October 7

It is cold up in the high country, and again Louis and I woke up to water freezing in our bottles. I've been sleeping with my electronics in my bag to keep them protected and it seems to work. We hiked under some clouds that had a possibly threatening look to them and a steady breeze for most of the morning. We finished off Pinchot Pass in the early hours and dropped into the canyon on the other side to hike next to a river with beautiful fall colors and cascades. I left my hat at a stop and noticed a mile later, and did some quick trail running without my pack to retrieve it. We crossed over a really cool suspension bridge and hiked up to our lunch spot for the afternoon. It was definitely too cold for a swim today, but taking the shoes off and sitting for a minute was welcome. 

The clouds were completely dissipated by 4:00 pm and we made our way to Glen Pass, another 11,946 ft. monster to climb. We reached the summit just at dusk and had sunset views all around. We then night hiked the sketchy descent and were giddy with the accomplishment afterwards. So much so, in fact, that we forgot to get water at the lake at the bottom. This was an issue because we wanted to camp at, or near, the Kearsarge Pass spur trail. We ended up having to hike a mile further to camp near water and have that mile to trek back to take the pass over for our resupply. Again, I am so excited for a night off trail to get a shower, laundry etc. The cold nights have been demoralizing and one night to recuperate is going to make a big difference.