Forester Pass. The very name strikes fear into the hearts of many a thru-hiker (at least in a high snow year). While Whitney posed a significant challenge, it’s an optional side trip from the PCT and only involved one tricky snow traverse (which you could avoid by scrambling straight up the rocks). But there is no avoiding Forester Pass. You either go over it, or go back.
The approach started easy enough as we followed a well-worn boot track across gently sloping snowfields. As we closed in on the pass, I kept looking out for where the trail might pass over the jagged line of mountains in front of us. By the time we arrived at the base of the peaks, with a very solid-looking wall of ice and rock directly ahead and the distant trail appearing more than 300 feet straight above, I was feeling very intimidated. I tried to practice self-arresting with my ice axe, but with the snow covered in uneven bumps from the constant cycle of melting and refreezing, I didn’t have much luck gaining speed in the relatively safe area near the bottom. So I strapped on my nanospikes, grabbed my pack, and started up the ice.
I initially followed a zigzag track upwards, stopping for brief rest breaks in occasional dry patches of broken granite. This method soon exhausted me and I changed tack to follow a shallow path of bootprints straight up the ice wall. This worked ok until I came to a point where the upward track disappeared and another set of boot impressions appeared about six feet off to the left, with only a tiny foothold in between. I would need to awkwardly cross one leg over the other in order to get to the new track, a balancing act in normal conditions and downright dangerous on the side of an ice wall 200 feet above the valley floor. I paused for a minute to calm my nerves, readied my ice axe, and took a couple of quick but steady steps across.
Several switchbacks and a snow chute later, I was at 13,200 feet looking down into the first deep valley of Kings Canyon National Park, my trail home for the next 75 miles.
Russell on the Road 