Waterworld

Day 51, Mile 783.5ish
It is unfortunate that these days have been so long, only in that by the time i get into bed its hard to write it all down and still get enough sleep. That said i will try to consolidate an amazing day into a brief paragraph in 10 minutes. This morning went well and we were back on the PCT/JMT by 925. We headed north through more beautiful country. I find myself getting a little over zealous with the picture taking. At some point i realized yes, it is all great looking country, now just try and take the best parts of it to take up space on your memory card. Still at the rate I'm going i fully expect to have two dead batteries and 2 full memory cards by Mammoth. Throughout the day we had many snow fields to cross and a fair amount of streams. I do not think my feet were dry at any point past about 10am; when i took my socks off finally this evening they looked like corpse feet. Today ended with adrenaline abounding everywhere. We did Forrester pass and it was harder then Whitney to some degree. Right before the top there was a snow chute with snow still across the trail. Technically it wasn't that difficult but the penalty for failure was certain death, so that made it a little challenging. Got to the top of the pass and looked across to the north side and saw the entire slope covered in snow with a little traversing path cutting across. There was a fair amount of hikers there and everyone was excited or scared but still ready. I got to use my ice axe for the first time and it was actually a big help. As we started to head off Hank the dog comes around the corner wagging his tail and apparently loving a good 13,200ft pass in the afternoon. Although i do not think people should take their dogs through the desert sections, i have never seen a dog look more in his element then Hank does here. I post holed through the snow at one point on the traverse up to my right hip. My knee hit a rock underneath and i thought i did some damage, but it was just the cold making it feel worse then it was i think. Although everyone had their moments, everyone made it down successfully, even Hank-he was pushing to get by me for 1/4 of the way down. Tonight i am camped in more astounding surroundings then even last night or the best day ever locale. But the ground is either frozen or two rocky for enough stakes, so its a no-rain fly night. Meaning i have my down jacket on inside my down sleeping bag but my hands are out typing and freezing -so I'm going to stop. Thought of the day; everyone able bodied in southern California should summit mount Whitney since it is right here, its very do-able and something you will never forget. Song of the day; i don't know the song or who its by but there is a part that goes iiits cold as iiiice, maybe its a commercial jingle?. Craving of the day; super cucas (sp?) super chicken nachos. Malcolm knows what I'm talking about; we used to get it in SB and have it for lunch and dinner, it might last for a little breakfast as well.
JWC on the PCT