Day 57
Mile 811 to Grouse Meadow campsite (mile 828.5) via Mather Pass,  17.5 miles
Cost: Camped, free

My feet got wet in a river crossing straight away which meant I could walk through each stream and puddle for the rest of the day – it’s actually quite fun! 

An early morning freezing cold stream crossing

The view from in the middle of the stream

I’m getting used to this!

I walked with Teflon up to the top of Mather Pass which was a nice and easy ascent but we postholed in the snow coming down. There were gorgeous views. 

On top of Mather Pass

The view from Mather Pass

I’m the blue dot

Coming down Mather Pass

At the bottom of Mather Pass, Teflon and I decided to have a quick swim in a lake. It had turned into quite a hot day but the glacial lake water was freezing so when I saw “swam”, I mean we submerged ourselves for a few seconds before lying on a rock in the sun to get the feeling in our limbs back! 

There were dozens more river crossings, the ‘golden staircase’ which was painful on my knees and ankles, and more incredible views. 

Lunch

It felt like a long day and I was exhausted when we finally arrived at camp. It was a beautiful campsite by a stream with a lovely view of a mountain and deers roaming around. Mrs Smith had an encounter with a bear when she went up the hill to go to the loo so we hope we don’t get a visitor in the night!  Zigzag camped with us and looked at my foot again. He said I needed a few more days of using crutches (hiking poles), then after 10 days of lying on the couch eating ice cream I’ll be able to start moving on it and stretching it… How about 6 more passes and 75 more miles of one of the toughest stretches of the entire pct?! But it’s doing good and I’m managing to walk the distance. 

View from camp