Kevin's Life and Travel Blog

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for August 30, 2009.
Approximate distance hiked: 7.9 miles, 12.6 km.

I slept until almost 8am. The sun was roasting me. It was a hotter morning than usual. Ryan, Andy and Mike were just getting ready to leave when I woke up.

Pond by Marie Lake

Marie Lake

Selden Pass (10,900 ft., 3322 m.) is only a very short climb from Make Lake. There’s always an exciting anticipation when going over a pass to see what’s on the other side.

Look back at Marie Lake from Selden Pass

Look south from Selden Pass

I saw Mark and Misty on the top of the pass. I moved on ahead knowing we would see each other at Muir Trail Ranch in a few hours. Shortly after I stopped at Sallie Keys Lakes for lunch.

Sallie Keyes Lakes

Sallie Keyes Lakes

Making its first appearance on the JMT were manzanita trees which covered the switchbacks going down to the MTR junction. They looked like they were perfectly manicured by a gardener.

Manzanita trees surround the trail

Mark and Misty caught up to me at the MTR trail junction and we hiked the last stretch together. Muir Trail Ranch is a real ranch, with a lot of horses in it. It’s not really backpacker friendly. You basically just pick up your resupply and go. They don’t sell food or drinks. I was able to buy a knife to replace the one I had lost a few days before. I opened my resupply bucket and started sorting out my stuff. There were also about 5 buckets of stuff there for the taking left by previous backpackers. These “hiker bins” were sorted by categories such as toiletries, dehydrated food, snacks, etc. I exchanged some of my Bear Valley bars for Snickers and Cliff Bars. I was really craving very sweet stuff. I also ate two Snickers bars while stuffing my bear canister. Andy and Mike were also there, and Jack and Kathy arrived shortly after. Kathy and I shared a huge bag of almond M&Ms.

After everybody finished packing their stuff, we all hiked together to the nearby campground. We got there by following the trail to Blayney Hot Springs.

Muir Trail Ranch and Blayney Hot Springs sign

There were several suitable camping spots. After settling down, we all went to check out Blayney Hot Springs, which required fording the San Joaquin River. I went barefoot since I didn’t want to get my shoes wet, and as a result I slipped a few times and had a couple of minor scratches on my feet. The rocks in the river were very slippery. The hot spring we found was a big tub. The water was very hot and muddy. We stayed there until the sun started to set.

Back at camp, each of us started to cook dinner. Perhaps feeling sorry for me and my cold food diet, Jack and Kathy were kind enough to share some of their curry noodles with me. We all got together after dinner. Some played cards while others talked about work, travel and other stuff. Good times.

I had completed half of the JMT. The second half promised to be spectacular and challenging, with 12+ miles most days and a series of big passes.

John Muir Trail Journal Index

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for August 29, 2009.
Approximate distance hiked: 13.9 miles, 22.4 km.

Still feeling the effects of overeating, I chose to have a light breakfast consisting of pancakes only. Ryan was there and told me that he had invited another member of packbackinglight.com to join us. I met Steve who, like me, posted in the same forums on BPL during the months of preparation prior to the hike. We had compared itineraries and were hoping to meet on the trail. Steve asked me: “Are you Kevin from BPL?”. At first I thought he knew my name and that I frequented BPL because Ryan had told him. For some reason, I didn’t make the connection between this Steve and the Steve I met online. It was not after I saw his McHale packpack (an item I remembered from his online packing list) that I realized who he was. He has a very comprehensive writeup of the hike and a very nice picture gallery at his website.

I paid my tab of $130 for my entire stay at the resort, and said goodbye to the resort employees I had met. Ryan, Steve, another gentleman name Art and I boarded the morning ferry to leave Vermilion Valley Resort and rejoin the trail.

Leaving Vermilion Valley Resort

The four of us hiked together until where the Lake Edison Trail met the JMT. At this point Art, who was doing a loop hike and not the entire JMT, split from us while we continued south. The trail immediately starts a 2000 ft. climb up to Bear Ridge. Steve started motoring and left Ryan and I behind in no time. The two younger guys couldn’t keep up. Ryan was struggling a bit with his new resupply with about 10 days of food. On the top of the climb, we stopped to rest for a bit and met Mark and Misty. Mark had done the Appalachian Trail and most of the the Pacific Crest Trail. He and his fiancee Misty were taking a year off to travel around the world, starting at various national parks in the US, followed by New Zealand, South East Asia and India. Their travels are chronicled in their blog.

Ryan and I moved on. Shortly after we saw Marty and Ross, a couple from Connecticut who had previously completed the Appalachian Trail. They were on the Lake Edison ferry in the morning, but I hadn’t had a chance to talk to them until this point. After filtering some water, I told Ryan to go ahead of me since he was planning to finish the JMT days before me and was in more of a hurry. The plastic tip where the clean water comes out of my filter had been cracked for days and it finally broke. I could no longer hook up my Platypus hose to the filter. This worried me a lot since I might had to resort to my emergency purifying tablets, and once those run out that could mean drinking unfiltered water.

