PCT Day 63 – PCT mile 791.1 to mile 800.9

June 6, 2026

Total PCT miles: 9.8

Non PCT miles: 0

Total: 9.8 miles / 15.8km

Total elevation gain: 1811 ft

Total elevation loss: 4301 ft

Steps: 26796

I actually slept well considering we were camped over 11000 ft last night. Probably the best sleep I’ve had in the Sierra thus far. The low last night was apparently 5 degrees if you believe my Garmin so im sure that helped. We were up and on trail at 0700. A lateish start but there was no rush today. We had only 1000 ft of elevation over 1.7 miles to get to the top of Glenn Pass.

The climb up Glenn was slow but steady with almost no snow on the acent. It wasn’t a particularly beautiful hike up but there was a nice mostly frozen alpine lake. We reached the top early enough that the snow field on the other side was still hard. There was a solid boot track to follow along the ridge that brings you to where the switch backs down would normally start but today was more of a choose your own adventure kinda affair.

Most of the switch backs were snow covered and the easiest route was down rock fields. My microspikes went on and came off multiple times while navigated the tricky but non-technical decent. The views into the valley bellow and which hold the Rae Lakes promised the effort would be worth it..

We were down at 0845 and a group of hikers going southbound walked by. We sat and watched them do their accent up for a while. I will say I’m glad I was not going their direction. From here only a little snow remained and the easiest way to finish was to glissade (slide down on your butt). This was my first time glissading and it was a lot of fun… minus the rock I almost hit.

I was then treated to the Rae Lakes which are incredibly beautiful alpine lakes. We took our time as we had less than 10 miles to hike today to the bottom of the valley. We stopped several times to enjoy the views and have lunch with the least shy chipmunk I’ve ever met.

I was very grateful for my new camp shoes as we had to do 3 water crossings that involved getting wet. The water was freezing but at least my actual shoes and socks stayed dry.

The repair job I had done on my pack is already starting to let go. I really hope it holds to Mammoth. My pack is way too heavy to not have A hip belt. I’ll do my best to be as kind to it as I can over the next week but I’m not optimistic that it will hold.

On the way down to our campsite we passed 800 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail! Wild to think I’m not even 1/2 done walking through California. It’s like driving across Canada – Ontario takes forever and the rest flys by (hopefully).

We’re camped at 8500 ft tonight which means it should hopefully be conducive to getting good rest. Tomorrow is an early start. We have 7 miles and 3500 ft of elevation gain to reach Pinchot Pass.