Kevin's Life and Travel Blog

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for August 24, 2009.

The night was the coldest of the trip so far, probably below freezing. My upper body was a little bit cold all night inside the sleeping bag. It is a 30° F (-1° C) bag, so it did work up to the point it was advertised. There was so much condensation inside the tent that some fell from the ceiling and unto my face. Outside the tent, my shoes were covered in frost. While backpacking, I appreciate the sun way more than back home. I was cold in the morning and waited in anticipation for the sun to rise enough to hit me. What a great feeling it was when it finally did. I went from cold to warm and comfortable within minutes.

The eagerly anticipated arrival to Reds Meadow was happening this day. I was looking forward to the hot shower more than the food. I had never gone this long without showering. As usual, it took me forever to pack up and get ready. I left Rosalie Lake around 9:30am. The first half to the 9-mile hike to Reds Meadow was just like the previous day: shaded, on soft ground, with no dust. After a half hour climb, it is a constant descent that is easy on the joints because of it’s low grade. Once again, I had the same feeling of bliss I experienced the previous afternoon. My body felt great and my mind didn’t have a single worry.

I stopped by Gladys Lake to filter water. The sandy beach makes this lake different than all the others I’d seen.

Gladys Lake

When I reached the Minaret Lake Trail Junction I realized that i had walked pass Trinity Lake without even knowing. I turned left to continue on the JMT. A while later I reached Devil’s Postpile National Monument.

Devil's Postpile National Monument

Map of Devil's Postpile National Monument

While doing the JMT, one can choose to do a little detour to see the actual postpiles, or take a more direct route to Reds Meadow. Since I wasn’t in a hurry, I decided to check out the postpiles. They were OK, but nothing spectacular. It’s worth the detour but I wouldn’t go there specifically to see them.

Top of Devil's Postpile

Devil's Postpile

The final hike to Reds Meadow was short, but it seemed long to me because of the anticipation.

Reds Meadow

Mulehouse Cafe

I headed straight to the Mulehouse Cafe and ordered a cheeseburger and a Mountain Dew. There were no other hikers in the cafe at the time. What I really wanted was to eat sweet stuff, especially ice cream. I headed to the store across the cafe and got me some Animal Crackers, Häagen-Dazs ice cream, Starbucks Frappuccino, and a chocolate bar. I also picked up my second resupply at the store. This resupply was going to last until Muir Trail Ranch, about 5 days away. I ate all the stuff I bought at the store while sorting out the food into the bear canister. The store also allowed me to charge my digital camera battery (you can do this at the cafe too).

I walked to the campground but couldn’t find the Backpacker’s Campground at first. I had gone right past it as it is really nondescript. It is really close to where the showers are. There are 4 spots available for backpackers, with a bear box for each one, and it costs $20 per night, which seems excessive to me since a regular RV campground costs the same. The similar campground at Tuolumne Meadows costs only $5 per night.

I met a fellow JMT hiker named Jason. He was drying his gear since he had hiked in the rain during the storm the previous day. He was a little worried for not having enough warm clothes (no long pants, only one pair of shorts) for the rest of the way. I headed to the stalls for the long awaited shower. There are about 6 stalls. The one closest to the campground has the coolest water. Each stall then gets progressively hotter. I took the second to last one because I didn’t want the extra hot water to dry out my skin. The shower was very nice but with the door closed and no lights inside, it was a little hard to see. I also took the opportunity to wash all of my clothes, which ended up being a huge mistake. It was already around 4:30pm and the campground was pretty shaded, so my clothes stayed wet all night.

Later on, more JMT hikers arrived at the campground. First was a couple from North Carolina, Payge and Ken. Two other hikers, a guy and a girl, dropped by a bit later. It felt great to be clean for the first time in a week, but as the sun went down, I felt very cold wearing the wet clothes. I decided to call it a night around 8:30. Once inside the sleeping bag, I felt much better.

John Muir Trail Journal Index

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for August 23, 2009.

Rain was still falling at 6:30am. The winds were strong all night, waking me up a few times as the tent’s rain fly flapped against the inner wall. I should have used the tent guy lines. The rain wasn’t hard but it was steady.

One of the sacrifices I had to make for having a lightweight backpack was to go without rain gear, the only exception being my jacket. I didn’t have waterproof pants or shoes.  This meant that I couldn’t really afford to hike in the rain for extended periods of time and have my lower body get wet and cold. I spent hours and hours in the tent, waiting for the storm to pass. I wasn’t bored at all though, but my body was feeling  a little restless. By 10:30am I was starting to get really hungry. The bear canister was about 50 feet from the tent and seeing that the storm gave no indications of slowing down, I made a run for it. I devoured the trail mix and Peanut M&Ms within seconds. My excursion outside the tent left my feet freezing, and it took about 2 hours inside the sleeping bag to warm them up again.

Finally at 1:45pm it stopped raining. Except for the bear canister run, I had been inside the tent for 19 hours. I was ready to get back on the trail, even if only for a few hours. It took a while to dry the tent, and I started to wonder if it was worth it at all to wait for the gear to dry before packing. Even when there’s not rain, it usually takes about 1 hour every morning for the dew to dry. Outside the tent there was still a lot of fog, but as it always happens after raining, all the colors became more vivid.

