I woke up jazzed! I’d visualized what it’d be like to summit the mountain passes of the PCT and the anticipation was finally boiling over into excitement. I was nervous since we were early still in the hiking season and was fully expecting a gnarly, snowy summit. 

As we got closer, we tried to pick which pass we’d go over and it wasn’t until I saw people at the top that I could believe that’s what we were hiking over. 

Forester Pass is the highest elevation of the PCT and I could feel the lack of oxygen as we climb the last switchbacks to the top. 

We had to climb a 15 feet snow fall to summit so we stopped to put on Microspikes for traction and got out our ice axe in case we slipped.
The short climb turned out to be easy and then we stood on top of the summit! The first pass done! Now, we needed to hike down a steep, snowy descent. 

We kept our microspikes on for a few miles until the trail mostly cleared of snow and then hiked through the most beautiful valley full of water and lush landscapes. 

Parker would be leaving out of a side trail to make his flight back to Indiana in the afternoon. I am incredibly thankful he made the trip out as it was so nice to spend a few days with a familiar face from back home. 

Once Parker left, Sandman and I took off to summit Glen Pass later in the afternoon. 

Glen was steep uphill and my legs were fried from the climb up Forester in the morning. Nonetheless, I put one foot in front of the other until we reached the top. We snapped a few photos, put on our spikes, and hurried off the top as some dark clouds were rolling in.

The descent felt like we were going straight down the mountain. It was added in difficulty because every few steps we’d post hole (our foot would sink in the snow) requiring us to climb out of the snow. It started to cool and the snow on top began to ice up. I didn’t wear pants so I was cut up a little bit from the snow. 

My body felt wrecked by the time we got to the bottom. We hiked until we got to the start of the climb up of the next pass, Pinchot, which we will tackle tomorrow morning. 

What a day. Time to rest up for another 2 pass day tomorrow. 

Miles: 26.3

Total Miles: 1,016