Bishop to Mammoth Lakes

To make the long story short, we just had the most demanding trail experience and the most amazing one in the same time!

We crossed 7 snowy passes in 8 days, crossed countless number of streams and rivers and walked with wet shoes 90% of the time.

The first day after coming back from Bishop was supposed to be a short day, climbed back the way we went down few days earlier... (Via Kearsarge pass) We did it faster than expected. One thing led to another and suddenly we were in the middle of the climb to Glen pass, which we planned to cross only the next day.

Going up was OK, not too hard.

We knew the real challenge is going down on the north side. And oh, it was quite a challenge... The steep way down was covered with snow.

It took us quite a while to get down, trying to jump between one rock to another and sliding on our behinds anywhere we could to make the way down faster.

It took a while but we finally made it to a safe zone... A bit more snow and streams to cross and we finished our day next to a beautiful lake.

The next morning we woke up to a tent full of ice, it took me about 30 minutes to get all of it out of the tent... The wet shoes froze as well... Fun!

The sky was clear and our way to the third pass, Pinchot pass, couldn't been prettier... 

BUT, once getting closer to the pass it was harder and harder to find the way. Everything was covered with snow, with too many post holes... :(

Exhausted we made it to the pass after endless tries to find the trail. 

Of course, the other side of the pass was full of snow :)

We could find our way to the bottom though...

Our shoes were so wet we decided to go below 10,000 feet, so we could light a campfire (you're not allowed to do it above 10,000 feet in the Sierra).

We walked few more miles until we bumped into other PCT hikers that were already camping with campfire next to them. It was our sign to stop. 

The next morning we started our way to another pass, Mather pass. 

The snow wasn't so bad along the way. We didn't lost the trail that many times :)

BUT, once getting to the last part, we could see the last switchbacks. They were steep, and they were covered with snow. I was starting to panic just from seeing other people trying to cross it. By the time we got to the snowy steep section I actually started to cry... :( 

It was scary and for couple of minutes I was frozen more than the snow itself...

Roi with the steep switchbacks behind him...

I have no idea how, but I made it to the pass eventually. And guess what was on the other side? A lot more snow!!!

Going down was steep as well, but safer... The trail was covered, so we had to figured out our own way to go down...

The snow was already soft. Every step was a nightmare. I hated the snow so much!

And then, 5 minutes before the end of the snow, Roi hurt his leg, when stepping in the snow and heating a rock.

I was so exhausted and tired, that once I so him crawling on the snow with pain, I started to cry again...

I hated this pass more than anything!!!

Roi tried to walk few steps, without any success. His leg was hurt. With a lot of pain, we made it to a campsite few miles from there. We were super slow. 

The next morning it was obvious we won't make it to the next pass, so we had a short 12 miles day.

We camped very high, next to a lake, about 3 miles from the Muir pass. From the place we camped the trail was covered with snow. After our last snow experience, I started to imagine the worst pass... Muir pass is considered the most snowy one. 

I tried to relax by taking a lot of photos of group of deers, that seemed to be following us all day.

The morning arrived very quickly. It was cold... We started walking on 7 a.m.

There was snow, BUT

It was neither scary nor steep. 

It was actually very beautiful! I enjoyed every moment! I even saw the footprints of the deers from the previous day all the way...it seemed like they crossed the pass over the night :)

By the time we reached to the pass I was so happy and excited.

Muir pass is definitely my favorite one!!!

The way down was very snowy indeed, but not steep. It was still early in the day, so the snow was still hard. The walk was easy and fun.

Few miles later we bumped into the same group of deers again. They indeed crossed the pass :)

Our next challenge was a ford crossing. Since this was a drought year in California, we weren't so worried from this crossing. And easy it was! The real challenge was fighting the mosquitoes while crossing the ford...

Roi's leg was getting better and we were so excited from that beautiful day, we decided to hike 20 miles...

On the campsite we met a family that was hiking for few days. They were so nice to treat us with some cheese, crackers and chocolate :)

The next day was a long one - 25 miles. We crossed an easy pass, Selden pass. Almost no snow... 

It was our 6th day on the trail and we were almost run out of food. We had to get to a resort called VVR, 8 miles off the trail. 
But not before crossing another ford... :)

 

We made it just on time for dinner in their restaurant. The food was great! And we even took a shower! 

For a moment I forgot about all the steep snowy passes...

Until the next day, of course.

 

From VVR we had two options: either to take a boat and go back to the PCT and cross Silver pass, or to hike on a different trail that meets the PCT few miles later, and cross a different pass, Goodale pass. The guys in the resort recommended us to go through Goodale pass. And so we did.

Going up was long and steep. But no snow. I was optimistic for a second... Until I saw the other side. 

Snow... We crossed the first snow section, thinking it's over. Walked few more minutes and realized there is no way down.

The trail was covered with snow and no footprints to follow...

We decided to go down through a rocky steep section, that looked more promising than walking on the snow.

Well, it was steep, but we made it!

Few hours later we met hikers that took the other pass, and guess what? That one was easy and not very steep :(

We made a bad decision...

But at least we warned every hiker we saw on the way (walking the other direction) not to take the pass we crossed...

We walked about 22 miles that day, thinking about the zero day that is very close.

The next day was an easy 10 miles to Red's Meadows resort where we finished our 8 days hike. It's still very early in the season, so no buses are working yet. It took us about an hour to find a ride to Mammoth Lakes town.

And here we are enjoying a zero, with good food and even a visit in the local brewery :)

BTW - I got new shoes... The last pair torn, again...