June 16th, 2021
Mile Marker: 788.5
Miles Hiked Today: 22
This morning we woke up early for yet another big day. Our goal was to hike 13 miles of the PCT going over Forester Pass and then an additional 8 of a side trail to get into town.
I was happy we were camped at the base of Forester so that it could be the first thing we knocked out. Forester is the highest point on the PCT.
Planner and I had a solid 5 miles of up. Back to a little over 13,000 feet. After hiking Whitney the day before, this climb felt significantly easier.
We were once again, surrounded by beauty the whole way going up. The photos are going to be nonstop throughout the Sierras.
We trekked up and up and made it to a normally tricky spot if there had been snow. Once again, we were so thankful that we didn’t have to deal with snow and/or an ice axe or micro spikes.
Shortly after this section, we had made it to the pass. We both yelled out hollers, we had felt so dang strong. I felt like I was on a whole other level of energy.
What was even better was as soon as we crossed over the pass it led into another gorgeous area with incredible views that the mountains had covered.
I just can’t get over these views.
We hiked on for 9 miles to get to a joining trail called Bullfrog Lake Trail. This trail would then take us through another pass and then down to a parking lot to hitch.
While walking through this trail there were multiple lakes that drew our attention.
We saw a few hikers sitting at the first lake and decided to go further to the next l actual Bullfrog lake. While hiking another female hiker (Lighting) joined us and us 3 talked about dipping in the lake. The sun was shining and we could all enjoy a pick me up before we were to get over the next pass.
We all didn’t want to hike on in wet clothes so once we arrived to the lake, us three girls quickly stripped down, ran into the arctic water, dunked our head, yelled out, and raced back to put clothes on.
It was spontaneous, wild, and reviving. We all popped out with grins from ear to ear.
We quickly put our clothes on and then had 6 more miles to hike to get over the next pass and to a trailhead to town.
We stayed motivated by town food and charged up to Kearsarge Pass.
Once at the top, Planner and I ran down the mountain and were quickly at the parking lot waiting for the rest of the crew to show up.
Once they did, we got a hitch from a day hiker to Independence and watched the mountains behind us get bigger and bigger. We couldn’t believe we had hiked that or been living up there for the past 5 days. We really were in a different world.
Once in Independence we got another hitch from a woman to Bishop. She was nice enough to let 6 of us squeeze in her car. However, we had come down the mountain to a valley where the temperature read 105 degrees….
105!!!!!
This lady also kept all the windows closed and no AC on. We were cookin. I had sweat beading all over my face but none of us said anything to be polite. It quickly reminded me of how happy I was to not be in the desert.
We made it to Bishop and grabbed a nice motel and immediately went out for Mexican food. We were also thrilled because Gator was there. She was having to get off trail so we were glad to spend a last night with her. We miss you already Gator!
After dinner we ended up going to a bar for the rest of the night. Beers and good vibes were flowing the entire night and half of us hadn’t even showered yet. 😂 Embracing the funk the whole night. Towards the very end of the night we typical hikers walked through a drive thru for some shakes. Who needs a car.
Such a successful day and night, we are ready for a zero day tomorrow!
Iz and Oz
Izzy + Ozzy 