Mile 812.6 to 821.6 – 9 miles total hiked on PCT

Photos only – write up when I have time

MATHER PASS 12,094 feet!!!

About the only tricky part of Mather pass was the hidden pass around a corner. Great views.

Ideally, I’d like to stop at Lower Palisades Lake at a fantastic campsite that I had camped at during my southbound JMT hike. Two years ago someone was already in it so I had to make Do with the alternate campsite.

If it was already taken this time, I’d probably skip stopping at the lake and continue north down from the lakes.

But once I reached the midpoint of the lower lake, I could see that no one was using the campsite. So I climbed up the side of the cliff and took in the area around the lake.

A very gorgeous view of the entire lake and surrounding mountains. I was a little worried about the wind and the clouds and wondered if my rain free trail days were over.

The campsite was very exposed to the wind and any weather, I wasn’t gonna give it up no matter what nature threw at me.

Fortunately, the clouds never opened up and poured rain on me and the wind didn’t turn out to be too bad over the course of the night.

So I just had to enjoy the view, the sunset, the evening, and the sunrise the next morning.