Journal entry for September 4, 2009.

It took me 2 and 1/2 hours since the moment I got up to when I hit the trail after 10am. I was on vacation, so I wanted to sleep well and not feel always rushed.

As soon as I started hiking, I heard a horse pack coming up behind me. It was a group of hikers on a guided tour doing the second half of the JMT. I picked up my pace right away, not because I was trying to avoid the hikers, but because I didn’t want to walk on a trail full of fresh horse crap.

Physically, I was feeling great. The blister wasn’t bothering me anymore, the switchbacks felt pretty easy to climb, and I almost didn’t notice the weight of my backpack. The weather wasn’t looking too good however, with lots of dark clouds in the sky. I went to visit the Bench Lake Ranger Station but couldn’t find the ranger for some weather info.

Bench Lake Ranger Station

I saw the friendly ranger 5 minutes after getting back on the trail. He told me that a storm was expected for the afternoon and through the weekend. I started to hike faster, trying to go over Pinchot Pass before the rain.

Nasty clouds on top of Pinchot Pass

About 1/2 a mile before the pass, it started to rain. As I stopped to put on my rain jacket, I heard lightning and saw a thunder hit the top of the pass. I made a U-turn right away. I run into the guided tour group as they were marching on despite the storm. The guy who cared for the horses in the group asked me if I was turning around, I said yes and he told me that that was the smart thing to do. I asked him if he wasn’t afraid and his reply was “No choice”.

Suddenly rain turned into hail. I run around looking for a spot to set up my tent. I couldn’t afford to get my clothes wet. I found a semi adequate spot and waited the storm out in the tent, which lasted only about 30 minutes, while eating lunch. I started to realize that I didn’t plan enough sweet food in my diet. I was constantly craving for it.

Coming out of the tent after the hail storm

I initiated my second attempt for Pinchot Pass (12,050 ft, 3673 m). As soon as I start hiking, it started to rain again, although lightly. I also heard thunder again, but it was from far away. I decided to suck it up and keep going. The climb was easy. Once on top, I took a quick video and got the hell out of there.

Looking back north, right before Pinchot Pass

Looking south from Pinchot Pass

The 3.7 miles from Pinchot Pass to Sawmill Pass Junction was very enjoyable. It never stopped raining but it was never hard enough to damp my pants. I really liked hiking without the usual punishing sun. I did this section in no time and caught up to the horse pack.

John Muir Trail sign

The terrain got tougher after the junction so I had to slow down a bit. The trail runs right next to Woods Creek for 3.5 miles before arriving at Woods Creek Junction, where I was going to end the day.

Woods Creek

Woods Creek

There was an note by one of the sings right before the junction, saying that there was a toilet available close by and urging hikers to use it instead of burying their waste.

Note about availability of toilets

There’s a very cool suspension bridge to cross the actual creek. I had seen a video of the bridge before the trip and was really looking forward to cross it. It was a lot of fun.

Woods Creek suspension bridge

Woods Creek suspension bridge

It waited 15 minutes to take the video of the bridge since there was someone cleaning up on the other end of it and I didn’t want him to be in the video. There were a few campsites right by the bridge. I picked one right before the horse pack arrived. The same guy who cared for the horses I had talk to earlier told me that they were gonna set up nearby, and that if I wanted a little more piece and quiet, I could camp on the a few spots about 30 yards away. I followed his advice. One by by, the ten or so hikers in that group arrived at the site. It was quickly getting dark so I at dinner and did my chores in a hurry.

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for September 3, 2009.

I woke up to good news. The rain had stopped. Apparently it didn’t rain that much at all. There was also almost no condensation inside the tent, which was strange. I spend a ridiculous half an hour cutting the moleskin for my blister. The knife was pretty much useless.

Deer Meadow campsite

Once I joined the trail, it started to climb up immediately. I saw two deers right away. I guess that’s why they call it Deer Meadow. I then encountered a few switchbacks which at the time made me believe were the famous Golden Staircase. I had been looking forward to it since quite a few hikers had mentioned how impressive it was. These switchbacks were not impressive at all, I thought. I continued on and was getting closer and closer to an extremely tall and steep wall of rock. I was starting to wonder how I was going to go around it since on one side was Palisade Creek and on the other was a huge mountain. I wondered this until I saw the real Golden Staircase, switchbacking up the face of the wall. I was very impressed now. The engineering and the amount of work it must have taken to build it were amazing.

Looking back at Deer Meadow

Golden Staircase

Golden Staircase

One last look back at Deer Meadow

For the first one the JMT, my legs were feeling the climb. Before this point, when I got tired it was mostly from running out air, but not muscle fatigue. The following next 5 miles to Mather Pass seemed very long to me.

Heading toward Mather Pass

I met a older couple doing a 3 day hike. The lady told me that her husband was stopping at every lake to fish. I found a nice spot at Lower Palisade Lake before moving on.

Upper Palisade Lake

Palisade Lakes right before Mather Pass

The final ascent to Mather Pass was very rocky. It had to watch each step very carefully to avoid spraining an ankle. Since I miscalculated and didn’t bring enough water, I had to ration it on the way up. I finally hit the pass around 2pm.

On top of Mather Pass

I stayed on top of the pass for a while, enjoying the view, until I fell a few drops of rain fall. I scrambled and started racing down, but it turned out to be false alarm. The switchbacks immediately after the pass were very rocky too, but after a while the trail became very smooth and enjoyable. I stopped around 4pm for a snack and when I stood up again, my ankles were pretty sore.

