Page 6: Found It!

Lake Ivanhoe outlet stream.

Now, normally I would ruminate on the wonders of geology and how such a spectacular area had been sculpted over thousands of years by erosion. But right then I was in a pissy mood and just glad to be off the side of the goddamned mountain.

Poo and I drank for the first time since early morning and shared two candy bars. Good old Poo, she’ll eat anything … except dog food.

At this point in the narrative (and in a general effort to make myself look better in retrospect) I would like to point out the difference between our situation at the time and being lost. I knew where we were and where we had to go, I just didn’t know which side of the narrow valley the trail was on. Marj had the maps, so I couldn’t refer to them. But I knew if we just followed the stream up we’d hit Lake Ivanhoe. It was just a matter of finding a safe, passable route. Easy-Peasy.

We ended up climbing to a basin just above Lake Ivanhoe, then dropped down and finally picked up the PCT. All our bushwhacking had been very time consuming and it was 5 PM by the time we finally hit the lake. I later learned that Marj had been there at around noon. She thought I was ahead of her and just kept going. She asked everyone she met if they had seen me. So, by the time they did meet me they all said, “You must be Connie!”

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