Forrester Pass: 13,200ft. highest pt. on PCT, 5/28

We're just below Forrester pass, the highest pt. on this entire trail. DG and TC have done this pass 3x but never in snow and ice. Many have gone before them so there will be steps, eventhough they may be ice steps. Today the altitude seems to have slowed everyone down. DG and TC moved with a snail-like grace. They wonder what young people think when they see them. They appear to be keeping up in some distorted kind of way. They've been with a group of twenty something's for awhile now. They don't hike with them but somehow at the end of the day they're all together again. There is definitely a web of people being woven on this trip. You hear about someone and 2 weeks or three weeks later you meet them and know their stories. DG and TC met someone today who they had heard about in their first week of hiking, way back in Mt. Laguna. This guy's name is Snail Trainer and when he started the trail his pack weighed 61 pounds. He was in agony so Dave, the owner of the outfitter store in Mt. Laguna re-equipped him and lightened Snail Trianers pack significantly. Two months later DG and TC meet him at a river crossing. The web is connecting us .All of these people are constantly weaving  in and out of each other's lives. Oddly, some stories travel backwards eventhough we are moving forward and I am not talking about internet usage. Being media deprived you can imagine the stories being created and told. Topo met a guy two years ago on the PCT. They both left the trail at the same time and remained in contact over the last two years. DG and TC met him for the first time yesterday night. They know all about him ( his  break-up, his plumbing problems) and he knew their names. Information can travel forwards and backwards in time without the use of electronics. The group that you get to know grows larger everyday, especially if you aren't too fast. New people pass you everyday. If you want to make new connections with people this is a fabulous venue. We are all doing the same thing so are we all sharing something in common. Why we are doing it may be different but that doesn't matter. There is something about this shared  venture that makes it easy to talk to anyone and ask anything. People help each other and take care of each other. One is seldom alone for long but if you seek solitude ...hello, you are in the wilderness.

      Unfortunately, we are out of cell range out here so you will be receiving a slew of messages all at the same time. Enjoy. We will be in a town on May 30 and will be in contact. 

One of the 4 river fords we got to do today. 

Bighorn Plateau. So beautiful. Looking toward the Rawahs??

One of our last views of Whitney. We have spent 2 days going about 3/4s of the way around it.