Day 7
15 miles / 90.0 total
Steps: 34,952
Upper Basin
Days without shower 8
This morning I started a little before 8. With the tree and cloud coverage it was a little darker longer today! I crossed the bridge again – it sways so much. I like it though. Saw a few deer that were lying under a tree and then started the rough long steady uphill all the way to Pinchot pass.
I followed a creek/river most of the first part and it was beautiful. There were a ton of deer and waterfalls. I kept looking for sheep but didn't see any again! I took a break pretty early to remove some layers. I started off today with my rain gear on and down beanie. I have decided it is nice to be warm and not that hard to take it off. Plus it gives me a reason to take a break. I actually hiked in just my tank top for the majority of the morning time until I stopped to filter water and have a snack before the pass. In one of the few shady spots there was a girl sitting with a turquoise bandana and I asked if she was part of the Ladies of the JMT! She was! Her name is Sarah and she was from San Francisco. She was really sweet and we talked for a couple minutes in the shade before we both headed opposite directions. I passed one older guy who was moving slow and steady up the hill. We talked for a bit and he seemed a little lonely so I slowed down and we stayed together for about half an hour. He was really interesting and I am always so impressed at these men and women who are out here still trucking along. I saw very few people today which was odd since there were so many yesterday but that could also be from them doing the Rae Lakes loop. I know why they were doing that though and I would love to go back. Right before getting to the top of Pinchot pass a guy named Dylan caught up to me. I met him briefly yesterday at Dollar Lake when I was swimming. He was with two other guys but had decided to go off on his own to be more at his pace. We sat at the top for a bit getting to know each other and with two women headed the opposite direction. Dylan said he was hiking with Luke for a bit but continued on when he stopped to double filter (he always did) his water. So we waited a bit longer for Luke to get to the top. We all hung out a bit longer and enjoyed the top. It was surprisingly not as cold or as windy as most which was an awesome change. We took a few pictures and headed back down. 
The three of us hiked together and stopped at Lake Marjorie to go swim. It was SO cold and I just couldn't get all the way in. I also wanted to keep my hair dry because the wind was picking up. The boys got all the way in and didn’t make it seem very warm. I expected the afternoons to be warmer and be able to bake in the sun after getting in/out of the water but that hasn't been the case. I had a snack and got to know Dylan a little more before continuing on. Once to the next large creek crossing I was starting to get tired but needed a few more miles so I said lets go for another hour. We said that the 3 of us would camp together tonight. That was the worst hour and a very poor choice on my part. I was tired, it was uphill, and I could barely move anymore. That was the most tired I've been and physically drained. There were very few places to camp and we passed the Alaskan sisters who invited me to stay with them. I really debated it but the guys were already ahead and I didn’t want them to worry about me so I caught up to them. We finally found a place to camp and all I wanted to do was have my food and go to bed. But the nightly chores of getting the tent set up, sleeping pad blown up, getting water filtered, soak the feet and rinse off the legs still had to be done. I started to missed the luxuries of turning on the faucet for water or the minute a microwave took to have a warm leftover meal. After the chores, I boiled water to add to some dehydrated dinner. I didn't wait long enough for it to be fully cooked before shoving it in my face but at that point exhaustion set in. I had a few sour patch kids (thank you Dylan) and waited for a couple stars to come out before heading to bed. What a long day!!
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