Thousand Island Lake. Waiting for the tent to dry.

Thousand Island Lake after the storm

I left Thousand Island Lake and was back on the trail by 3:30. With only about 4 hours of sunlight left, the plan was to make it to Rosalie Lake, about 7 miles away. It was great to hike after the rain. The ground was softer, the weather not as hot, and there was no dust at all. I was felling great.

Log bridge

Shortly after I arrived at Garnet Lake. Absolutely beautiful. It is very similar to Thousand Island Lake with little islands in the middle. I stopped for 10 minutes to take it all in and eat a snack.

Garnet Lake

Garnet Lake

Tree by Garnet Lake

Back on the trail, the hike was very enjoyable, with a good number of short ascents and descents. I only saw 4 other hikers all day. Shadow Creek was impressive with it’s raging waters.

Arrived at Shadow Lake at 6:30pm. It had a very quiet and peaceful vibe, along with a stunning reflection. Too bad I was in a hurry and couldn’t spend all the time I wanted on this spot.

Shadow Lake

There is a good number of switchbacks going up right after Shadow Lake, but I was feeling great physically and kept a fast and steady pace. I got to Rosalie Lake at 7:10pm. I had done 7 miles in 3 hours 40 minutes. Not bad.

It was starting to get dark so I hurried to filter some water, set up the tent, and eat a quick dinner. Dinner was some bacon bits with cheese wrapped in a tortilla. I also had some beef jerky and dried fruit. I basically just grabbed whatever was the easiest and fastest to eat. Finding a place to hide the bear canister proved to be a little bit of the challenge since there were almost no flat spots around the campsite. I was afraid that a bear would start playing with the canister and it would roll all the way down to the lake. I put it in the best spot I could find and hoped for the best.

John Muir Trail Journal Index

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for August 22, 2009.

I heard some animal walk by my tent when I woke up around 7:30am. I looked through the tent mesh and saw a big fat marmot standing 3 feet away from me. Definitely not something you see everyday back home. In the end, it didn’t rain at all during the night, but the sky was still pretty cloudy in the morning. It’s amazing how much I sleep in the wilderness. I got close to 11 hours. Instead of going back home tired at the end of the JMT, I think I’ll be rested and refreshed.

Buzz and G-Man were already up and almost ready to go. I decided that since I was already 1 1/2 day ahead of schedule, I’d have a short day and not try to keep up with them. I got their contact info before saying good bye.  I was probably not going to see them again since their plan was to finish 2 days ahead of me.

Campsite below Donohue Pass

I spent the rest of the morning in camp, doing laundry and catching up on my journal. Looking at the map, I decided that I’d do a short 6-mile hike to Thousand Island Lake. As I was getting ready to get back on the trail around noon I saw Glen and Corinne, who I had met at Tuolumne the previous day. I asked whether they would mind me hiking with them, and joined them for most of the rest of the day.

Descending from Donohue Pass

Crossing before Rush Creek Junction

After a couple of miles, we reached Rush Creek Junction. While Glen and Corinne stopped to filter water, I met Jack and Kathy, a lovely couple from Mammoth Lakes. They looked like they were having a blast hiking the entire JMT. Suddenly it started drizzling. I put my waterproof jacket on and for the first time I used the large trash bag as pack cover, which worked pretty well.

The climb up to Island Pass (10,203 ft) was an easy 600 ft hike from Rush Creek Junction. This pass is not really considered among the other big ones on the JMT. On the other side of the pass, I got a very nice view of imposing Banner Peak. The light drizzle had stopped by this time.

Small lake with Banner Peak in the background.

Glen and Corinne decided to look for a place to camp about 1/2 mile before Thousand Island Lake, so I said good bye to them and moved on. Thousand Island Lake is truly beautiful. It’s like something out of a photography book or a National Geographic documentary. Camping is not allowed within 1/4 mile of the lake outlet, so I followed the northern shore to look for nice spots. I found plenty of them.

Thousand Island Lake

Campsite by Thousand Island Lake

The sky still looked nasty and the earlier drizzle seemed like it was just an early warning. It was cold and I tried to start a fire, but failed again. I used up my remaining 4 matches, and even borrowed a lighter from a couple camping closeby and still couldn’t do it. It was embarrassing. Around the same time, a big guy arrived in the area and decided to take a dip in the lake. I would have died of hypothermia but the cold didn’t affect him at all. He walked around wet and shirtless, as if it was 80 degrees. He then one-handed a huge piece a wood, put it on his shoulder, and climbed uphill into the woods closeby. I then heard him chop wood and start a humongous fire. What a stud!

Campsite by Thousand Island Lake

Just before sunset, it started to rain again, but this time for real. I scrambled to finish eating, cleaning  up a little bit, and putting all my gear into the tent. This was my first time camping in the rain and while a bit inconvenient, I was quite excited. I fell asleep around 9 but slept intermittently all night.

John Muir Trail Journal Index