Well, the great sleep did not happen because since yesterday I somehow got a puncture in my sleeping pad and deflated almost instantly so I was lying on a cold ground. The night was also relatively cold so I was up multiple times. Oh well. After we packed everything we were making our way closer to Mount Whitney. We started with a climb just to go down and lose all of the elevation we just gained. Story of the PCT. In the valley we had to do a river crossing but thankfully there was a huge tree over the river on which we could balance our way to the other side. The Sierras is also the section that has most of the river crossing some of which can be pretty dangerous, depending on the particular year. It is also probably the thing I am most afraid of and have a healthy amount of respect for just because you are crossing a river with a heavy pack on (that should be untied when crossing though) and some rivers can have really strong currents. That bridge we are gonna cross once we get there. 

In the afternoon we had to cross another two streams. The first one was easy, with a nice sandy riverbed. The second one was already a pretty strongly flowing river. I had to support myself with my trekking poles and focus on each step. Thankfully we all crossed successfully to the other side and made it in one piece to a tentsite. It wasn’t just any tentsite though. This one was right below Mount Whitney – highest mountain in the “continental” US. With 4 414m it would be the highest peak I would have summited thus far. Since I was going there for the sunrise, at 8pm I called it a night and set my alarm to 23:20. I know, some people can’t really exist with just 3 hours of sleep, however, I have always been a night owl and this kind of adventure doesn’t happen on a daily basis. You know how the saying goes – “You can sleep when you’re dead” haha. So Mount Whitney I am coming for you.