Hiking Skyrim

Part 1, Vale la pena

Our maskot, Colin the sausage dog, was covered in ice. My boots were frozen stiff, the laces like steel wire. Our lunch, a tub of Nutella, was a chocolate block of concrete. That's how a minus 7 morning looks. But, the morning sky was a lightening shade of blue and the rising sun was showing itself for the first time in 4 days. Despite sliding my wet socks into ice cold shoes and walking on numb feet, things were looking up.

4 day's earlier we'd left Mammoth, after a resupply stop, and marched back to the mountains and into the weather. It rained all that day and would keep raining for two more.

We hiked until the very last of the light was left in the sky. In a mountain meadow, by a lake, we set to pitching our tent. It was windy and the rain had chosen that moment to up the intensity. Everything got wet. We bunkered down in our tent, cold and saturated, surrounded by our wet gear. We cooked in the tent, had hot chocolate, ate a ration of cookies and slept.

The next day we hiked up to Silver Pass. It snowed, then hailed, then rained, then rained and hailed - pleasant. We took a detour to a ranch to seek refuge for the afternoon. There we found a bunch of other PCTers doing likewise and joined them by a fire.

Day 3 and the rain kept coming. We made it back to the PCT and hiked on, drenched but glad to be back on the PCT.

Mercifully, despite an icy start, the fourth day brought sun. We took full advantage and made it up to Muir's Pass for sunset and dinner in an old stone shelter, 12,000 feet above sea, before rugging up against the freezing night air and hiking down the mountain to find a campsite.

Vale la pena? Yes; it was worth it, every bit. The hike up to Muir's Pass was through some of the most stunning scenery we'd seen. Check out the photos. The best way I can describe it is to compare it to Skyrim. (This will be of little help to those who had kids and/or a gf/bf/spouse circa 2015. If you did, and you know what I'm talking about, then you're probably single now). Walking through the valleys and mountains in my battle red kilt, poles in hand and 4 layers of clothes worn like armour, I geeked out daydreaming I was in the game.

Part 2: Marcus and Sergio

Earlier in the year, cyclone Marcus hit Darwin. J was away, so it was left to me to weather the storm alone. I filled a sink with water (not sure why), stocked up on wine and bought extra McDonald's the night before to see me through. I survived. A louvre was broken by a mop-come-projectile. Lost a louvre, gained a mop.

I didn't expect we would be hit by another cyclone in California, but we were. Cyclone Sergio made landfall in Baja, Mexico. The resulting low made its way to Nevada, dumping rain as it went. As it crossed the Sierras, it dumped snow.

On the 5th morning we woke up to Sergio and the snow. Colin was again iced over and positively mutinous.

We cooked porridge in the tent and checked the weather - snow for the next two days. Light on food and with two and a half days until our next planned resupply, we weighed our options: a. Continue on in to the storm; or b. hike out early. We took the latter. It meant an extra 26 mile round trip, 68 switchbacks up Bishop's Pass and 68 switchbacks down. Despite this, it was an easy call. J's bday was the next day and we wanted steak and champagne to celebrate.

Again, totally worth it. Bishop's Pass was spectacular. Behind us, huge storm clouds formed over the peaks. We dodged a bullet and got steak and champagne. Happy birthday J xx.

We're back on the trail tomorrow. Clear skies expected for the rest of the week. That's all we need. We've got passes Bishop (again), Mather, Glen, Pinchot then Forresters to go, then it's down to Mexico. Vamos!