GDT Day 13: Fording River Pass

Monday, July 15th, 2024, 0700-1800
Lost Creek camp to Fording River Pass Lower Lake, mm 180.3
17 miles, Gain: 4665′, Loss: 3520′, elevation 7220′

I slept really well at the great campsite and felt rejuvenated after my previous low energy day. The 3 of us set off together  and as usual, we had a big uphill to get done. At least it brought us to a beautiful ridge with great views ahead and behind us, with a line of sheer mountains stretching as far as I could see. There were also beautiful fields of wildflowers everywhere. I got a great picture of Michelle, who I hiked with much of the day. She was from Ontario, just outside of Toronto, and was a teacher at a private French Catholic school.

We went down into another valley and lo and behold, found Woody at the next campsite, the one we’d been planning to press onto but hadn’t since we were tired and also wanted to let him catch up. He had done some blue blazing to get there faster, which I totally understood since it had been such a hard day previously. I was relieved he was ok. With everyone accounted for, we began the climb up to the pass. It was a lot easier than Tornado Pass, 2 days prior. I stopped for a lunch break at James lake and also signed the trail register right before that. I think it was the first I’d seen, so it was fun to see how many other GDTers were ahead.

Just as I reached the alpine area of the pass, I spied 2 mountain bikers that were traveling on an old mining road. Then I caught up with Michelle, who I guess passed me while I was having lunch. She was going to stop at Baril creek camp, but I think the mosquitos convinced her otherwise. Well, we’d also convinced her to try camping by the lake at the top of the pass, figuring it would be pretty nice. It was indeed splendidly scenic, with wonderful views of Mt Bolton, framed by meadows of purple flowers. The pictures don’t capture the essence of all the flowers…it was just so beautiful.

We dropped our packs and searched around for a decent campsite. There were definitely some that would have worked, but they were exposed to the wind. There was a slight chance of rain that weighed on our decision to continue on, but more than that, the mosquitos were quite bad, even in the full daylight. I took a quick dip in the lake, more for the novelty rather than the necessity of it. The lake was a poor swim hole…shallow with a mucky bottom. The mossies attacked me immediately as I got out and I was like, “I’m outta here!”

We climbed to the very top of the pass to get some cell service and look for Alex. Earlier we’d seen him come by the other side of the lake, then continue on. We figured he’d gone down to the second lake 1 km away, because we couldn’t see him anywhere. The cell service was pretty spotty for me and the mosquitos annoying, so I ended my very brief connection to the outside world and started down. I found the next lake in the trees, but did not see the campsite there, so I backtracked until I ran into Michelle. We both needed water, so we went back to the lake, which is when I spotted a very nice spot for some tents and even a beach to have dinner.

We settled in, still not knowing where Alex or Woody were. I left my trekking pole with an orange flag (my headnet bag) at the intersection to the lake, pointing in the direction we were camped. Woody eventually found us and sat down to join us for dinner. He told us he’d passed Alex up near the first lake. His tent was hidden behind a knoll, so we’d missed him. Oh well. Even though we had a somewhat set schedule, I found it was really hard to stick together. This section B that we were in had no camping restrictions or reservation requirements, so we’d all been rather free to camp where we ended up each day. I preferred it this way, but it did mean that we got scattered about.

After dinner, Woody decided to keep going all the way down the pass. He liked to walk late into the night. I dove in my tent, finally escaping the mosquitos. On the PNT, I’d spent most of the time each evening hanging out in my tent, but on the GDT I was a little better prepared. I treated my clothes and tent with permethrin beforehand, and I had wind pants and a rain jacket that they couldn’t bite through. These things made it possible to sit on the beach and enjoy the lake for a while.