Pacific Crest Trail Sign

For a long while the trail was pretty uneventful. Lots of trees, no lakes, very few views of mountains. I stopped at Upper Bear Creek to get more water. I tried using the filter upside down, and let the outcoming water drip into Platypus container’s mouth. It was a lot of more work than using the hose but at least this way I could still use the filter for the rest of the trip. Just before I finished filtering, I was joined by Jack and Kathy, who I had met briefly at Rush Creek a week before. I was really surprised to see them since they were planning to finish the JMT about 10 days after me. They were way ahead of schedule. We chatted for a bit before I moved on.

I run into Ryan again right before reaching Rosemarie Meadow, which is where I had planned to stop for the day. Ryan convinced me to push for another 1.5 miles to Marie Lake. I was tired but thought that the views at the lake would be worth it.

Ryan hiking the last few feet of a long 15-mile day

I was glad I made that decision. Marie Lake was beautiful. We settled at the southern bank of the northern lake. Mike and Andy, two guys also doing the JMT were already there. The four of us had dinner together before taking pictures of the sunset. The three of them all had professional photography equipment and I’m sure they took much better pictures than me.

Marie Lake

Campsite by Marie Lake

On this long day, I met a lot of nice people but scenery-wise, I felt it had been pretty underwhelming until the end. Marie Lake saved the day. Looking at the guidebook before falling asleep, I realized I had reached the 100-mile mark on the JMT.

John Muir Trail Journal Index

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for August 28, 2009.

On this planned rest day, I woke up around 7am to use the restroom and decided go to the cafe to get breakfast instead of going back to sleep. I ordered a huge breakfast with pancakes, hash browns, sausage, and eggs. Jon ordered the same but only took a couple of bites since he had to board the ferry.

I rented internet for 24 hours for $20. The laptop they gave me was slow as hell. Opening up a website would take many minutes. I wanted to check my SPOT Satellite Messenger page online but gave up after an hour or so. There was only one laptop, so if for example four people rented internet for 24 hours, they’d have share same machine.

I had the best pastrami sandwich I’ve ever had for lunch. Byron the cook was amazing. After lunch I did some laundry. Ryan and I combined our clothes since each of us only had a few items.

I was pretty bored the rest of the afternoon. Since I was one day ahead of schedule, one possibility was to take another day off at Vermilion, but after that afternoon, I couldn’t wait to get back on the trail. I think my body got used to the hiking everyday and sitting around all day made me restless. I was definitely getting back on the trail the following day. The original plan was to do the JMT in 25 days, ending on a Thursday to take the bus from Lone Pine to Los Angeles on a Friday. Since that bus only run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I would now have to do it 23 days.  With no more planned rest days the rest of the way, I decided to combined the last 2 days (Guitar Lake to Mt. Whitney to Whitney Portal) into one long 17-mile day.

At night, I had dinner with Ken, Payge and Gary, the repairman of the resort. I had a “lighter” dinner by ordering a chicken salad. I didn’t think I could handle one more big greasy meal. I couldn’t resist getting the apple pie for dessert though.

Vermilion Valley Resort

John Muir Trail Journal Index

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for August 27, 2009.
Approximate distance hiked: 11.8 miles, 19.0 km.

While backpacking I sleep just as well as when I’m home. I had 11 hours of sleep and I don’t think I woke up at all during the night except once to pee.

Once again it took me a while to get ready. My everyday morning routine was the following:

• get bear canister
• eat breakfast
• roll up and pack sleeping bag and pad
• pack rest of the gear to clear the inside of the tent
• shake the morning dew off the tent
• lay out tent for drying
• filter water
• brush teeth
• wash face
• apply sunscreen
• pack tent
• organize guidebook and maps so that only the sections needed for the day are carried in my pocket

Being cold in the morning and the fact that I’ve never been a morning person meant that sometimes these tasks were performed in super slow motion. I realized that I should have brought a down vest or something similar for more upper body warmth. I wasn’t warm enough during most mornings and nights. On this particular day it took a while for the sun to dry up the tent. I wasn’t even sure it was necessary to do this every morning, but I thought that having a nice dry tent later at night would be worth it.

I would have to pick up the pace to cover the 12 miles to Lake Edison to catch the 4:45pm ferry to Vermilion Valley Resort. Right away, the trail climbs 1200 ft. to Squaw Lake, an excellent camping spot with amazing views.

Squaw Lake

Nice wooden sign

After a short and easy climb of 600 ft., I arrived at Silver Pass.

