After half an hour of bank-searching, we crawl across King’s River on an icy log. The snow on Mather Pass is already slushy when we arrive, but Pete finds a way up some exposed rocks. This world is amazing to both of us, but it seemed especially foreign at first to him. Essentially being his first overnight backpack trip, his agility at adaptation is amazing to me.

The quick descent out of the snow down the The Golden Staircase puts us in such a gleeful mood that we strip and plunge into icy Palisades Creek.