Day 73

16 Miles (Benson Pass)

Sky looked good in the morning so we pressed on. The ground had a thick dew and fog rolled through. We didn’t make up all of the miles, but had a solid day getting up and over Benson Pass. Before the top of the pass we met some section hikers who had too much food and wanted to know if we were PCTers and if we wanted some of their food. Yes, and yes! That free bag of snacks made our food stretch much easier. Not wanting to get caught in a storm at the top of the pass, we skipped lunch and climbed. We safely made it over and got to Smedberg Lake in plenty of time to get the tent set up before the storm hit. The campsite by the lake was still not a legal one, but we did have great views! Endgame and two other hikers were there too, so if we got caught then we’d all be in trouble.