Silver Pass

Silver Pass, looking south

The first 2 miles or so coming down of Silver Pass is a very gradual descent. The trail is pretty smooth I had that blissful hiking feeling again. What a great sensation. The weather was perfect, I kept a nice pace, and there was nobody around me. Only me and nature. The trail got pretty steep and rocky after this stretch. I stopped around 1:30pm in a spot with excellent views for some salami and cheese.

Nice views during lunch

I think I left my swiss army knife in that spot because I couldn’t find it later on. The trail got progressively worse. The large amount of horse crap didn’t help either. Even though I was in a bit of a hurry, I still made sure to not get sloppy an get injured. Terrain-wise, this was definitely the worse stretch of the JMT so far. It flattened out a bit the closer I got to Lake Edison. I saw a little fox walking on the trail without a worry in the world until it saw me and run away scared.

Lake Edison junction

I got to the ferry landing spot at Lake Edison at 4:15. I still had 30 minutes to sit down and relax. The four Czechs got there shortly after. The exact ferry landing spot varies depending on the water level.

Lake Edison ferry information

Lake Edison ferry

The ferry got there a few minutes early. If Buzz and J-Man (who I met at Yosemite and Tuolumne) were on schedule, they should be leaving the resort this day to continue their hike. They were in fact among the people getting off the ferry. It was great to see them again. We chatted briefly and they introduced me a nice gentleman named Tom. The ferry was leaving so we said goodbye and hoped to see each other again at Lone Pine at the end of the hike.

The ferry was pretty full, about 16 passengers. There was Jon, a young Canadian guy living in San Francisco who I saw walking by the campsite earlier in the morning. I also met Ryan, who I later found out is also a big fan of backpackinglight.com.

Dogs enjoying the ferry ride

Vermilion Valley Resort is very nice. It has a little store with backpacking supplies, a cafe with excellent food, a large fire pit, two restrooms with showers, washer and dryer and a few tent cabins with beds inside. First night is free in the tent cabins. Alternatively, one can also camp for free on the campground. Tent cabins #3 and #4 were open. Cabin #3 had four bunk beds while #4 had four single bed. I naturally picked #4. Jon and I went to the cafe to grab dinner. We were later joined by two guys from Napa Valley (I can’t remember their names). They were having Mexican food night and I got one beef and one chicken taco, along with rice and beans. Huge portions! Washed it down with a nice cold beer (first drink is on the house). I took a short break from eating before getting an apple pie with ice cream for dessert. I also saw Ken and Payge who I had met at Reds Meadow. Payge had huge blisters on the back of both her heels and if they didn’t get better in the following few days, she would not be able to finish the JMT.

I took a nice hot shower afterward but had to get back in my dirty clothes again. Laundry would have to wait until the next day. Later in the evening, we all converged around the fire pit along with some of the resort employees (Jarem, Kyle). Most people called it a night around 9:30pm, but a few of us stayed behind for a while. I was nice to have some human contact, plus the following day was a day off. A bear came to visit the resort that night, a few of the people saw it but I couldn’t see it in the dark.

John Muir Trail Journal Index

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for August 26, 2009.
Approximate distance hiked: 12.9 miles, 20.8 km.

It was another cold night. I checked the temperature inside the tent around 6:30am and it was 32º F (0º C). The mosquitoes came back with the warmth of the sun. Across the creek, I saw the Czechs cooking breakfast and packing up. I took my usual sweet time and left Deer Creek around 9:45.

The next 6 miles to Duck Pass Junction was described in my guidebook as one of the most monotonous of the entire JMT. I’d have to disagree since I enjoyed this section, especially the views of the Silver Divide to the south. There’s no water in this stretch so I made sure I loaded up before leaving camp.

Silver Divide

I saw the Czechs again at the creek just before Duck Pass Junction. They were getting water and I figured this would be a nice spot to stop for lunch. I had 2 hummus and bacon tortilla wraps and some peanut M&Ms. It was way too much food and I could barely move afterward. There is small climb after the junction and I struggled as if someone had added 50 lbs to my backpack. I realized how bad of an idea it is to climb uphill after a big meal. There were nice views of Cascade Valley at the top of the ascent.

Cascade Valley

I met Rudy, who was doing the JMT south to north in 30 days. This was his second year in a row doing it, and he was on a 1000 calories/day diet. I know I would be miserable eating so little but he seemed to be feeling great. We had a nice 15 minute conversation before going our separate ways.

I saw a fresh pine cone drop right in front of me on the trail, it looked like it had just been cut off from the tree by some animal (maybe a bird?). I waited quietly from a distance for a while to see if an animal would come and claim it, but nobody came.

Fresh pine code

I also saw a small lake and its water had a beautiful glowing blue color.

