June 16th
Back to the trail. Leaving Lone Pine, the Carrot, Halftrack and I had a long (1 1/2 hours) wait for a ride. Crazy John waved as he speeded by in a car with no more room. Finally, the owner of the local flower shop stopped. She was on her way to Bishop to buy food for the “Lone Pine Reunion” barbecue, a group expected to be 700 people. What a great ride, not only did we get a good bit of local gossip, she went a long way out of her way to drive us up the side road to the trailhead. She even stopped so we could pick up Crazy John at the road junction in Independence.
We started the hike back up Kersarge Pass under a few clouds. A long well graded climb, we passed a few thruhikers on their way out and a large number of “weekenders” both coming and going. Spirit was accompanying Steady on his return. As we had lunch on the pass the clouds continued to build, as they have the last several afternoons.
The hike back down the other side of Kersarge Pass to rejoin the PCT was very pleasant. But as the Carrot, Halftrack and I started up to Glen Pass the thunderheads became more threatening. Not wanting to get caught in a lightening storm on any of the exposed areas leading to the pass, we stopped just below timberline and found the relative protection of some large rocks. We waited almost 2 hours for the storm to pass, wrapping ourselves in our Tyvek ground cloth to add extra protection from the light rain which fell intermittently, our first rain of the trip so far. We also had a little light snow, sleet and hail, as well as the occasional clap of thunder from a lightening strike. During our wait we were joined by Crazy John, Sheppard and Strut. Eventually the storm cell passed and we continued our climb to the pass.
The ascent wound its way through a small, enclosed basin, almost a box canyon, with very tall sheer walls on most sides. Hard to tell where the trail would pass over this crest until we were right upon it.
The north side was filled with snow. After one long snowy traverse and a few exposed switchbacks we dropped into a basin and went on slip slidding away on down through a series of snow shelves.
At the bottom we all made camp at Rae Lakes which were free of ice. The Carrot’s “trail appetite” has definitely kicked in. We need bigger “rations” and when we bought groceries in Lone Pine we increased the amount of food we are carrying. Now, 5 days of food will not fit in the bear canisters we are carrying. So the first night out we made sure to camp near a backcountry “bear box,” a steel box to store food safely away from the prying claws of bears. Rae Lakes has two of these. We found that we were not the only hikers with food quantities exceeding their bear canister capacities, as Steady, Crazy John and Halftrack all had the same problem. Well, hopefully by the end of day 2 we will eat through enough food to get it to fit right.
In the evening, the clouds cleared up and the night skies were wonderous. Lying awake, when all was very still, I could hear the “earth’s hum”. A phenomena that is hard to describe, a very low level and almost silent sound. As much a feeling as anything. I have experienced it before on this trip, and on other trips, in the mountains and the deserts, mostly when far away from civilization.
