trail from view and we often had to spread out and guess the general direction. The snow is finally showing signs of yielding at this low altitude of 10,977 ft. There is a couple patches of ground available for camping, and we have settled down after a physically exhausting 13.5 mile day. We will be able to hike to Kennedy Meadows on time, but climbing to the summit of Mt. Whitney is out of the question.