I got up before sunrise and snapped a few shots of big peaks of Kings Canyon in the dim morning light and then we packed up and headed for Pinchot Pass. We’d seen a couple coyotes in the days before but last night we were awoken by the howls of a pack of coyotes nearby…so cool!
Pinchot was a12,130ft pass and by now we were pretty well acclimated, so keeping a steady pace and chatting while at altitude was surprisingly easy. Unfortunately after Pinchot we had one of our biggest descents, 3600ft down, and to make matters worse it wasn’t even a smooth dirt trail, most of the elevation loss was stepping down huge stone steps which looked like they’d been made for someone ten feet tall.
By the time we reached the suspension bridge over Woods Creek and were done descending, our feet and knees were aching and sun was cooking us. We found a patch of shade, refilled our water, gave our feet a soak in the creek and then slowly started making our way up the 2000’ towards Rae Lakes.
This was probably the toughest afternoon for both of us, the hammering we’d taken on the descent, combined with the heat from being at such a low elevation, and the late afternoon climb really did a number on us. I’d suggested to Becky that we did not have to beat ourselves up with the fifteen day timeline and could add in a day to slow things down, but this was met with a strong resistance I couldn’t quite understand. Once we finally reached camp and had dinner we figured out that her worries about an extra day were from a fear of running out of food…she had rationed out her supplies very accurately and didn’t have any reserves. Her anxiety went away completely though when I dumped out my bear bin and showed that between the four extra bars, a full pound of Halva, a half pound of salami, and a few other odds and ends, I was carrying more than enough food for both of us to stay out an extra day or two.
We finished the day with our usual routine of stretching, icing our legs in the nearby lake, playing some cards, reading, and then sacking out by about 9pm.
Mt.Ruskin before sunrise
closing in on Pinchot Pass
on our way to Woods Creek
Rae Lakes
Rae Lakes and Painted Lady
Wow Mt. Ruskin! What an amazing formation.
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