Today was “big canyon” day, and it was pretty brutal. The trail and the terrain threw everything they had at us and by the end of the day, we were pretty “wore out”! We had to deal with finding trail in the snow, crossing steep snow, long uphills so steep that I could only plod along, trail so rough and rocky that sometimes we had a hard time figuring out which was the trail and which was just rocks, trail that was one long mudhole, trail that was a creek, and increasingly difficult creek crossings. And there were the mosquitoes– clouds of them.

OK, to start, we were up at 5 am, with the idea of “Let’s beat the mossies and try to get big miles!”  But the trail wasted no time in showing who was boss–and it wasn’t us!  Just after we left our campsite, we were into snow that hid the trail and reduced us to wandering around trying to figure out where to go.  When we did locate the right path, that final climb to the top of Benson Pass was so steep that all I could do was plod.  On the other side of the pass, the terrain & trail were so rough and rocky that again, I could not walk fast.  GRRRR!  Frustrating!  

To add to the fun, by our best estimate, besides the repeated multi-thousand foot ascents and descents, at least half the time today the PCT was just one long mudhole that we couldn’t even walk on.  Trying to walk along rough terrain on the EDGE of a trail is tricky!  By noon, we had only done 4.5 miles!  Considering we started at 5:30 am, that’s pretty pathetic! 

But finally we were  down into Kerrick Canyon (it took awhile because of having to climb over snow), and finally we could really HIKE along a nice trail with minimal snow issues.  Kerrick Canyon is a lovely forested valley, and we enjoyed the views as much as the trail.  But finally we came to the ford of Kerrick Creek.   Scaaaary! I had to go behind Bill, holding on to his pack.  It was a much more difficult crossing than Return Creek! 

 Then came another huge, steep climb up (I cheered myself by looking at the lovely wildflowers along the way) and another long downhill to Stubblefield Creek.  Partway down into the canyon, a roaring river basically took over the trail and we stood there wondering how to proceed.  It was not a “normal ford”, but a situation where we were on a steep mountainside and the trail itself had become a roaring cascade.  But we tackled it and got through.  Whew! 

At the canyon bottom, though, we faced our worst ford yet–Stubblefield Creek.  The guidebook described it as “wide and placid”. Wide it was, but not very placid.  It was moving right along and deep (waistdeep on me, as it turned out).  When we were standing on the near bank making plans for where and how to cross, though, it didn’t look TOO bad, so Bill and I crossed side by side, with Bill in the lead.  When we were about 3/4 of the way across, Bill shouted, “I’m losing it, Monty!   Don’t count on me for help!”   Sure enough, the creek was starting to push him backwards.  All I could do was say, “Oh Lord, please help me!” and continue to “move one thing at a time” (trek pole or foot), fighting to stay upright and not be knocked over.  What a relief when we made the other side!  By this time, it was 7 pm, and we were exhausted.  We sort of staggered up from the river, soaking wet, and walked to a nearby lovely grove of trees, saying, “That’s it!  We’ll just camp here!  And wow, what a blessing!  There were lots of nice, dry, flat campsites!                                                

 Too cold, wet and tired to set up the net tent, all we could do was get out of our wet things ASAP  (the mosquitoes were swarming us)  throw on dry sleeping clothes, burrow into our sleeping bags with headnets draped over them, and call it a day!  But hallelujah!   Stubblefield was our last big creek crossing, AND tomorrow, hopefully, we will be OUT of Yosemite with its awful trails.  I am so glad that we did the PCT in 2005, because that’s when I discovered that the minute you leave Yosemite National Park, the trails become very nice.  I am SO looking forward to those trails!

Walk to Rauros:  Bare winter trees on both sides of river

Tags: Benson Pass, Kerrick Creek, mosquitoes, Stubblefield Creek