Small lake

The Czechs were taking a break at Purple Lake when I got there. They seemed to stop at every lake and creek and I wondered if they would in fact finish on schedule. A couple of miles later I arrived at Lake Virginia, where I stopped for a little snack and met a duo doing the JMT. I can’t remember their names but it was a young guy with his father in law. We noticed that we were both carrying SPOT Satellite Messengers. Their plan was to finish in 14 days and they told me that the long days were starting to take a toll on them.

Lake Virginia

The trail continues on to Tully Hole, then runs side by side with Fish Creek for a while. I descended some switchbacks and at the bottom I crossed the creek through a wooden bridge.

Fish Creek bridge

Shortly after the bridge and just before Cascade Valley Junction, I found a nice campsite right by the trail. The young guy with his father in law stopped by a bit later for a short break. The young guy asked me about my gear and told me he was amazed at some of the lightweight gear he had seen on the trail. I showed him some of the weight saving things I’ve done with my toiletries, such as the toothpaste dots, and told him to go to backpackinglight.com for more ideas to lighten the load. It would have been nice to share the campsite with them, but they had to keep going since their plan was to go over Silver Pass that day. They were going to hike in the dark with headlights if necessary.

The mosquitoes at this spot were even worse than the previous night. It is a very nice campsite though, surrounded by mountains and offering impressive 360° views. I finished the chores quickly and got inside the cozy tent to escape the mosquitoes around 7:30pm.

John Muir Trail Journal Index

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for August 25, 2009.
Approximate distance hiked: 7.5 miles, 12.1 km.

The clothes I washed the previous day were still wet in the morning. I chatted briefly with the girl that dropped by Reds Meadow Backpackers Campground late the previous night. The other guy had already left. The girl’s name was July or Julie, and she was doing the JMT northbound by herself. She started by climbing Mt. Whitney with 50 lbs on her back. One tough girl. She was on her way to Tuolumne to meet up with her father and hike the last stretch to Yosemite Valley together.

I met up with the Jason, Payge and Ken for breakfast at the Mulehouse Cafe. Ken is a former NFL player and Payge has traveled all over the world and is currently writing a book about her adventures. You can check out her blog at TurnThePayge. Great conversation with great people. We all ate too much (pancakes, eggs, bacon, etc) and decided to take the shuttle back to the campground instead of walking the 0.2 miles. So lazy. Jason thought for a while about going to Mammoth to buy a pair of long pants. In the end he decided to suck it up and continue on with only one pair of shorts. I regret not exchanging contact information with him to find out how the rest of his trip went.

I said goodbye to my fellow JMT hikers and left Reds Meadow to continue my journey. Right away I saw a huge number of burnt trees from a 1992 fire.

Burnt trees close to Reds Meadow

Burnt trees close to Reds Meadow

The trail climbs up until reaching the base of the Red Cones. I decided to do the short side trip to the top of the southern Red Cone. There was no marked trail and my feet were sinking in the red soft sand, making the steep climb a bit difficult, but the views were worth it. At moments, it got pretty slippery but having the hiking poles helped a lot.

Views from top of southern Red Cone

Northern Red Cone

Burnt trees viewed from top of Red Cone

One the way down I got lost for a while. Since the southern Red Cone is covered in trees, on the way down (or up) it is really hard to tell which way you are going, you can’t really see the top or the bottom. I was coming down on the northern side of the cone instead of the eastern side. For a little while I was totally disoriented. I panicked for a little bit and fantasized about being stranded for days before realizing how ridiculous that was. I took out my map and compass and realized I had to go south-east to rejoin the JMT. I soon run into a stream and I assumed this was the same stream I crossed on the JMT before going off-trail to climb the cone. I followed the stream and soon rejoined the trail.

A small blister was developing on the back of my right heel. I stopped to put some moleskin around it before moving on. The next stretch of the trail was covered in trees and didn’t offer any expansive views. At 3:30pm I reached Deer Creek Junction, my intended camping spot for the day since they is no more water for the next 6 miles. I set up camp, ate some salami and cheese and relaxed a bit. I then saw the group of 4 from the Czech Republic, 3 guys and 1 girl. Jason, Payge and Ken had told me during breakfast about 4 Czechs with huge backpacks. They indeed had very big backpacks. They stopped by the creek and I went to say hi. They told me they were 2 days behind schedule. They had their return flights booked and had to finish the JMT by a certain day. They decided to camp on the other side of the creek.

I washed my legs and feet which were covered in dust. Ate again around 7pm. The sun was going down and the mosquitoes were out in full force. Some people had told me that I didn’t have to worry about them this late into the summer, but there were definitely tons of them in this spot. I quickly finished the last of the camp chores and hopped in the tent around 7:45. About 5 mosquitoes got inside in the few seconds I opened the tent door. I had to hunt them down one by one.

John Muir Trail Journal Index