Trail Day 50: Base of Forester Pass (mile 778.5 ) to 0.3 miles on the Bullfrog Lake Trail

10.0 PCT miles, plus 0.3 miles on the Bullfrog Lake Trail

Today was the big day.  This morning I would be crossing the highest point on the PCT,  Forester Pass. The plan was to get up at 5 am and be on the move by 6 am.

Sunrise from my campsite. 

As we were about to leave, we saw the two men who had camped with us last night, set off across the sun cupped snow field. I don't know how they moved across it so fast. We watched them take separate routes to the pass.

The bottom switchbacks of the trail  (completely exposed in dry years) were covered by snow, leaving only the top ones exposed.  The first guy traversed the slope to reach the uncovered switchbacks.  The second guy ascended straight up Forester Pass’s famous,  steep ice chute. This also included scrambling a boulder field. We decided to follow the first guy’s example and head towards the switchbacks.

What lies ahead.

I carefully picked my way across the uneven snowfield and started switchbacking up the slope, ice axe in hand and wearing crampons.  This was where the mountaineering classes I took paid off. I had already practiced traversing steep slopes in a class environment. I knew how to trust the equipment, trusted that I could self arrest if I slipped, and had a variety of foot placement techniques to choose from when ascending a steep slope. It took a long time, and was exhausting, but I got the job done in a calm manner.

I then took my crampons off and walked the rock switchbacks to where the PCT crossed the famous ice chute. It may have been the easiest part of the morning. The people who had cut the path cut it too low. You needed to scramble down (and then up ) some rocks to get to it but it was short and easy.

Rock switchbacks on Forester Pass.

View from the switchbacks. 

We reached the pass itself and took pictures with the sign. Then we took in the views of the mountains yet to come. There was a lot of snow.

The top of Forester Pass.

After that we took the snow path traversing down the north slope. It lead to some uncovered trail, which then lead to an opportunity to glissade, which is a fancy mountaineering term for a snow slide.  We then picked our way down the mountain alternating between snowfields, exposed trail, and glissading.

The descent from Forester Pass.

The valley below.

Walking a snowfield.

Glissading.

For a while, the snow path did not follow the underlying PCT. So, when we got to bare patches of earth we had to pick our way across the landscape before crossing another snow patch.  By this time the snow was starting to get slushy.  We had been at this snow crossing business for hours.

More snow.

Almost to the snowline.

Finally, we reached the crossing of Bubbs Creek, which we had been following for some time. The creek was raging, but there was a log crossing that was recommended. There was even a cairn marking the spot.

It looked a little sketchy so we had one member on each side of the creek to catch people if they fell off, and additionally someone was stationed downstream in case the first two missed them.

The log was a little sketchy at first where it was narrower, but got easier as it widened.  I took my time and crossed without issue.  Everyone, including other hikers who had gotten to the log at that time crossed safely.

Bubbs Creek log crossing.

After that we hit some dry trail. The rest of the crew took off at their dry trail speed,  which is way too fast for me. I eventually caught up to them when they took a break to dry off. Everyone was very wet from all the stomping through snow, glissading, and unavoidable water runoff from the snow.

Dry trail!

Well, this is pretty.

I decided to take off from lunch early. I wanted to be with the group when they headed over the Kearsarge Pass to exit to Independence because I heard there was snow. After this morning,  I definitely wanted to travel through the snow as a group.

View from the trail.

Trail Scenery.

Another view from the trail. 

I enjoyed the solitude of hiking alone for a while. I got to slow down the pace and take in my surrounding. I was in a valley surrounded by mountains and trees. The trail paralleled Bubbs Creek some more and it was raging even harder, swollen from collecting water from its tributaries and snow runoff. Since I didn't have to cross it, I could admire it with awe.

The trail itself,  however, was really annoying for a while. It was flooded in places,  a stream in places, and blocked by snow banks in places. A lot of the time I would walk a short ways,  make a wide detour,  and repeat. I was more weaving around obstacles than walking a trail.

Snowbank obstacle.

Eventually, I got to a part if the trail that was supposed to have a seasonal stream. It was a bit more than that. It was running over the trail in multiple places, one section even had a bit of whitewater. I walked up and down the banks, but the spot where the trail crossed it was the widest and calmest. I tested the whitewater section and it was not as bad as it looked.  I crossed without difficulty and left a note for when the group got there so that they wouldn't have to scout out the crossing again.

Seasonal stream crossing the trail.

I checked my phone to see how far away I was from the switchbacks that would connect with the trail to exit the PCT. That is when my GPS not only showed me that I was off trail,  but that I was at another branch of that stream.

I started backtracking to where the GPS said I was back on the trail. That is when I met up with the group. We all checked our GPS’s and discovered that this was just a place where the GPS position tends to jump around a lot. I then forded the ice cold stream for a third time.

The rest of the group took off and up the switchbacks. I reached them and moved very slowly. I would be gaining 1000 ft in about a mile. The good thing was that they were free of snow until the very top and I was walking through beautiful forest the whole way.

More trail scenery.

View from the switchbacks.

When I got to the top,  I found that the group had changed their minds about coming off the trail for the night. Instead they were going to camp near the pass and hit the snow in the morning instead. Not wanting to move through afternoon snow by myself,  I chose to camp with them. We found some beautiful campsites by a couple of small ponds before Bullfrog Lake.  It was quite beautiful and relaxing. 

The ponds before Bullfrog Lake.

My campsite near the pond.