So there is a lot of snow in the Sierra this year. Like a lot a lot. Record breaking even. This means several things. Firstly, the mountains are beautifully white. Secondly, it makes walking slower and more strenuous. Lastly, and most importantly, it means that the snow melt turns small creaks into whitewater rivers. Rivers that we have to cross. In a normal year, the river crossings are exhilarating and challenging. This year they can be full on deadly.

In order to avoid this, we’ve decided to so called “flip flop”.

This basically means that you skip a section of the trail and come back to do it later in the season.

So we have flipped from Kearsage Pass at mile 788 to Donner Pass at mile 1153, around the Lake Tahoe area. We will be coming back later to walk the miles we’ve missed. Either when we hit Washington or when we hit Canada.

Noel looking out over Donner Lake.