Wednesday, June 25
Beginning: Bear Ridge (Mile 93)
Ending: Senger Creek (Mile 106)
Daily recorded distance: 12.8 miles
Total recorded distance: 118.4 miles
Daily recorded elevation gain: 2,224 feet
Total recorded elevation gain: 27,324 feet
After finishing our descent of Bear Ridge, we began the 7 mile, 1,900 foot climb to Selden Pass (10,898 feet). Like the climb to Silver Pass, I really don't remember much about this climb. I do remember thinking that the climb felt long, but it wasn't that steep until the last mile or so. It was just a nice, gentle climb to the top. I think this is where we met a gaggle of northbound Aussies at a stream crossing. They told us that we had to go swimming at Sallie Keys Lakes on the other side of the pass. "It's not cold at all," they said. "It will be fun," they said. We topped the pass and made our way down to the upper Sallie Keys Lake. We spent some time fishing, and eventually decided to go swimming. It was cold. I don't think any of us caught any fish in the lake. The trout, which appeared to be Golden Trout in the 10-12 inch range followed the lure but never bite. When it started getting dark in the evening, hundreds of trout moved out of the lake into the shallow creek between the two lakes. Traditional lures weren't catching anything, but we all spent an hour or so catching Golden Trout on the fly rod. This would have been a good place to camp, but we wanted to set ourselves up for a really short day the next day. We were planning to meet Waylen at Muir Trail Ranch, and we wanted to be able to take it easy after climbing two high passes and Bear Ridge in the previous two days. Casey and Bryson went ahead, but the sun was almost down by the time I left the lake. The last two miles were perfect hiking: downhill but not steep, quiet with nobody else on the trail, cool but not yet cold. We camped at a creek about three miles short of MTR.
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| We were fishing and swimming on the other side of the rocks in the middle of the picture. |
