Thursday, Aug 4, 2022
Start: South Fork Kings River
End: campsite 0.3mi from Baxter Creek
Miles: 14.2
Elevation gain/loss: 3084’/3665′
We were up at 5:15 and hiking by 6:15am. We had a good climb up the Pass, though it took a while.We met Salt Lady and Skunk Bait on Pinchot Pass and chatted for a bit. We had a good pace and good weather on the descent until around 1:30pm when it began to rain yet again.
It poured rain for two solid hours, soaking us to the skin and chilling us, with the temperature dropping to the mid-50s. The rain eventually stopped and we started slowly drying through body heat, since it was still overcast and cold. We arrived at our campsite around 7:15pm after a very hard day.
We were debating whether we wanted to change our trip plan, based on the wet and cold, and Toby’s blisters and very sore feet and muscles. We decided to wait and see what tomorrow would bring. We quickly got our answer overnight, unfortunately. We set up camp and ate dinner as it began to mist, and then got into our tent as it began to sprinkle, raining yet again. Within 30 minutes, it was fully raining at an 8 out of 10 intensity. And that continued for the next 12 hours.
Our tent was completely saturated, our clothes and packs soaked, our sleep systems wet. We were kept awake most of the night between the noise of the pouring rain on the tent and the rain and condensation dripping into our faces off the inner tent walls. It was a miserable night that reminded us exactly how far away we were from help of any kind, if things went very wrong. Toby didn’t sleep and I slept very fitfully; it was a long night.
Transcending Mountains 