June 8

8 mile kearsarge pass trail and 789-791

Hiking through this stretch is complicated.  You cannot hike as far as you want.  Days are shortened by storms, and at this point of the year the major Sierra passes have to be crossed early in the morning for safest passage.  In the afternoon, the snow and ice on the passes becomes soft and unstable, and the potential for a fall becomes very high. Every exit from the trail requires a long side trail, always over a pass, to reach a town. All this combined adds up to a lot of wasted time.

A hike of this length requires us to enter a lot of areas outside of their prime seasons.  We are in the low desert when it is hot.  We are the southern and central California mountains while they are still choked with snow and ice.  We get to northern California when temperatures begin to soar, Oregon during peak bug season, and then have to race through Washington to avoid our multitudes of wet fall storms.  

We make it again over 11,700 foot Kearsarge Pass and note the difference in snow in the lakes below.  Soon after a thunderstorm rolls in, so we set our tent up to wait out a few hours of rain.

No matter, as we have to hike up and over Glen Pass tomorrow morning. We only have a handful of miles to hike today to set us up for the ascent.  Glen Pass has a notoriously steep and icy northern headwall that is best tackled early in the AM  when the snow is frozen from nighttime temps.

Camp is on a little ledge of flat ground right next to the trail