John Muir Trail TR - Part II

“This is part two of our John Muir Trail thru-hike report. The pictures that go along with this section of the hike are:
http://community.webshots.com/album/481864485hBARjQ
I hope the link works because I have had tons of problems with loading and arranging these pictures on webshots.

If you missed the first part of the report and would like to read it first, you can find it here:
http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/40930,-1.php

Day 8 - 8/09 (12.9 mi.):
It was another beautiful morning, and we decided to go back to the restaurant for one last meal before heading back out on the trail. After enjoying an excellent breakfast, once again we continued south on the JMT. Almost immediately we passed through a burned out area that was just beginning to recover from a recent forest fire. Beyond that area, we passed the very beautiful Red Cone Mountain, rambled through the fields of Upper Crater Meadow, and eventually arrived at the Deer Creek crossing. Originally, it was our plan to stay here for the night, but it was much too early in the day to stop and flies were swarming. We tolerated them long enough to eat lunch and decided to push on to higher ground for the night. From there we slowly gained in elevation until we were rewarded with outstanding views of the mountains of the Silver Divide and Cascade Valley far below. Eventually, we decided to camp for the night at an open area just before the Duck Creek crossing. There we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the outstanding views in all directions and talking with others from three groups who also decided to stay there for the night.

Day 9 - 8/10 (8.7 mi.):
There was very heavy dew overnight, so we decided to wait for the sun to clear the mountains and dry our gear before continuing on. It took a while for the sun to reach us, but once it did everything dried very quickly.

The first task of the day was to cross Duck creek. After searching around the previous evening, Prosecutor found a narrow spot in the creek to jump across from rock to rock, and, even though the rocks were wet in the morning, he did manage the somewhat risky jump with his pack on. The rest of us decided to change into our sandals and walk across the knee-deep creek where the trail crosses. After the crossing, the trail went over a ridge before passing the very picturesque Purple Lake, and then up and over another ridge to Lake Virginia. We stopped to eat lunch and enjoy the spectacular view at this gorgeous lake, and if it had not been so early in the day we definitely would have stayed here for the night.

The trail skirted around Lake Virginia and then took a steep drop on a long series of switchbacks into the meadow of Tully Hole. From there we followed along the bank of Fish Creek for about a mile, and then crossed the cascading waters of the creek at the steel footbridge. Originally, our plan was to stay near here for the night, but it was still early in the day and the mosquitoes were relentless. Again, we decided to push on to higher ground. From there, the trail began climbing, steadily at first and then steeply, through a ravine up to our destination for the night, Squaw Lake. We had considered pushing over Silver Pass to Silver Lake for the night, but, with the breeze to keep the mosquitoes at bay and the fantastic views, this spot was just too good to pass. Later in the evening, I decided to hike up to the ridge just above us, but it was such a pleasurable hike without the burden of a pack on my back that I went all the way up to Silver Pass. As I hiked back down to our camp from the pass, watching the sun setting over the mountains was truly remarkable . . . perhaps the most memorable experience for me of the entire trip.

Day 10 - 8/11 (9.6 mi.):
We were camped only 1.5 miles below Silver Pass, so it didn’t take long for us to reach it in the morning. There was a short snowfield to cross just before reaching the pass, and, although it was a little slippery early in the morning, it was not a problem to cross. At Silver Pass (10,900’) we stopped for a break to take some photographs and enjoy the incredible views looking both behind and ahead of us.

From the pass, the trail continued downhill for the rest of the day. It passed through beautiful meadows and, as it entered back into the forest below tree line, it followed beautiful Silver Creek rushing over huge slabs of smooth granite. Finally, after a very steep descent, the trail leveled out for the final two miles of the day as we approached the boat landing on Lake Edison. There we waited for the ferry to arrive and take us across Lake Edison to the Vermilion Valley Resort, and, after checking in at the resort and taking a much needed shower, we spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the delicious dinner served at the resort.

Day 11 - 8/12 (0.0 mi.):
We spent this planned day of rest eating, relaxing, eating, cleaning and rearranging gear, eating, doing laundry, eating, and talking with others who were out on the trail. Oh, and did I mention we spent a lot of time eating too?  In the afternoon I walked over to the earthen dam that creates Lake Edison from Mono Creek and enjoyed the views while walking across its 1.5 mile expanse.

