“You should count that as a bonus mile,” a climber said to me as I came back to camp after digging a cathole as far from the lake as I could get in the snow-filled cul-de-sac. I had been pushing myself fairly hard in order to get to Mt Whitney by the 4th of July, and had another 17-miles to the staging area at Crabtree Meadow. Not wasting any time, I started out and soon crossed the boundary line into Sequoia National Park, the first park of the trail.
The day also included the first significant creek crossing at Rock Creek. Having heard the horror stories about hikers being swept downstream and drowned by the swift currents, combined with the high snow levels and being alone, I ate my lunch while nervously waiting for another hiker to come along and make sure I didn’t die. I later learned my caution was needless as a German hiker I had met in Kennedy Meadows appeared from the other direction (although he did so after hearing of treacherous conditions on the passes to the north, which did nothing to ease my nerves). I crossed over the creek on a solid but obstacle-ridden log, and trudged my way through another broad, slow-moving creek to camp at Crabtree.
Russell on the Road 