Today is the 4 year anniversary of the day that Sherpa and I met. I am so glad every day that we did and have shared so many wonderful adventures as friends and as partners. It’s also the Trailiversary of The Breakfast Club. To top it off it was one of the most scenic and enjoyable days on trail to date.
We spent the morning walking through the Marble Wilderness and it wss breathtaking. There were snow capped peeks and lush meadows. Tall pines and marshes near glacial lakes. It was a true pleasure and I was feeling so much stronger than when I entered Seiad Valley. We really enjoyed ourselves all day even though we encountered a few patches of tricky snow.
We had little difficulty navigating the snow but it was slow going. By 11:30 we had only gone 7 miles in spite of feeling like we were moving.
We took a break with 2.Toe and Yote at a glacial stream and had an early lunch. While we were sitting there a buck walked by nearly noticing us. Deer in this area seem very used to seeing people.
After our break we came across a cabin that was really neat. I slipped into the window and took a quick picture of some antlers.
The next section was covered in herbs like wild parsley and mint. I picked some for my dinner. Eventually the lush mountainside gave way to dryer ground and I found myself again without enough water. Sherpa of course had prepared and had two litres. We were in a burn section but I knew we would come across a trickle somewhere soon. Sure enough we found a beautiful seasonal spring 10 yards up a steep bank in a dyhedral streaming with ice cold water and yellow flowers.
I didn’t filter the water and it was delicious and cold! Sherpa was jealous and so I swapped a litre of her warm water for a fresh cold one and so we sat and ate lunch and enjoyed ourselves.
After a while we began the last and most striking push of the day. We had no idea what was in store for us when we approached a narrow pass between two mountains. We could see the moon hanging just above the opening and as we crested to ridge we saw that the other side was a giant bowl of snow, trees, and streams.
Our first impulse was to glisade the whole bowl but the approach turned out to be a bit tretourus so we picked our way down through the trees and found a safe way all the way down. Once at the base of the bowl we traversed at roughly the same elevation for a couple miles passing many beautiful waterfalls where we filled our bottles at will without filtering. The water was so fresh, cold, and delicious. Sherpa was as brave as ever as this is some of her most scary terrain. We took our time and got through it without issues.
A couple more ridges and we made it to camp. I felt like celebrating so I made a fire after Yote and 2.Toe showed up. We sat around ate and chatted. Only 10 miles to town tomorrow and we felt very glad to have a tough but enjoyable hike done.
Sherpa went to bed first and then a few minutes later I drenched the fire and got in the tent and we slept like little hiker babies.
Amazed that you have the opportunity to see the sights that you see daily. So glad you are together. Happy Anniversary. love u both big and stay safe.