6/30, guitar lake to tyndall creek, mile 775
Aaron Doss
morning stare in the distance. i felt bad for him. he had a tough
decision to make: turn around, back to cotton wood pass or face his
fears and go along with us through the sierra's. he decided to skip
the sierra's until September. we all thought it was a wise decision,
which takes maybe even more courage than being stubborn and proud and
go ahead into dangerous situations. he knew his limits and we are
proud of him. we admire him for his willpower.
we all kind of left at different times that morning but agreed to meet
each other back where we would pick up the PCT again (to get to
Whitney and guitar lake was about a 9 mile of the PCT). Aaron and i
enjoyed our walk through "paradise" again and wondered if we would be
spoiled for the rest of the trip. what on earth could be more
beautiful than this valley?
we met detour at crab tree meadows where we had lunch and stuffed our
packs again with the food that we had left there previously in the
bear box. zack was there too and we said goodbye to detour. we would
meet him again in Independence on Sunday. he would hitch there from
lone pine. i felt bad. i wish we could do more for him to help him
through but once we are on icy slopes or high current rivers, there is
nothing we can physically do for him. we waved at him as long as we
could see him and that was that. no spare parts and no detour anymore
with us. i really hope zack, Aaron and i are going to make it through
together. i like having my trail-friends around.
after squatch caught up with us, we hiked up the mountain towards Big
Horn Plateau. the hike up there was pretty uneventful but when we got
there we were in awe again. via green meadows with gorgeous mountain
views, we arrived at this wide open, prehistoric looking plateau.
miles of grassy and sandy plains dotted with rocks and thousands of
years old foxtail tree's. far in the distance we were surrounded by
rocky mountain tops and in the middle of this all there was a lake.
the weather was maybe not great to the general opinion (lots of big
clouds, a firm breeze, and occasional raindrop and a little thunder)
but we thought it was awesome! it added to the drama of the landscape.
while Aaron went his way towards the lake to take breathtaking
pictures, i slowly walked my little way, occasionally taking in the
landscape. i felt that any moment a big mammoth could run over the
plateau, that's how ancient it looked. man; ever since we hiked out of
Kennedy Meadows, i have enjoyed hiking again (just forget the sick
days) and every day has been so rewarding. and now here we were again;
in a breathtaking environment. we could have stayed here for a week.
Aaron and i discussed the possibility of returning to the sierra's
every year for our summer vacation and always just indulge in one
little section for two weeks.
the sun was going down and we had to keep going for 2 more miles. we
must have spent more then an hour on the Big Horn Plateau. Reluctantly
we moved on untill we hit a river that we had to ford again. luckily
right on the other side was our destination so no big hassle with
shoes off/ shoes on. on the other side was Tom. we met him previously
at Warner spring and the kick off party but he had to get off the
trail for a few weeks because of a persistent cough. he just got back
on the trail at lone pine. soon zack and squatch showed up too and we
were entertained by a snow hare. this hare is white in winter but now
was brown. it was huge! it was nibbling on some roots and although it
was keeping an eye on me, it let me come about 4 feet away from it! it
was super cool to get that close to it.
the rest of the night it hipped through our camp (or should i say: we
camped at the hare's territory?) while we were getting ready for the
night. it had been a beautiful day again.
aaron and Nathalie