And then... we made it to the clearing of Avalanche Pass. We took one last long break here, as our throbbing legs couldn't take anymore. I ate a cucumber (judge away- it was the best decision ever) and some more trail mix- and Jared gave me some ibuprofen to help get me through the rest of the trip.
Kasie and I at our finest.
We were all sore and ready to be out of the woods, but this had to be the most breathtaking part of the entire hike- so we meandered through slowly for a little while. Avalanche Pass was the exact moment I realized that I was truly committing myself to completing these trails.
The pictures will never do it justice.
Above our heads and all around us there were HUGE rocks. There were sections of bridges jutting out from the rock face so that the trail was passable. As we approached one of the bridges I heard a very strange sound coming from across the water.
I actually closed my eyes to listen because it was such a faint echo- it almost sounded like there were people across the valley- I listened harder, and for a moment it sounded like a loud whisper coming from inside the mountains...I opened my eyes and looked directly across from where we were standing. Right in front of me, even though I almost glanced forward and missed it, was the tallest waterfall I had ever seen in my life. Without a doubt it will be one of the most memorable moments of my entire life.
The waterfall (courtesy of Jared)
We passed a few people hiking in to camp for the night- but were otherwise fairly alone at this stage. At one point, Jared told AJ and I to go ahead and that he and Kasie would catch up... so we took off across the, mostly flat, section of trail towards Marcy Dam.
View from Marcy Dam (photo also courtesy of Jared)
We rested for barely 10 minutes at the dam when they caught up. We all had some difficulty at this point- I'm pretty sure none of us were thinking clearly. After what seemed like ages, we reached the main trail. Jared finally sprinted ahead (no idea how) with Kasie, myself, and AJ trailing far behind. The three of us kept each other going at a (fairly) quick pace as other hikers whisked passed us- we worked as hard as we could to keep up with them, and would gradually slow back down once they were out of sight. It started to get darker and darker-- at points there were raindrops starting to fall... and then we finally saw Jared, and the lights of the cabin near the cars, and we basically leaped/collapsed into the car.
Even though we were out of the woods- mother nature wasn't done with us yet. It was drizzling as we sped down the road headed towards town. We passed the edge of the trees and approached a large field- and out of the darkness, the sunlight appeared- you could see the sun slowly setting over the mountain.
We found a dirt patch and stopped the car. At the exact same time, the rain cloud that followed us from the trail was approaching... and what happened next was nothing short of spectacular.
Even though we were out of the woods- mother nature wasn't done with us yet. It was drizzling as we sped down the road headed towards town. We passed the edge of the trees and approached a large field- and out of the darkness, the sunlight appeared- you could see the sun slowly setting over the mountain.
We found a dirt patch and stopped the car. At the exact same time, the rain cloud that followed us from the trail was approaching... and what happened next was nothing short of spectacular.
That's all I can really say.
It's pouring in this picture
