Day 36 - Glen Pass

Woke up, had breakfast, then got a ride from Monty to the trailhead. I looked at the climb of Kearsarge Pass and wasn't looking forward to it. I was pleasantly surprised, though, when I got to the top much earlier than I thought. Funny how doing a path the second time seems to go faster.

Descended the other side and got to the junction with the PCT. My pack was heavy, and it started to hurt my back again. I took my time climbing towards Glen Pass, especialy since it was the hot part of the day. Don't Panic (DP) had gotten ahead of me, but apparently I had taken a "short cut" with Ratatouille, so I actually got ahead of him. DP and I eventualy made the climb and saw all of the snow on the other side. We also saw Rae Lakes, which were stunning in the setting sun. We started to descend, when we saw a slide spot that someone had taken, otherwise known as glissading. Glissading is when you sit on your butt in the snow and slide down the hill, using your ice axe as a brake. It's really fun, but is also pretty stupid. You don't know if there is a hidden rock, or if you can stop before hitting one or falling off the edge. But we decided it was getting late, and we would probably cut a mile off the descent. So I planted my self and started down. Remember, I'm hiking !
in short running shorts. Not the best thing to be glissading in. I don't need to say it, but yeah, I got snow up my shorts and my backside got burningly cold real quick. Thankfully, they're nylon, so they dried quickly and the rest of the descent was easy.

We got to the lakes and I felt like I was in a fairy world. The sun had set behind the mountains, so the valley was bathed in a warm pink glow, helped by the haze created by smoke from the fires from the south. Moths and/or butterflies floated around in the last bit of light on the white and faint purple heather. The fish were leaping out of the water eating the mosquitos, so the lakes rippled and caught the fading light in pinks and purples. It was so surreal.

We found Coyote, Ratatouille and Smooth Criminal at a camp site and set up camp. I need to go to bed; doing two passes in one day is rough.