JMT // Day 12

South Fork Kings River -> Pinchot Pass -> Rae Lakes

~20 miles

We woke up and everything was wet with thawing frost. It was a cold morning on the river and it was hard to get out of the warmth of my sleeping bag. I cooked my breakfast and instant coffee outside the flap of my tent, keeping my sleeping bag wrapped around me. My muscles were feeling sore this morning. I’m surprised it took this long to get sore. We haven’t taken a zero day and we don’t plan to. I feel like my mind has had control over my body and now my body is finally fighting back and asking for a break. With sore muscles in the cold morning air, it was a rough start. We quickly climbed to the top of Pinchot Pass, it wasn’t a bad climb and the snow crossing was pretty easy. During our lunch break at the top of the pass, I noticed a man had a sea shell hanging off the back of his pack and we got to talking about El Camino. My family and I are planning to hike El Camino in a couple years, and we’ve met several people out here on the JMT who have already done it. We also met a couple who have been hiking different routes in the sierras for the past 14 summers.

The way down from Pinchot was a long haul, descending 4,000 feet. It was beautiful hiking along the running water and seeing so many waterfalls. At the bottom, we crossed the suspension bridge and took our lunch break by the water below. I soaked my feet for a bit in the water while I ate my peanut butter tortilla and a handful of skittles. My body was exhausted. It was a very hot day and we spent most of it in direct sunlight.

I was not looking forward to the climb up Glen Pass. Our plan today was to position ourselves well for the climb over the pass tomorrow. We climbed another 2,500 feet and it felt like torture. I don’t know why my body is feeling so weak today, all the climbing and the sun make me want to cry, just out of pure exhaustion.

I fought through, knowing that at the end of the day, once my tent is set up and dinner is in my belly, the pains and worries from the day will fade away and I’ll be feeling good about my accomplishments. Not only is this journey a physically challenge but a mental one as well. Telling your body to keep going, be efficient, keep up, and heal when it doesn’t want to is mentally exhausting.

Sometimes, I’ll catch a second wind and a burst of energy, positivity and determination. Usually a flat/downhill section or a great view can do this for me. We only had a couple miles left to Rae Lakes where we knew we wanted to camp tonight, 3 miles below the top of Glen Pass. We had heard of its beauty and read about many people staying there before, so we thought we would follow the advice and stay there too ( hoping it would be as beautiful as Thousand Island Lake…. very close, but not quite).

We found a beautiful and isolated spot on the peninsula of the lake, tucked into the trees. It was a beautiful evening watching the sun set and the light creep away from the mountains. The mosquitoes were as bad as usual, but with the cool air off of the lake, they went to bed early and so did we.