Today was the day I needed. Not perfect, but about as close as it gets out here. It's as if the PCT read last night's post and, like a mischievous child who has been told to behave, it pushed the limits to see how much it could get away with. There were more patches of snow than I would have liked, the wind didn't quite go away, and there were definitely more hills than a perfect day would have. Still, the day was warm, the trails were smooth and the grades gentle. I saw beautiful sights, and no mosquitoes.
When I woke up my socks were frozen solid. I wanted to get warm so I packed quickly, downed my breakfast, and got on the trail early. Aside from a few patches of ice the morning went smoothly. I climbed uphill and got one last look at the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness (pictured). I headed down into a river canyon that was formed of volcanic mud flow, carved over time by wind and water. Then another climb up to Ebbetts Pass. From there I entered Mokelumne Wilderness, which is beautiful and I didn't even know it exists!
I passed Upper Kinney Lake (pictured), which would make an excellent destination for an easy backpacking trip (more on that in a bit). I cruised along a trail lined with dwarfed aspens, chamise, subalpine paintbrush, purple phlox, and some sort of wild licorice. On one side were massive sculpted mud flow formations, on the other were rolling hills, lush meadows, and pine forest. The mountains and ridges are similar to those of the canyons up around Chico, but much bigger and sculpted into much more interesting formations (pictured). 16 miles after Kinney Lake I arrived at Upper and Lower Blue Lakes. These are set in a forested bowl, surrounded by boulder clad rolling hills, and overlooked by a mountain called The Nipple (pictured). A nice paved road goes into Upper Blue, which would make an ideal trailhead to hike out to Kinney. In truth, the lake itself is so pretty that it may be worth a fishing expedition just to check it out. A side trip of 4 miles up The Nipple is worth it.
After climbing out of the Blue Lakes basin I climbed for several miles to reach a mountain called The Elephant's Back. This ridge-like mountain, which does resemble the head and shoulders of an elephant, separated me from Carson's Pass and the route north. I reached the mountain at sunset and was faced with my final challenge of the day. I had to cross a snow field that was 45 degrees in slope and, this late in the day, completely iced over. Worse, a wind had sprung up. I got half way across the field when I realized it was perhaps 100 feet down if I slipped. I had been following someone's footsteps, but they now petered out and I was stuck. I carefully took off my pack, balancing on one good foothold, and unstrapped my ice axe. Even the spike on the end of the shaft couldn't break through the icy snow deeply enough. So, very slowly, I swung the axe, tested the hold, shifted a couple feet, freed the blade, and swung again. The snow field was maybe 100 yards across and soon I was home free. My ice axe had saved my butt one last time before I part with it in Sacramento.
I paused to admire the sunset's colors over the eastern sky before I moved on. A thick blanket of purple hung above the mountains, with a light pink glow resting lightly upon it. I took a panorama, which my phone had trouble piecing together because of the lighting. But you get the picture.
I arrived at Carson's Pass as the last of the light died in the west. There are bathrooms, garbage cans, and an information center, all of which I will avail myself of in the morning. For now I am sleeping out without my tent, about 200 yards from the road. It is windy again and, I have a feeling, it will be a cold night. Still, I am content. With the good day I was able to make 36 miles and, if I had to guess, about 4000 feet of elevation gain throughout the day. This won't be my normal mileage, by the way. I was planning a brief break in Sacramento on the 12th. I had a choice of coming off on highway 50, which would be too short, or highway 80, which is a bit too far. I'm aiming for highway 80, thus the high miles. Once I'm back on the trail after Sacramento, I should be back to 25 mile days with a rest day every week or so.
One last note: my cough is more pronounced today, but got better when it warmed up. My hip is leaking pus still, but no blood. I fixed the problem with my pack that rubbed it raw in the first place, so I'm hoping it heals quickly.
