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I am a carpenter and designer, living in a small island community on the largest freshwater lake in the world. I am deeply invested in disrupting the cycle of intergenerational trauma in my own lineage and my communities. I am more interested in the exploration of questions than the proving of answers.

The Creek Crossings are Getting Ugly

Cedar Schimke
Creek Crossings, Pacific Crest Trail, Sierra Nevada, Thru HIke

July 11, 2017
960.5 Ridge to 974.8 (.9 miles from the top of Seavey Pass)
Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hike: Day 68

Well, somehow today was harder than yesterday, and I expect tomorrow will be harder than today. The elevation change would be fine, but it’s snow covered. The lowlands are swarming with skeeters. And there are

SO
MANY
FUCKING
CREEK
CROSSINGS
!!!!!!!!

And they’re ALL bad. 

We crossed one creek that had five forks. The first two we hiked upstream and found a braid in the creek and could easily step across, then a section that was shoulder height that we moon-manned across. Luckily, it was laminar flow so the current was predictable and didn’t toss us around. The final braid looked too deep, wide, and fast-moving to ford safely, so we hiked upstream and ended up wading through a swamp of fallen trees for 45 minutes, our shoes sticking into the muck, submerged in waist-high brown water, mosquitos swarming all around.

Whitewater fords and unpredictable riptides the rest of the day. Lots of sketchy crossings. But we did them all solo, taking the time to scout for better places and never, ever, ever crossing on logs. Wet feet are safe feet.

Wet feet are safe feet.

I keep thinking of Andrew Skurka and Daniel Winsor/Beta. Without their advice I would have turned around a looooooooooooooooOOOOooooong time ago. Or died.

Tomorrow, we might have to literally swim across the fords. There’s a creek called Kerrick/Rancheria that has only been crossed on a snow bridge, but is supposed to “pose a problem for hikers in high snow years.” Well, it is a high snow year, and the snow bridges of yesterweek are all melted during this heat wave. Thumbs up.

After our last ford today, we got back on trail and started climbing towards Seavey Pass when a deer jumped out at us from 3 feet away. I screamed bloody murder into the silent wilderness. Alex had a really hard time with the swamp situation, I think because he didn’t eat enough. He thinks it’s because that swamp was bullshit.At least tomorrow he can eat more. I hope the creeks are all okay.

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Where to camp in the High Sierra :)

Where to camp in the High Sierra :)

Death March along Rancheria Creek, Or, Wet Feet are Safe Feet

At Home in the Wilderness