June 13:Kearsarge Pass & Glen Pass

We woke up earlier than we would have on the trail. We had to catch a 7am bus back to Independence and then hitch back up to the trailhead. There were 5 of us, which always makes hitching harder (on top of the fact that we were hitching to a dead end road). We were there for almost an hour and a half before a guy drove by, said he could take 2 of us and would come back for the rest.

The climb out over Kearsage is 2500 ft, but wasn't as bad as we expected because the ascent is so gentle. Soon we were standing on top of Kearsarge Pass for the second time. I am thankful that most passes we climb over we only have to do once!

We hadn't planned on going over Glen Pass today, but we were on top of Kearsarge by noon, and the passes are only 5 miles apart. We had also heard that Glen could be icy and that it would be better to do it in the afternoon when the snow is soft. So we headed up and over Glen as well.
It is fun going over these passes and remembering them from when we hiked the John Muir Trail in 2005- only this time we are going the opposite direction (we hiked the JMT southbound).

The descent down Glen was steep and snowy, but with the soft snow we were able to climb down no problem. After a few more miles of hiking we found one of the only grassy spots among a canyon of rocks, pitched our tarp, and fell asleep, ready for rest.

Total Miles797.4
Miles Today:7.9 (+7.1 Kearsarge miles)
Camp 47:Grassy Patch

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