Woods Creek - S. Fork Kings River 6/29/10 11.6 miles

Maybe not today, haha! Got out about 7 and had 3500 feet and 7/7 miles to the pass. We can do that by lunch, right/ Not really. I got us lost. I hate the snow. Got within vies of what I though was Pinchot pass at 11am. Lost the trail using the map. Kristi said it looked too easy and I said I was sure four times. We scrambled and climbed way to many rocks and got t the "pass." It looked right on the map, but there was no trail. I got scared. Kristi said to go back to where we lost the trail. I felt like an idiot. She knew we were going the wrong way the whole time, but I refused to listen. Navigator Kristi to the rescue. We backtracked and ate lunch, trying to figure things out. It was 1:30pm and we had done 5 miles, thanks to me. We started towards the right pass, slow going in the snow. No trail. Some footprints. We followed them and got to the approach. We felt better knowing we were going the right way. Sketchy trail, snow and loose rocks. WE made it to the top, relieved. It was 3:45pm and we were 7.7 miles from campt this morning. Nothing like adding 5 useless miles to the day. Oh yeah, I forgot about the five creek crossings onthe way up. Started down the back side, followed prints and lots of them this time. Got down to a lake where we had planned to camp last night. More snot, lots of water and losing the trail. We gave up on our hopes of 20 miles. Came across a note at a sighn that directed us to not cross the river due to being too high. I looked at it. No way. It looked more like a Calss IV rapid. The note warned us about a waist deep creek ahead as well. Luckily, there was a tree across it, off the trail a bit. made it to our unplanned camp at 7pm. Dead tired. Got set up and warm. Had Mel's couscous for dinner and it was perfect after a long day. Bedtime finally. Twelve-twenty two miles tomorrow, haha. We'll see how the morning goes. CM