[pct-l] Heights

[TBrokaw at montmush.com]

Forrester Pass in 2016 in late June was a cake walk up the southern side with little snow in an above average snow year.  Coming down the north side was a blast. The slide down seemed like a quarter mile. I met Sherpa (in sandals) while post-holing down the north side and hiked on & off with him for the next couple of weeks. He was an exceptionally nice guy. The korean film crew did an interview of him at the base of Forrester.
I heard from hikers in 2017 that Forrester was a bit more difficult then.  But that was a double snow year. The views in both directions from the top are stunning.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 13, 2017, at 7:52 PM, Arliss <w7xu at w7xu.com> wrote:
> 
> While most folks will say there's really nothing to it, I'll have 
> to admit that I found crossing the bowl and completing the final 
> few feet to the top of Forester Pass rather intimidating. It's 
> not so much due to a fear of heights (I routinely climb and work 
> on radio towers over 100' high without a problem), but more of a 
> problem with fear due to exposure, such as looking over the side 
> of a tall building or approaching the edge of a steep drop off. 
> It's not rational, but that's the way it is for me.
> 
> Nevertheless, I made it across the bowl at the top and the final 
> ascent by following behind a friend (close, but not too close) 
> and just focusing on the trail. I had an ice axe and microspikes 
> for that little section and was glad I did.
> 
> The good news is that the top of Forester and a couple of spots 
> on the climb up Mt. Whitney were the only areas on the PCT that 
> gave me any problems re: exposure (and Whitney isn't actually 
> even on the PCT, of course).
> 
> The rest of the story: we went over Forester on midsummer's day. 
> After descending below the snowline, we found a spot to set up 
> camp. Not long thereafter, a young woman came along and asked if 
> she could join us while she waited for her friends to catch up 
> with her.
> 
> She subsequently went on to point out that it was Hike Naked Day 
> and volunteered that she had hiked naked up Forester Pass with no 
> problems. When asked if we had hiked naked, my friend and I 
> commented that it was best for everyone concerned if older 
> gentlemen such as ourselves kept all of our clothing on. She said 
> she got dressed for the hike down the other north of Forester 
> because she was afraid of post-holing. She obviously did not 
> share my fear of exposure.
> 
> Iceman
> 
> 
> 
>> On 12/7/2017 11:25 PM, Sabrina Harrison wrote:
>> Hey friends!
>> 
>> Let’s talk about Forester Pass. Tell me stories that’ll make my fears go away -
>> 
>> I’ll start you off -
>> 
>> “Ah, it’s all tricks of the camera”
>> “Not as bad as it looks”
>> “You can pay a local to knock you out and carry you across it on a donkey”
>> 
>> ~GoGo the section hiker, creeping north
>> 
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
> 
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