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Day 12 September 9th Start - Around Center Basin trail intersection. The hardest 9 miles of the JMT and Forrester Pass. To me at least. Our usual 7:30 AM start and we left for Forrester Pass. I met 2 guys from Florida who were on a 5 day loop including Mt Mount Whitney. First let me tell you that I’m usually the guy who has always extra food in his can and would not think twice about giving away some of my extra food to someone who really needed it. But the tables were turned, and now I was the guy low on food because I extended my trip by 2 days. After introducing myself to these two guys from Florida and after a little chit chat, I gathered all the inner strengths I had and told them my situation and if they had any extra food with them. Without hesitation, one of the guys opens his bear can and hands me some homemade beef jerky, half a bag of gourmet pistachios mixed with dried currents, a couple of candy bars. Next he takes out a knife and slices me a huge chunk of fresh cheese! Halleluiah, Halleluiah! There is a god the these two guys are his disciples. I thank them over and over again before they start to take off. At the same time Bob, Richard and Jon come walking up and I hand them all a piece of fresh cheese. “Where did you get that?” and I point to the two guys walking away. There are a series of long and short switch backs leading to Forrester Pass. About a mile from reaching to top of Forrester Pass there is a little creek where I stopped to fill up my water bottle. When I bent down and stood back up I became dizzy. What the hell is going on, I thought to myself. This has never happen before. I rested a bit trying to shake of the feeling and started back up the long steep switchback to Forrester Pass. Something is not right. I’m hiking slower than ever before. Even Bob, who hikes the slowest in the group, has past me by. It seems like I’m taking more breaks than I usually do. I’m even gasping for air a little bit. What’s going on here! I feel tired and lack and energy. What’s going on here? About ½ mile from the top I sit on a rock and rest for about 10 minutes. I think that Richard and Jon are already at the top and waiting for me. I know that Bob is ahead of me slowly making he way up the mountain. I don’t dare close my eyes and try to take a nap. I may fall a sleep and people might think I died. So what I did after resting is take out instant carb gel pak from my pocket and sucked it dry. I also put a couple of Jolly Rodgers hard candy in my mouth and started sucking on them. I got back up and started slowing climbing up those dammed switchbacks. Nobody is going to leave me behind, I thought. I can do this! One foot at a time! Slowly, Step by Step. Control your breathing! You can’t give up, you have a wife and son that depend on you. Ok, It’s getting a little dramatic. Before I know it, I’m 100 feet from the top, then 50 feet, 25 feet, 15 feet, 10 feet, 5 feet from the top. When I actually reach the top, Bob is there waiting for me. Bob is just as tired as me and I ask him if we can both rest for 15-20 minutes before going down. Bob says cool and I find some reasonably flat spot to lie down and take a short nap. What a difference I felt after passing out for 15 minutes. Not completely feeling normal but good enough to go down hill for the next 4.7 miles to Tyndal Creek. Sure enough, the trail is very narrow and twist and turns near the top. Soon afterwards you see a very narrow trail carved into the side of the mountain. The trail can’t be more than 4 feet wide with a 11,000’ foot drop on the side. The trail zigs and zags down, down, down. At about the middle of the mountain you come across a plaque mounted on a very large flat vertical slab of rock dedicated to Donald I Downs. It says, “While engaged in trail construction, an accident at this point resulted in the death of Donald I Downs. Born September 29, 1911 Died September 2, 1930. His fellow workers placed this tablet to his memory” After reading the plaque, I said a little thank you to Donald I Downs and started back down the hill. I am totally amazed how the early season PCT hikers can conquer this pass in the snow. The pass is at 13180’ and there is only this little crack at the top which you must pass through. I equate it climbing Mt Everest. No Kidding. It’s got to be scary. The next PCT thru hiker I meet that has tackled this pass in the snow, I’m going to shake that persons hand. Once you get to the bottom of the mountain there is a very small lake for fresh water. There are also several existing flat campsites scattered around the rocks. These camp sites would be ideal to stay the night before the big climb up in the early morning.. Hiking the 4 miles through the completely exposed basin to Tyndal Creek became a monotonous drag. Other than the views of the surrounding mountains to look at, the trial seemed to drag on and on. One good thing, it’s all down hill! We get to the Tyndall Creek Ranger station to find a very nice camp site waiting for us around 4:00 PM. We only hiked 9 miles today, but to me they were the hardest 9 miles of the who JMT. I really wish I knew what I did or didn’t do which made me feel that way going up Forrester Pass. Slight case of high altitude sickness maybe? 1 time entry in my log. |
