no rhythm

Day 47 ~ miles 789 - 802

Today we celebrate 3 years of marriage!  Time has flown, and so much has changed.  We started our day by somehow sleeping until  almost 7:00!  (We actually had an excuse to sleep in.)  Hiking through the Sierras takes some forethought and strategy.   It is most desirable to go over the passes in late morning, so that they're not totally iced over.  We camped about 2 miles from Glen Pass; if we started hiking at our normal time, we would've had a more difficult climb over the icy pass. 

In one of our guidebooks, Glen Pass is noted to be the scariest/most dangerous pass, especially the descent.  I tried not think about this bit of information as we forged ahead over the snowy, rocky landscape.  The climb up to the pass wasn't too bad.  Once we arrived to the pass, we ate a snack as we gazed down the steep and snowy mountain that we would soon descend.  The hike down was pretty scary and really slow going.  We glissaded on a couple of portions, it wasn't as fun as it had been on Forester Pass, and my butt was wet and freezing cold.  After what seemed like hours, we made it down to some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen on the trail, maybe ever!  We hiked around Rae Lakes, several lakes with clear, turqouise water, surrounded by stunning snowy peaks. We could see trout swimming in the lakes.

For the first part of the day, we were hiking frustratingly slow, about 1mph.  All day we weren't able to get in a rhythm, between the snow and steep terrain and multiple river fords.  Miles hiked today were disappointingly low; we would really love  to take our sweet time, but we don't have enough food!  We're camped by ourselves for the first time in awhile, right next to a rushing stream...such a great noise to sleep by.  Hoping for better rhythm tomorrow!