Day 56: Mather Pass

June 14, Day 56: 811.3-827.4

Miles Hiked: 16.1

Gratitude of the Day: I’m thankful for my nephew Brentyn. He’s an amazing young man and I’m proud of the way he’s turning out. 

Mather Pass

What a fitful night of sleep. For some reason I was either too hot or too cold and couldn’t get comfortable. Even so I got some sleep last night and woke at 5:30 to start my day. I drank some hot chocolate as I packed up and was on the trail by 6:15. After about an hour a group of hikers (Otter, Anchor, Baewatch and Col. Sanders) stopped to have breakfast, but the mosquitoes were awake too and we were swarmed almost instantly. Let me tell you, it’s literally a pain in the ass to try to poop in the woods while little blood sucking bastards bite your ass. 

So we all pushed forward for the goal today, getting up and over Mather pass.  The approach to the pass was one of walking through boulder meadows with babbling brooks running through them. As we approached the pass it was switchbacks near vertical that went back and forth until I reached the 12,094 foot pass. Here I sat with other hikers and ate a snack free of mosquitoes and enjoyed the view of the Palisade Lakes I’d soon be passing later in the day.

The beauty of going over a pass is that it give you access to a completely new valley that not many people can get in to. By 12:30 I was taking a break and soaking my feet in the crystal clear waters of the lake and basking in the afternoon sun. As much as I wanted to stay and enjoy the lake the rest of the day, I still needed to hike down the valley to set myself up for tomorrow’s pass, Muir Pass. So I followed the trail downward as it followed Palisade Creek until I came to La Conte Canyon where I camped for the night.