Sawmill Pass and Woods Lake conditions?

[Jimr]

I knew that was a very ambitious plan, but you made it up Pinchot. A good day no matter how you slice it.

[Hobbes]

definitely cougar territory, so I surround my perimeter with sticks and branches as a makeshift alarm, should they try to sneak up on me

I left Tues afternoon before 5:30pm. I hiked till almost 8pm, then set up a bivy on the trail right before the first water. Sleeping on the trail is easy and convenient, as long as you're used to sleeping outside and have the timing figured out. That is, I was around 2.5 hrs from the TH, so even if someone left around 5am, they wouldn't reach me until 7:30am. As it was, I was long gone by 6am.

The thing is, I hadn't even considered cougars; my main concern were bears. I usually sleep with (ie guard) my food, which I know is a big no-no in some circles. But this time I actually took the effort to tie my Ursack to a tree just down the trail.

Question: why did you hike down to the bridge? I don't know if you saw my TR doing the same traverse to Pinchot here: http://www.highsierratopix.com/communit ... 35#p123671 I thought the Woods lake area was awesome. I might even due a basecamp fishing trip some time in the future.

[DiamondEyedJack]

I went to the bridge just to see it, walk across it and back, and to complete a "section" of the JMT (north fork Woods Creek). The boards are getting old and rickety, I trust the metal rails better than the boards, but walking closer to the edges causes the whole thing to sway a lot more.

Just read your TR. Yes, I agree, Sawmill and Shepherd are indeed similar, and they both have those short, sun-baked descents in the middle of their climb. Shepherd is pretty nice once you get to Anvil. The 4 Nasties get you up into the high country pretty fast, no ****-footing around, get right down to business, that's for sure.

That Woods Lake basin was awesome!

[DiamondEyedJack]

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