Pacific Crest Trail - Day 83 - Selden Pass

Start: Mile 849.3 - Backcountry campsite
End: Mile 869.4 - Backcountry campsite

We started the day thinking we’d finish just shy of Selden Pass, 17.2 miles ahead. We wound up going up and over it in the evening to set us up for a relatively easy day into Vermillion Valley Resort and the promise of a cheeseburger after 8 days in the backcountry.

A pika! These little guys are vocal and sassy! They’ll chirp at you like they‘re stop the food chain. One laughed at Kristin after she slipped in some slush descending Muir pass.

Three different species of tree evolutionarily converging. All thriving.

Leaves!

Ferns!

Aspens!

We’ve come to realize that when you see these things, there’s approximately 3,500 feet of climbing in our immediate future.

We tried and failed to pitch the tent on three different spots in an area filled with shallow dirt on granite that prevented at least one stake from finding a secure position. We eventually succeeded in pitching it on the spot we were exasperatedly considering cowboy camping on. During all of this, we were being swarmed by bloodthirsty mosquitoes and rapidly losing light. A late dinner was had inside the tent behind the inner bug-net. Our first 20+ mile day in the Sierra! 20 miles through steep granite wilderness is hard.