Sacajawea. Gone WRONG. Day 7. 8 miles plus some. 20,178 steps.

Lower Sallie Keyes Lake.
Lesson of the day. Situational Awareness!!!!!!!!!

 Left our spot at Bear Creek this morning after a lovely wake up call from Mr. Bear. He was very well behaved and just cruised through the tent sites down to the river to get a drink then back up to the hills behind our tents. Just checking to see if we were all gone yet. It appeared that this might be his normal morning routine. It was pretty funny, especially as we all looked ridiculous with our cameras. Bear Paparazzi's for sure.

Kathleen left early, thinking we would catch up with her within 30 minutes or so. The agreement was to get to the top of Selden Pass and wait for all to arrive. Only to leave if the weather began to turn. Seems pretty straight forward. Agreed.

Looking at the map, we knew we had 2 trail junctions to cross (Lake Italy and Bear Creek bridge crossing). Somehow, ?????? We got all turned around right before the second junction. Started climbing boulders and having to really "look" for the trail.

 That should have been our first clue that we were not on the JMT. But no. We kept on getting very excited when we did find the trail ( a trail!)  after about 2 miles of this nonsense, and seemingly on a somewhat good trail, we came upon a lone hiker. He was all surprised to see us and seemed quite excited that others were interested in "going cross country!"  Aaaaaaaahhhhhh. No. We are JMT hikers. Well, guess what you are not on the JMT !   You are on the 7 Gables cross country trail which apparently just ends in a few miles. Oh my. ??????? WWKT? (What Would Kevin think???)

We turned around and tried to make our way back to the start of this mess, but not so easy as we had to climb around quite a bit to even get to where we were. We sat in the middle of the forest trying to figure out where the heck we were and compose ourselves ( I was on the verge of tears.) We were actually within 50 ft of the JMT/PCT at that point. Crossed the lovely Bear Creek bridge and happy to see others. Crazy.  

Now we still had to summit Seldon Pass and Kathleen was probably waiting up top. To add to the craziness, a fast approaching storm was coming our way. We had to get over that pass very soon.
Finally, after a long time, we made it to the top of the pass with Kathleen waiting. She was the Ambassador of Goodwill sitting up there for hours just greeting everyone and asking them had they seen us - "Seen a girl in a short skirt?" Met another very late PCT hiker. Lovely young man with a great attitude. Hope he is safe in his very long journey ahead. Told him about the Dinsmore's. Saw the "bunch" on top of Selden. Tasmanian Devil, Cisco kid, and a new addition, Mr. Blue Eyes geology boy.  Was so happy to see everyone and back with our crew.

After an explanation of sorts, the rain started and boy did it look dreadful. We were in for another big one. So off we went down Selden to the first campsite we could find. High geared it for 2 downhill pounding miles to Lower Sallie Keyes lake. We set up on a bank over looking the lake with the rain full on. Set up our tents and got in fast.

 

We were in somewhat of shelter in a grove of Lodgepole pines. It would have been a great campsite to hang out in as the view was killer, but in our tents we sheltered for another long night of storms. It's hailing pretty good right now and I'm super hungry as it's 4pm and have not had lunch yet. Need to send Kevin my nightly text through the DeLorme and filter much needed water, but it's too darn cold and wet outside still.

What a day we have had. Tomorrow we should arrive at Muir Trail Ranch for our much needed resupply and hoping to get a yurt for the night, although they were all booked when I checked before we left?  Just a fantasy.

3 hours in the tent and it's still raining. Hail and thunder/lightening now done. I'm eating tomato soup in my vestibule in between digging trenches to get the waterbed out of underneath my tent. Kathleen has become very good at trench digging with her poles. I just use the lid from my titanium pot.

Have you ever been walking down the street and say HI to a stranger?  It can be a bit awkward to say the least sometimes. Not on the trail. Trail life is so different. We are all strangers to a degree, but immediate friends looking out for each other. We are all here for the same reasons and will offer help without asking. That's how we came to meet Bobbi and Tara. Huddled inside our tents through the worst of the storm, we heard a cry for help. The two girls had walked over and down Selden in this storm. Silly, but they did it and now were cold, shaking, wet, and very scared. We had space for their tents, just barely, and helped them set up and get into dry clothes. I made them some miso soup.

Then there's the inspiring "old ones" down the bank from us. Really old. 4 adults all in her late 70's. Huddled together to stay warm through this crazy weather. They are doing a section of the JMT. They are an inspiration to us all. A bit later, an Asian man came wondering through and we helped him find a spot.

This is one of the big reasons I loved the PCT community that Kevin had. I have truly found that wonderful piece of humanity that seems to be integral to trail life. I sure hope this storm ends very soon. Joan just informed us she would pay $800 for a room at Muir trail Ranch!  Since she is the only one that is not retired!!!!  Hah. Let's only hope for a nice SUNNY food day tomorrow at MTR.