Mammoth

The second week of the Sierras was noteworthy given the need to summit multiple mountain passes. Ideally, one would camp just below the pass, summit first thing in the morning before the snow turns to slush, then descend and try to get close to the next pass. In reality, you run into them at entirely random times without regard for time of day or snow conditions, which is how I got to spend the night here at 12,000 feet.

Perhaps I just need to plan better…

In case you were wondering about the difficulty of the various passes, I present to you the highly technical and scientifically validated PCT hiker emoji scale:

Forester pass: 😬

Kearsarge Pass: 😑

Glen Pass: 🤮

Pinchot Pass: 🙂

Mather Pass: 🙁

Muir Pass: 🤨

Selden Pass: 😀

I hope that clears things up. Not that I mind passes necessarily, but there seems to be a lot of them, and if you make it over 12,000 feet your reward shouldn’t be an immediate 4000 foot descent so you can repeat the climb all over again.

This week also saw the need for multiple stream crossings. Bit of a change, really, since in the Desert section you move past a water source by blinking your eyes at the wrong time. Now it’s either rock hopping or a day of wet feet.

Another disadvantage of dropping down in elevation is that we’re now in contention with the Alpine Forces of Evil. That’s correct, I’m talking about mosquitoes. Out of curiosity, what do they feed on when they don’t get hikers? Never mind, rhetorical question. What we do know is that they are best dealt with in the following manner:

However, lacking an industrial supply of Tobasco, I was forced to either keep moving or cower bravely in my tent until they went away.

Spoiler alert: They didn’t.

The Sierras remained just as breathtaking as last week.

Maybe a little too breathtaking…

I mean, seriously, this is more over the top than a gallery of Kincaid paintings. Certain family members may recall a childhood incident involving a piece of cake with an excessive amount of frosting, spoiling my enjoyment of frosting for all eternity. This is kind of like that, but with alpine scenery. Plus it kind of spoils it for the rest of the other California mountain ranges.

But worry not, dear reader, I will continue suffering through this:

And this:

For the greater good, of course. Until next week…