Day 50: Over Seldon Pass

Day 50 – 6/10/16

San Joaquin River bridge 853.30 to mile 873.64

Total miles: 20.34

I was hoping benadryl would help me sleep but it did not. My back hurts too much for me to get comfortable. I’m constantly tossing on my tiny pad trying to find a comfortable position to no avail. 5 am comes around and I get out of my tent to unleash the dark side of the force. Early morning is the only time I can go without being attacked by mosquitoes. 

We set off for our last full day before VVR. We have Seldon pass to go over but it is just under 11,000 feet. That is about 1,000 less than the last few I’ve gone over. Piece of cake.

The morning is spent climbing steadily up. While climbing the switchbacks there seemed to be a sudden change in scenery off in the distance. The snowy mountains seemed to stop and then there was just tree covered mountains.

We stopped for lunch at a lake before going over the pass. We tried to use the solar chargers but the sun was hiding behind clouds. Until we got up to leave and then the sun came out.

We began making our way up the pass. Seldon is much easier than the prior passes. It isn’t as high nor as steep.

We took a quick break almost at the top. The view is pretty good.

At 11:50 we reached the top and began our descent through slush. The north side of the pass was much different. A lot more snow and the lakes frozen.

As we descended past the snow line the trail became miserably wet. It was either flooded, muddy, or covered in loose rock. Not fun or easy to go down.

We had to cross another large creek, Bear Creek. This one was moving swiftly but it only came up to my thighs. I had to go upstream a bit to find a shallower section.

After the creek crossing my back was hurting. It was sending pain down my left leg to my calf. I couldn’t move very fast. Mad Dog took off quickly but 5 Star hung back with me. I had to stop a couple times to rest even though the trail was descending at a gradual pace.

Towards the end of the day we started to head back uphill. We caught up to Mad Dog who was waiting for us. We went a couple miles and got to a spot we could put up our tents. 5 Star had service so I called my mom on his phone. By the time I got off the phone the mosquitoes figured out we were here and so I got into my tent. I found my tent infested with mosquitoes and flies so I had to do a culling.
Only a little over 8 miles to VVR tomorrow. Should get there before 10. I can’t wait.