Late in the evening Wannabp told us that she had decided not to continue on with us for the remainder of the trip. Her hip was beginning to bother her, and, more importantly, she really was not having a good time with our group. It was a very difficult and emotional decision she had considered since we camped at Thousand Island Lake, and I agreed she was making the right decision. Long distance hiking can be very difficult at times from both a physical and mental standpoint, and, when you cease to have fun or find pleasure in what you are doing it’s not worth continuing on. Hopefully, she’ll go back one day and hike the entire trail because the best of what the trail had to offer was yet to come.

Day 12 - 8/13 (12.3 mi.):
We started out the morning with what was to be our last real good cooked meal for the remainder of the trip. Wannabp called Landscaper to pick her up, and, in the process, got information for us to make travel arrangements at the end of our trip. After saying our goodbyes, we grabbed our packs and got back on the ferry for the ride back across Lake Edison.

It was great to have a day of rest off the trail, but it was equally as great to be back on the trail again. Once more the trail was fairly level from the boat landing to the trail junction with the JMT, but after that the trail started the much talked about climb up to Bear Ridge. It’s not that this section of trail was particularly difficult, but it was just a very long uphill climb welcoming you back to the reality of hiking in the Sierra. Actually, the 2,300’ climb took much less time than I expected on our rested legs, but I did feel the drain of energy it took to make the ridge for the rest of the day. Once we made it to the top the trail followed the ridge for a while, and then it began descending once again all the way to Bear Creek. By mid afternoon the skies turned to a grey overcast, and the mosquitoes were beginning to swarm. I picked up my pace to avoid another application of DEET, but it was to no avail. Eventually, we waded across knee-deep Bear Creek and continued uphill until we reached our destination for the night at Rosemarie Meadow.

Again it was a race to set up our tents as a light rain began to fall, but once set up and inside my tent, it rained for only a short time. A Frenchman named Francois, who we met earlier in the day, was following nearly the same schedule on the JMT as ours and set up next to us. He could speak English fairly well, so we had good conversations with him about gear and food while sitting around the campfire. Francois traveled with us for all but one day for the remainder of the trip.

Day 13 - 8/14 (9.5 mi.):
We woke up to a chilly 35 degrees and spotty frost in the morning, and it was on mornings like this that I missed something warm to drink to start the day. As we left camp, the trail slowly worked its way up above tree line, passed the scenic Marie Lake, and finally climbed the now all too familiar set of switchbacks up to the top at Seldon Pass (10,900’). It is a lot of work to make it to the top of these passes, but once you get there the views are something to behold. Seldon Pass definitely did not disappoint in that respect. From the pass, the trail went downhill, passing through fields of beautiful wildflowers and skirting around Sally Keyes Lakes. We stopped to take a break just after crossing Senger Creek, and as we were about to leave, it began to rain. We had only the drop into the San Joaquin River Valley ahead of us, and, as we made the very long descent, the sound of thunder was echoing throughout the mountains. Even though it sounded like the skies would come crashing in on us at any moment, it rained only very lightly, and when we reached the valley we found a very nice campsite located next to the river.

After everyone had a chance to set up and relax a little, we decided to find the hot springs located across the river. As it turned out crossing the San Joaquin River to get there was our most dangerous river crossing of the entire trip. It was thigh deep in spots for me and the wide river’s bottom was covered with small boulders, making it difficult to negotiate the swift current. Once on the other side we searched around and found the three small pools others had told us about. It was nice to dip into this warm water and relax for a while, but the muck bottom really didn’t allow you to clean up very well.

After we made our way back to camp, Sunshine1 and I decided to go to Muir Trail Ranch and pick up our third food resupply. When we got there Sunshine1 found out that mice had gotten into her food, so she had to throw out a fair amount. Fortunately, she was able to scavenge enough food from the hiker’s barrel to get by until our next supply at Charlotte Lake.

Day 14 - 8/15 (10.6 mi.):
We had just about enough time to eat and get packed up before it started to rain in the morning, and, after putting on the rain gear, our first stop was back at the Muir Trail Ranch to pick up Prosecutor’s food resupply. He had some energy bars missing from the box, but he was able to find enough food out of the hiker’s barrel to get by until the next resupply.

