Onwards it is! After a freezing night that cost us all some sleep, we continued. There was a little side trip on the horizon: the hot springs near Muir Trail Ranch called Blarney Hot Springs.
On the way I encountered Stinger, Mouse, Fitz and Hanna, our latest (and as would soon become clear, also shortest) trail family member. Hanna had twisted her ankle on Muir Pass and, as became clear it wasn’t getting any better, needed to be escorted of trail. So now they were waiting for a ranger to arrive. Hanna was a bit of a special case. I met her when she came down Mt Whitney, disheveled and all over the place. Apparently, as she didn’t have a permit to hike Whitney, she had opted to go up the mountaineering route with another group. Without a helmet, rope or even the proper shoes. A terribly stupid decision of her and the other group of itself. Moreso even because this was not Hanna’s first attempt up Whitney, she had tried to summit a week earlier. However, her attempt was cut short when she twisted her ankle while running up the mountain, took 5 ibuprofen’s and started coughing up blood. Eventually, she had to be airlifted out.
Afterwards, I heard from others that when Hanna summited through the mountaineering route, she was delirious with altitude sickness. Mash even said that when he talked to her, her eyes were bloodshot, indicating a potential concussion. Maybe it’s for the best she twisted her ankle and nothing more serious happened.
Anyways, Mouse, Stinger and Fitz had their own story. On the top of Mather Pass Mouse had suddenly seen rocks start tumbling down. They gathered speed and size and turned into a full on rockslide, heading straight through the path. On the trail down were 7 hikers, among which Andy and Hanna. It was still very early morning, so the snow they were traversing was icy and slippery. Mouse yelled at them and Andy and Hanna started sprinting as fast they could through the icy snow. Andy threw himself on Hanna in the end to shield her. Luckily, the rocks missed them narrowly and went through. Some of the boulders went over hikers who didn’t get out of the way in time but they were also unharmed somehow. It was terrifying to hear. Another reminder that bad things do happen, even on a trail that seems as safe as the PCT.
To get to the hot springs, we had to cross a fast running river using a rope spun between the two shores. This brought us to a meadow, where three pools with hot water bubbled. Mosquitoes ruined a bit of the fun, but it was still nice. In hindsight, I wouldn’t have made the detour to get there though.
We hiked until sunset, going over Selden Pass, the last of the high passes. Fish in their dozens jumped up from the surface of the lakes, probably trying to catch overflying bugs.
I pitched my tent next to one such lake, trying to soak up the evening glow of the Sierra’s, listening to the gentle croaking of the frogs and thinking again how incredibly happy I am to be here.