Today was all off-trail. Our goal was to go over two passes: Horse Creek Pass (class 2) and Stanton Pass (class 3). It would be the first test of our ability to navigate tough terrain without getting lost.

We continued up the drainage we were following yesterday, until we reached a high meadow. From here we bore right towards a pile of reddish talus.We paced quickly this morning, mostly worried about making it to the planned destination for the day. However the constant change from reddish rock, green grass and football field sized snowfields made this pass really interesting in retrospect. We encountered a false pass before the real Horse Creek Pass at 10,700 ft.The final section of the pass traversed a steep snow slope. Since it was mid season and none of us brought ice axes, we were careful to use our poles on the traverse. At one point, Emma misstepped and slid a few feet over a small lip onto a boulder. It ended up being a short distance and she was okay, but we began to take snowfields more seriously from that point on. (Emma would have her chance to redeem herself on day 4.)

Topping out the pass and looking over to the other side rewarded us with new scenery. Spiller canyon looked insanely beautiful with its bowl-like shape, and hillsides full of alpine wildflowers. Steve Roper describes this area as one of two most "intimate" canyons of the Sierra.

We stopped for a quick lunch break, during which marmots came to visit. They liked Isabel, probably because she had brought the best food. This would be a recurring theme for the rest of the trip.

The high route followed Spiller Canyon down to an undefined point, at which we began traversing the left side hill. We aimed for a bunch of trees that we believed would lead us up a class 2-3 slab toward Stanton Pass.

This group of trees ended up being the correct waypoint, and soon we were faced with another loose climb up a pile of scree. Unexpectedly, the rock became more solid the higher we went. We aimed right of the lowest point on the pass, and traversed back left at the very top. The final crux felt epic because it led straight to the summit with a sharp drop-off on the other side.Stanton Pass was a knife-edge, so we descended a little before having another snack break. Now we could see the next canyon as well as our target for the next day, Sky Pilot Col. It looked really high and far away.After some initial fuckery on the steep descent of Stanton pass, the afternoon eased into a very pleasant cross-country walk through a granite landscape dotted with lakes. We were making good time.

At Soldier Lake, it was decided that we had time for a swim! Isabel and I jumped into the crisp blue water. There was even a rock shaped perfectly as a bench, and another rock that slid into the water which was great for doing my laundry.

Renewed by the refreshing dip, we continued down some large slabs into the forest below. On the way down we passed one solo hiker coming the other way, about 200 ft to our right. He waved but did not stop to chat. High route hikers are really a different breed, I thought, as I watched him continue up the slab. He was only person we saw for the next two days.

Soon we reached the treeline and entered a lush wooded area with tall shrubbery. The steep slope finally gave way to a flat section. Bushwhacking, we knew we must be close to a trail, and eventually we found it. We stepped right over it, for continuing along it would be useless for us. After a bit of searching we found a nice campsite on some ledges above a slow moving stream to call it a day.

After a full day of walking/scrambling on varied terrain, I felt grateful to have such reliable (and fun!) hiking partners. We were evenly matched in pace and I gained a lot more confidence that we could complete the trek after this day.

Horse Creek Canyon to Return Creek (Virginia Canyon) - 7 mi and 3406 ft gained.