For all but the end of the day there were only minor changes in elevation on the trail, but overall we did gain in altitude as the day progressed. Early in the day’s hike we crossed Piute Creek on a steel footbridge and entered into Kings Canyon National Park. Repeatedly, Sunshine1 had told me how beautiful Kings Canyon would be when we got there, and, even on this grey dismal day, I could she what she meant. I was in awe as the trail followed through a canyon with majestic peaks towering to each side of the San Joaquin River’s south fork. Eventually the trail turned away from the San Joaquin and followed Evolution Creek uphill. At one point, we had to wade across its swift current, and by the time I got to the other side and put my shoes back on, I was chilled enough that I needed to start hiking at a brisk pace to warm up again. It was obvious a cold front had moved through the area early in the morning, and the temperature had been slowly falling throughout the day. When we reached our destination for the day in McClure Meadow I immediately set up my tent and jumped into the sleeping bag to warm up. It wasn’t until late in the afternoon, after it quit raining and Prosecutor got a fire going, that I decided to emerge from my cocoon. Just before it got dark the clouds lifted enough for us to see that it had snowed during the day in the upper elevations, which was tomorrow’s destination.

Day 15 - 8/16 (12.2 mi.):
It appeared as though the sun would reach us rather quickly in the morning, so we opted to let things dry out some before leaving. The dew on my rainfly froze overnight, and leaving a little later on this cold morning didn’t disappoint me in the least, as I was the last to leave camp.

It was a nice change to hike alone while following Evolution Creek as it meandered through the meadow, but soon after crossing one of its multi-channeled tributaries I found the rest of the group taking a break on an exposed rock, from which there was a great view looking back at Evolution Valley and its surrounding mountains. After a long series of steep switchbacks, once again we cleared treeline just before reaching Evolution Lake. From there the trail traveled through the Evolution Basin, passing Evolution Lake, Sapphire Lake, and Wanda Lake. It appeared as though you were walking through the land of the Gods with the towering peaks to each side. Finally we reached Muir Pass late in the afternoon, and, much to our dismay, you could see in the distance that rain showers were approaching.

From the pass, we had to cross a snowfield to pick up the trail below, and, as we continued downhill, the trail was nothing more than a rushing creek in spots. The only choice was to scramble on the boulders above the trail until it was dry enough to follow without wading through water. Just after we passed Helen Lake it began to rain lightly until we reached our destination for the night, an unnamed lake just northeast of Helen Lake. Just as we were about to set up our tents the rain turned into a downpour. Sunshine1 and I were hoping to wait out the heavy rain while Francois and Prosecutor braved the elements and set up their tents anyway. Just standing in the rain I was beginning to chill, and the rain did not look as though it was going to quit anytime soon. So, reluctantly, Sunshine1 and I set up our tents in the pouring rain too. It was a good decision, because the rain lasted for at least an hour, quitting just in time to allow us to use the last rays of daylight to eat before retiring back to our sleeping bags for the night.

Day 16 - 8/17 (11.3 mi.):
We woke up to clear skies and a crisp 35 degrees in the morning. Everything was either wet or damp, and it appeared as though it would be awhile before the sun would reach us over the towering peaks above. I decided to just eat a quick breakfast, pack up, and get moving. The water had risen in the inlet stream from the previous night’s rain, and I had to maneuver uphill on the boulders to cross it and get back to the trail. It proved to be a little more of scramble than I had anticipated, but I did finally make my way across the creek and back down to the trail.

From our campsite the trail went downhill following the middle fork of the Kings River in Le Conte Canyon. It was simply amazing walking through this canyon with its towering peaks to each side and the crystal clear waters of the Kings River cascading down the rocky slopes. Then as the trail continued to drop in elevation it passed through beautiful meadows, Big Pete, Little Pete, and Grouse. Eventually the trail turned away from the Kings River to follow Palisade Creek back uphill again and to our destination for the night at Deer Meadow.

