(All photos by Dough Jones; see link at bottom)
I was up early and was beaten only by another couple starting up Glenn Pass at 6:30am.
This wasn't a bad pass, but it was steep. It didn't have any snow, but what made this pass so tricky is that the top came to a knife's edge: one gust of wind could carry you literarily over the edge, so to speak.
I ended up meeting the couple that had left the campsite before me, Doug and Paula Jones from Seattle. They were an engaging couple and enjoyable to talk to, perhaps because they were both teachers. Some of the most interesting people to talk to are teachers.
Doug, Paula and I leapfrogged with eachother. I was in no hurry and didn't mind their company at all, even slowing down just to talk to them. They took a longer break just before reaching the pass, and that is where I stopped to talk to the large maintenance crew here, a group of young people hired by both the NFS and the California Conservation Corps back in April to restore 600 (!) miles of wilderness trails.
I thanked the group for their hard work. Dough took a photograph of me with the work crew; I was given the honorary title of crew worker as I was given a shovel to hold.
(I'm still waiting on that photo from Doug as I write this).
Others from below started catching up with me. The pass was not that big for all of us, so I continued on the descent, a steep and long trek down into a long, steep canyon. I was now officially off the last map sheet I had.
This link contains some photos that Doug took of me, Leslie and her family, and the area around Rae Lakes.
http://jones-seattle.org/Hiking/2010-7_Rae_Lakes_Loop.html#37
TBC
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