Daily Neet Beat
We leave the “comfort” of the campground at Kenosha Pass and start climbing up in the early morning. Our big goal for today is to make it over our first pass on the Continental Divide, Georgia Pass which is 12.3 miles away. It really feels like we are getting into the heart of the Rocky Mountains.
As we are climbing up on the ridge above Kenosha Pass, we see at least 8 or 9 tepees. Not sure who is building them but they are definitely modern. Some kind of vision quest? Modern day sweat lodge? I ponder this as we hike down into Guernsey Creek.
We reach Georgia Pass around 11am in the morning and the view is glorious! To the west is Mt. Guyot, a 13,370 foot peak. Mt. Guyot is a quartz monzonite intrusion with hydrothermal alteration. For those who are not geologists, it is a granite with less quartz. The red color on the mountain is from the hot fluids as they moved through the quartz monzonite. There are also faults, cirques, and rock glaciers. The geology is so amazing here.
We also get reception at the pass and our phones begin to bing. Friends have left us messages and texts that our house is threatened by the Lightner Creek fire which is only 1.3 miles away from our home. It is a weird feeling to know your home may be in danger but you can’t do anything about it. We had a similar situation last summer on the John Muir Trail when a fire threatened our car which was parked at the end of the trail. The fire came within 50 yards of our vehicle but it was spared. We hope for the best with our home.
We are making good time and hike around 20 miles today stopping around 3pm at a camping area at North Fork of the Swan River. The camping area is well used with many campsites, fire rings, and a FS road that is only 7 miles from highway 9. It looks like people camp here and hang out for a while.
Just the Facts:
Total Miles: 20
Cumulative Miles: 91.4
Trail Segment: 6
Camp Elevation: 9981 feet
Elevation Gain: 2646 feet
Elevation Loss: 2552 feet
Weather: pleasant and partly sunny