Everyone had hiked alone and at their own pace during the day, but we all arrived at Deer Meadow only minutes apart . . . except for Francois. For some reason he made a wrong turn at the trail junction to Bishop Pass and climbed most of the way up to the pass before realizing his mistake. He looked very tired when he arrived late in the afternoon. It was still early in the afternoon when we arrived, so we took advantage of the warm sun to clean up and dry out all of our gear. It did look as though it might rain late in the day, but fortunately this area survived without so much as a drop, even though we heard the rumbles of thunder in the distance.
last edited: 10/31/05 10:28:10 AM”

“gforce

Nice TR and pics. The terrian there is a little different than Indiana! :-)”

“ROCK-N-ROLL! Love it!”

“Deer creek had the worst fly infestation I have ever seen outdoors. In the time it took me to eat one Prosecutor Bar for lunch, the ground at my feet was checkerboarded with dead flies that were too slow for my hand. There were so many dead flies that littered the ground, some were touching each other. The campsite further south was much better.

Even though I had most of my energy bars missing from my re-supply at Muir Ranch, I was able to scavange some mighty tasty almonds to make up for the loss. Good Karma wins again.

Francois, a Frenchman, was a welcome addition to the group, and a pleasant backpacking companion. The entire trip was quite memorable, and extremely enjoyable for those of us who finished the 235 miles of the JMT.”

“Gary, great pics and report. I'll have to put the JMT on my list!!”

“most of my energy bars missing from my re-supply at Muir Ranch

what happened?”

“Thank you, gforce, for writing such a great TR and for slogging through the nightmare Webshots has become to post your pictures..what wonderful, unforgetable scenery...I somehow missed part one so thank you for posting that link so I could begin at the beginning. So, you've hiked many long trails, is the JMT the most scenic you've been on?”

“Crash Bang, one member of the group dropped out just prior to getting there. This member volunteered to accept the responsibility of getting our two supplies to Muir, as this would cut each of our costs in half. The drop-out sent two packages, only one of which had both our names on it. Muir Ranch would only allow me to open the package with my name on it. They returned the other package unopened. In the package that Muir Ranch allowed me to open, most of my lunches were not inside. One will never know what happened to the missing lunches.

But Karma smiled down on us. Rather than incur a shipping costs of returning the drop-outs food, we were instructed by the drop-out to add those supplies to the hiker barrel. It was from that hiker barrel than SunShineGirl1 and I were able to re-supply ourselves at no cost. My almond lunches were quite tasty. Unfortunately, several of the dinners that SunShineGirl1 obtained turned out to be very unappetizing.”

“This is Sunshine1, except I lost my login password.

Prosecutor is right, toward the end, I started gagging on my food, including the powerbars, etc. Prosecutor has EXCELLENT food. He creates and cooks his own dehydrated food. It's actually good! I don't think I could gag down another dehydrated meal ever again...I'm going to get a copy of his cookbook and actually plan to enjoy my food next time.”

“MH the JMT is without question the most scenic I've ever hiked. Almost every time we stopped to camp we would remark at how fantastic the sites were we chose . . . and each time we thought it couldn't get any better . . . but it just kept getting better and better as we progressed south.

Prosecutor is right, toward the end, I started gagging on my food, including the powerbars, etc.

sure jennibpkr, you're probably munching on a power bar right now . . . :)”

“no, gforce, I'm not... I would rather catch and kill squirrels for dinner, lunch and breakfast than ever eat another gross prefab energy bar. I've heard squirrel is tasty, lots of protein.

I agree with gforce about the JMT. Francois, our Frenchman, said that he read about it in a German magazine. The magazine said the JMT was the most beautiful hike/trail in the USA. Francois has hiked extensively throughout the world, and he agreed that it was spectacular.”

“Francois reminded me of a guy that worked for an outfitter up in Canada. He looked just like him.

Great pictures and a sweet report Gary! Glad you guys had a great time.”

“Good food is one of the reasons many of us like taking trips with Prosecutor..he not only makes them tasty but nutritious. He pays attention to how many calories he's going to burn and how many he must eat to keep his energy level up. Then he watches cholestorol and sodium...I don't think there's another backpacker who eats as well on the trail although almonds for lunch sounds pretty slim...LOL....I don't like processed food...not really used to it....I like cooking.....”

“Sunshine1, I sent you an eamil with the cookbook as an attachment. Eating good food customized to your own personal tastes adds another welcome component to backpacking.”

“G-Force, which store bought Freeze Dried meal gave you food poisoning, twice on the JMT?”