Journey Day 56 | PCT Day 56

Keith Jones atop a snow bank in early Sierras, California

6/11/85

Up slow. Bad sleep night. Maybe too hot, Maybe tent too small, maybe soreness from megapacks. But out of camp to creek where we decide not to filter, a tendency which continued that night. We’re convinced giardia is a gimmick or at least overblown or misrepresented as a marketing ploy. Anyway it’s nice to drink unfiltered water.

Beautiful scenery. More rocks and pines. Amazing peaks, some green, some rocky, some both. Fascinating varieties and variations. And all so big and powerful. We’re climbing in them, over them, through them.

A marmot crosses our path near Cottonwood Pass. What a ham.

My heel gets the half-moon treatment. I wash my socks in freezing streams. Fingers complain, but my sore feet get the nod.

We do some climbing, mostly minor, but altitude or packs or fatigue or who knows makes for slow going.

At Cottonwood Pass, Keith plays in a snow bank as I catch it on camera. It is inspiring to be in so much natural beauty. A marmot comes out and poses, then runs under a rock. Up and up it seems, around Chicken Spring Lake where a man pops out, stealing our solitude.

Around Cirque Peak, up then down the ridge, which after 8 or 9 miles leads to Rock Creek Camp. First drop moleskin. My feet won’t hold it or tape. But heel is pain-free with nothing, though it hurts later that night. Finally we get a big push and we’re down to our campsite. 

Ate, bear-bag well. Relaxed we retire to our tents for well-deserved rest. 16-plus miles with megapacks. Mostly downhill, but still a hard-earned accomplishment. Tomorrow we reach the base of Mt. Whitney.