Today I covered 9.3 miles, 15 km, which puts me in a good position to get up and over Pinchot Pass tomorrow morning. I also crossed the 800 mile marker today, a nice reminder of how far we’ve come. It was a fairly easy day, I feel like my acclimation is returning now. Having said that, there was a bit of a steep climb at the end of the day which had me going very slowly and glad to reach camp.

It was a cold start this morning, but that did seem to slow down the mosquitos a bit. When I got out of camp, it was a beautiful clear morning with no clouds in the sky. The trail wraps around Rae Lakes, then drops down to cut in between Arrowhead Lake and Dollar Lake. Between these lakes I make the first knee deep river crossing of the day, I’ve found that it really helps to take my socks off and remove the insoles from my shoes too. This way, I can still wear my shoes properly when I cross, but afterwards when I put my dry socks and insoles back there’s not much water left to saturate my feet.

After passing Dollar Lake, we drop down further into the South Fork Woods Creek. An hour or so later the trail crosses a tributary stream for the second knee deep crossing of the day.

The South Fork Woods Creek descends quickly through a valley which shows signs of frequent avalanche activity. Throughout this section the trees are damaged, and mountains loom above. No doubt they fill up with snow every winter, and drop millions of tonnes into the valleys below. In this section I also cross the 800 mile marker, every time I pass once of these markers I feel like I’ve taken one more step closer towards the incomprehensibly distant finish line.

At the bottom of the valley the main Woods Creek merges with the south fork to become a powerful river. There is a swing bridge here which saves crossing the river, I’m certain this river would be completely impassable this time of year without the bridge.

On the other side, the trail climbs sharply. The Woods Creek runs next to the trail, crashing down the valley over huge sheets of granite like a waterslide. You definitely don’t want to get too close to the river here, it would take you away and over the edge in the blink of an eye.

After passing beautiful waterfalls, the trail makes a final steep climb up the valley wall. On this climb, I can feel the altitude once more although not as badly as the last few days. I’m relieved to get to camp just after the climb, and even though it’s swarming with mosquitos, they don’t bother me.