PCT 46 – Silver Pass

Daily Miles 14
Total miles 892

Sleep at VVR was good for both of us.   Beardoh fell asleep early and once SweetPea put in her ear plugs she slept soundly through the morning.   Sweetpea’s hip acted up (muscles tensing suddenly) before she went to sleep and she ended up getting out of the hammock to massage it and do some stretches.

We got a smallish breakfast from the VVR restaurant before taking the ferry back to the other side of the lake. The ride back to the trail was just as enjoyable as the boat ride the day before.   The lake was calm as we speeded across in the small fishing boat that VVR uses as a ferry.

We started hiking at about 9:35 and had a 1.5 mile walk to get back to the PCT.   Once on the PCT,  we started our uphill climb to Silver Pass.   It was not too steep but we did have several fords across Mono Creek.   ‘Creek’ seems a bit of a misnomer as the water was raging on several crossings.   At the water crossing that was the deepest with the strongest current,  there was a boy scout group going across and the troop leaders had set up a rope to make it safer for them to cross (while holding on to this secure rope).   We got the benefit of the rope as well and crossed after they finished.  The use of the rope made us wonder why there are not permanent ropes at many of the more dangerous fords on the PCT. It would certainly make the crossings a bit safer without being too intrusive or requiring much work at all. Hmm…

The climb up to Silver Pass was reasonably easy and not too sketchy.   Going down,  there was a good amount of snow for about an hour of the walk.   Towards the end of the snow,  we got a nice glissade on our pads.

Once at the low point,  we headed right back up again and gained a 1200 feet of elevation quickly covering a steep section  of trail that switch backed up a tight corridor on the mountain face.    

Shortly after the summit,  we came upon XC and Proton,  who had set up there tents at a nice spot near Lake Virginia.   We were happy to see that they had set up camp by this time as we were ready to stop for the day as well.  

Lake Virginia is quite picturesque with a great view of a snowy peak at the far end from where we are camped.   This is one of the most beautiful camp spots that we have had on the trail.  We are hanging about 25 feet above the lake and can hear a mighty chorus of frogs chirping, lulling us towards sleep.