Mosquitos were gone the morning. I got up and headed out with Ten Gallon. We followed the massive Tuolumne river until it intersected the trail. The bridge that was under water just a few weeks ago was now in tact. The river is the largest Ive seen on trail. Tuolumne Falls is enormous and swollen. Ten Gallon really wanted to go stand in the spray even though it was 7 in the morning. I got some cool video of him.
10G's
GoPro caught up to us and we started the climb out of the valley. Its hot and the mosquitos are back out on a rampage, terrorizing us. While I was taking a break, I saw two legs walking in the woods a few hundred yards away. I yelled “marco!” The legs whipped around, but I couldn’t see the face of the person attached to the legs. The legs yelled back. “Polo!” It was Scotty! I didn’t think i would see him again. he was with the others in Yosemite Valley en route to Tahoe on a faster schedule than me. Shortly after, the rest of the Lazy Fucks crew trickled into the break spot. I learned that Happy Hour got off trail indefinitely to hand some business back in Portland. He’s probably done for good.
We kept climbing up into another badass meadow - also mosquito infested. The plan is to push for camp at the base of Benson Pass. We approached and eventually crossed McCabe Creek. It was pretty large. Scotty fell in while crossing but saved himself. We climbed up a short but brutal 1,000 ft to Miller Lake.
McCabe
My ankle started aching this morning and was getting progressively more annoying throughout the day. I ignored it and kept hiking, because I don’t have much of a choice but to keep walking. But now it is starting to feel worse. Im hoping I can limp to camp and rest good before tomorrow. Miller Lake has plenty of snow so I stuck my foot in there to ice it down. GoPro and I split off from Ten Gallon, Steele, and Scotty to do a slower pace. We descended down one of the most beautiful portions of the PCT. I tried to find out what the name of the valley is but its not labeled on the map. It remains nameless. It was such a steep, forested hill we ran down, skipping the switchbacks. Massive peaks and canyons everywhere. It looked like Zion Park except way more fucking awesome.
Down at the bottom was Matterhorn Creek - one of the deepest and fastest/sketchiest crossings since Bastard Creek. It was just GoPro and me and I crossed it first. Three quarters of the way across the current took me out. Water level was at my stomach. I grabbed the edge of the other side and pulled myself out. GoPro crossed after me and he got stuck in the same spot that I did. I grabbed him by his pack and pulled him ashore. He’s about a foot shorter than me so I knew he wouldn’t be safe. One of the perks of being tall out here, I guess.
Matterhorn Creek was deceptively deep and very strong on the other side. This was at 6pm.
We decided to keep going up to the Wilson Creek crossing and try to catch up to the other 3 dudes. After climbing a mile up along a cascading and very angry looking Wilson Creek, we saw the boys. They were stopped. The PCT/Wilson creek intersection was a little too hairy. The plan is to try it early in the morning. Steele has a water update and it looks like the next 3 days are loaded with sketchy and dangerous crossings. yay. We made camp and warmed up. There is still no sign of the Lazy Fuck crew. For Dinner I made an awesome chili with refried beans, lentils, and peas. For desert Scotty and GoPro shared some of their goodies. I made a delicious burrito stuffed with Nutella, marshmallows, and coconut shavings. MMMMM.
the best burritos are sometimes the worst at first