Day 82 Miles 864.9- 882.7

Total: 17.8

Woke up in the morning around 4/4:30. There were some headlamps that went by my tent even earlier and a group of three that went by when I was packing up. 

We had a pretty easy climb up Selden Pass. It was only a couple miles from where we slept. We had knocked out the hard part the day before. There were some snow fields and streams on the way up, I slipped trying to rock hop and soaked one of my shoes, but they were still wet from the day before anyways. The climb up the pass itself was not steep at all and there was barely any snow. It was really nice. 

At the top, Martin made some scambled eggs from dehydrated eggs. He just stirred them into water and after about 20 minutes of constantly stirring we had eggs! I diced up some cheese and we put them in a tortillas, they were quite delicious. 

After breakfast we started our descent. There was still a lot of snow over on the back side and it was already quite slushy at 8am. There was a good bit of postholing and route finding on the way down. We passed the group of three that past us this morning and immidiatley after had a relatively strong flow river crossing that went up to mid thigh. It was moving quick and scared me a bit. 

We went on a bit, walking along another raging river. Sparks turns to me and says in jest hey Lioness that’s what we’re crossing next. I laughed and told her that would be a bummer. Sure enough we turn the corner and the trail goes right into that raging river. There was a couple on the other side that said they went through right where the train goes in. It was a smaller woman and she said the water went to her mid stomach. It was moving fast. 

We briefly went over crossing as a team, one person would be in the front with their trekking poles then the other two would be behind pushing into them and holding on to the persons hips/backpacks. We would move as a machine , one step at a time. Martin was in the front, with sparks behind him and me behind her. 

We moved into the stream and slowly moved across. Soon enough we were in the strongest part of the current. The water was at our hips and pushing with all its might against us. It was my first time trying to cross with a group without my poles. I was very dependent on the other two and if one went down, likely we all would. In the middle of the stream water was pushing against martins mid chest, we were at a standstill and Martin called go back. I briefly debated going for the other side but four feet and a very strong current were in my way. That would be nothing to tackle in a hurry without my trekking poles. 

We went back to the other side and found a spot downstream that looked a little bit shallower. This time we agreed we would do it individually with our trekking poles as no one really felt super comfortable doing it together. We went one by one , facing upstream and moving the feet sideways while maintaining a good athletic stance. Always having three points of contact on the river bed. Feeling with our feet and navigating over rocks each step. The strongest part of the current was so scary and fast, the amount of pressure being exerted on me was insane. I moved very slowly and cautiously but almost lost my balance a couple times. I kept going and made it out of the fast moving part, it was such a relief. 

There were many more smaller river crossings after that. The mosquitos were still quite bad especially by water sources. You couldn’t really take a peaceful break but had to keep moving. We followed a gentle downslope alongside a raging river before our next climb. I was tired and low energy so it kicked my butt. Thunder was starting to rumble in the distance. We wanted to make it down before the rain and set up our tents for lunch. 

It was a steep set of switchbacks down through this pine forest with views of the next mountain pass and a storm that was hitting it. The skies let out deep rumbled every so often, increasing with frequency. We sped up our pace hoping to get to a spot in time. Some rain started falling but then it stopped. 

We got down and found a spot and set up our tents and crawled in to hide from the potential thunder storm and the mosquitos that were everywhere. It was a relaxing lunch with small showers scattered but nothing big ever hit us. I took a siesta and could’ve stayed there but Martin and Sparks wanted to go 2.8 further to make the next day easier. And I was just tagging along with them and whatever works best at this point. 

We packed up and begrudgingly headed out. We came to another raging river crossing that looked quite deep but there was a sketchy looking log a bit up stream that could work as a crossing. It was probably a good 6/7 inches across but 6 feet above a roaring water fall into a river that was moving really fast. It was a no fall zone with 0 room for error. 

Martin and Sparks both crossed confidantley without any problems. I followed, moving slowly each foot and trekking pole at a time. I was caught between looking at my feet and just a bit ahead of me. I thought about if I fell and that I would just try to catch the log. I moved on and passed the section that was over the water. Now just 6 feet remained over some rocks and brush when my foot slipped out from under me. I instinctively wrapped my legs around the log as I fell and grabbed it with both my hands. I owe this move to highlining, when you don’t want to fall off the line you can “catch” it on your way down. This is essentially what I did with this log. My 40lb pack flew off to the right trying to unbalance me but I held on tight and was able to correct it and stand back up & finish it. I think I scared my friends more than me. 

We kept going and after a couple miles of climbing arrived at another very large, seemingly deep and fast crossing. I scouted up stream for better ways of crossing but there was nothing but death traps. Martin and Sparks scouted lower and found a good option. The river broke into 3 so we did 3 smaller river crossings instead of one huge one. We camped on the other side, surrounded by the sound of raging rivers. We had dinner and then went to bed.