JMT Day 18: Pinchot Pass

Starting Location: Lake Marjorie Destination: Arrowhead Lake Today's Miles: 13.00 Trip Miles: 181.60 Today we did Pinchot Pass, had a massive descent, followed by a good climb to Arrowhead Lake. I think this may have been the day I struggled most."We climbed about 3000 feet today, minus a few hundred. First we went up Pinchot which was pretty easy. Leaving Marjorie Lake Pinchot Pass Then we went down for hours until we got to about 8500 feet.   There was a cool suspension bridge to cross the creek before the second climb began. I didn't read the sign by the bridge that said only one person was to be on it at a time. It didn't break!" We went to Arrowhead Lake which was the perfect Mosquito habitat.   They like to swarm around humans here so we went in the tent. The lake is nice but not an alpine one; it's more swampy. We really should have pushed on to Rae Lakes. They are amazing! The Steripen battery died today so we switched to chlorine dioxide tablets. The steripen worked pretty well. Using it for three people consumed more batteries than anticipated. We usually cooked without treating water. We once saw a bloated dead deer hanging out in a stream, confirming the need to treat water. I've heard Aqua Mira is pretty good and light. No need to worry about batteries either.