Snowbound passes and a meeting with Ursus Americanus.
I was packed and moving upwards again by 0630, there was still no sign of Mountain Goat Vern but I figured that he’d no doubt eventually catch up with me.
Thankfully, the weather had cleared, and as I passed above the timberline, the snow-covered terrain levelled out slightly at just over 12,000 feet. Looking ahead past two small frozen lakes, I could see the looming massive granite and snow covered wall of the divide.
Forester Pass, the highest point on the trail and my immediate target, stood out like a small notch against the skyline.
My immediate reaction to the awesome sight was, “How in the hell am I going to get up there!”
It looked impossible, unless you were Sir Edmund Hilary or one of those White Hairy Things.
“Hi George!”
I looked around and there was Vern heading up towards me.
“G'day Vern, what d’you reckon?”
He stood looking up at the vast obstacle, “Can't see any trail and it looks damn steep.”
I agreed, but people do get over it, so I reckoned that if that was the case, then we could.
We moved off again, closing slowly on the snow shrouded granite wall where we began to discern a zig zagged route upwards.
Progress was slow, and
Back to Main page
Typical snow scene, High Sierras...
