9.2 miles to South Cottonwood Trailhead, elevation 8,904’
The day started off with a steep 3.3 mile climb of almost 2,500 vertical feet and averaging almost 15% grade! It took us almost 3 1/2 hours to get to the saddle at an elevation of 11,905’. However, the view there was the best we had seen yet!
After a snack it was time for the 3 mile hike down. One might think that hiking down would be easier than up…wrong! It took us close to 2 1/2 hours to make the steep descent. By the time we made it to the Avalanche Trailhead it was 1:30pm.
We had planned to do another 8 miles today but decided another 2.8 miles to South Cottonwood Creek Trailhead would suffice.
Once at camp it started drizzling again so we set up camp quickly and ate dinner at 5 pm under the partial shelter of a large pine. By 6 pm we were in our sleeping bags. We stared at maps for a little while trying to decide what to do over the next few days. Today was brutal, but we want to enjoy ourselves out on the trail and not get beat up every day.
Journeys with Jeff and Ellen 