I arrived at my Main South Fork Kings crossing, my intended camping site, around 5pm. Lots of streams and rivers in this area. Since it was still early, I did some laundry and washed my socks. It took me a long while to get them somewhat clean, so much dust were collected in them. I spotted 4 other people camping in the area but they were kind of far so I didn’t make an effort to go talk to them. All day this day, I had a numb feeling on both of my big toes. I later found out that it wasn’t an uncommon thing to happen in longer hikes.

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for September 2, 2009.

I was starting to realize how much a good night’s sleep regenerated my body. Usually after a long day’s hike, my ankles and feet would be sore, and my quads would be fatigued. But after a good night’s sleep, which was generally at least 10 hours, I would wake up fresh and with no pains.

Small lake west of Helen Lake in the morning

As usual, I was the last one to break camp. Brian and John left first, followed by Jack and Kathy. The trail continued its descent from Muir Pass. This stretch was beautiful, surrounded by huge beautiful mountains such as Black Giant, and plenty of waterfalls created by Kings River’s Middle Fork.

Kings River's Middle Fork

Black Giant on the left

I saw four people from Forest Service clearing bushes and trimming pine trees around the trail. I then saw 3 guys taking a rest from building new switchbacks. It looked like a lot of hard work.

Forest Service workers taking a break

I was hungry all morning. The Snicker and Cliff Bar I had for breakfast were not enough. It seemed like my appetite was getting progressively bigger as the days went by. I couldn’t eat all I wanted at each meal, but I was managing just fine. I stopped at Big Pete Meadow to eat lunch. My visit to Le Conte Canyon Ranger Station was uneventful since the ranger was out on patrol. I was hoping to get some weather information. Grouse Meadow was beautiful so I stopped there for a while to take it all in.

Kings River's Middle Fork

Grouse Meadow

Back on the trail, I soon arrived at Middle Fork Trail Junction. It was there where I saw Jack and Kathy again. They had set up camp and I took a long break to chat with them. They are my heroes. Married for 30 years and they gave each other a JMT hike as anniversary presents. They give me hope that a long and happy marriage is indeed possible. I said good bye to them knowing that I was probably not going to see them again for the rest of this hike.

With Jack and Kathy

I still had 3.6 miles to go until Deer Meadow. By this time, I was starting to feel the weight of the backpack again. My hope was that it was still the food resupply that was causing this, even though I was then carrying 7 days of food instead of the 10 days when I left Muir Trail Ranch. The blister from the previous day was starting to bother me again, but the worst of all was the chafing in the inner thighs. I was a bit worried that all this would dampen my enjoyment of the rest of the hike.

A couple of raindrops started to fall, making me pick up the pace.

Burnt forest right before Deer Meadow

I found a large and empty campsite at Deer Meadow. The rain had stopped by then. I dipped my feet in the stream but the water was freezing. I tried to start a fire but failed again. It didn’t matter though because rain started to fall again soon after. I hurried through dinner and chores and got in the tent around 7:30pm. Once inside, I accidentally caught my Platypus drinking tube’s valve underneath the sleeping mat and lots of water came out. Took me a while to do the best I could to dry the tent’s floor.

I think this was the first day on this hike that I missed a bit the comforts of home.

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for September 1, 2009.

I hit the trail around 8:15am. Jack and Kathy left about 45 minutes earlier than me. It was a cold morning and I started the hike wearing my fleece and the bottom halves of my convertible pants. At the beginning my backpack felt much more tolerable than the previous day, but soon after I went up some switchbacks that made me struggle a bit.

I arrived at Evolution Lake. From this point, the views of the Evolution Range Mountains were up close and very dramatic.

Evolution Lake

Evolution Lake

For a while, I tried to catch up to Jack and Kathy. After a few miles I realized this was pointless. I should just hike my own hike as long as I’m not behind my schedule. It was quite windy and somewhat cold. I run into a guy named Dexter who asked me “Is that you Kevin? From Los Angeles?”. I didn’t recognize him, he told me he knew me from some past web development (my actual job) project but that he couldn’t remember the specifics such as exactly when or where. It struck me as odd since I have pretty good memory and couldn’t remember knowing him from anywhere. He got me for a while and I was very confused. It turns out that he had just met Jack and Kathy and they had told him some info about me, and to look for me. What a character!

Right before  Wanda Lake, I felt a hot spot on my left heel. I stopped to check it out and confirmed my first blister of the trip. I applied moleskin around it. The knife I bought at Muir Trail Ranch wasn’t sharp at all, making the task of cutting the moleskin very time consuming. I also had lunch here, enjoying the impressive views of Mount Solomons.

Lots of frogs by Wanda Lake

Approaching Muir Pass

Big fat marmot

Looking back west, right before Muir Pass

Only a few more steps to Muir Pass

The climb to Muir Pass was neither steep nor hard. A few yards before reaching the top I met a group of 2 guys and 2 girls. One of the girls asked me “Are you Kevin? You just missed Jack and Kathy by 15 minutes”. It seemed that everybody on the trail knew my name. I finally reached Muir Pass (11,955 ft., 3,644 m) with pretty Muir Hut on top. Muir Hut was built to offer shelter to hikers caught in bad storms.

Muir Hut

Muir Hut

There were lots of people around the hut. Some checking it out, others waiting for the rest of their group to catch up to them. I stayed there for half an hour before starting my descent. The views to the west of Muir Pass were unreal.

Coming down west from Muir Pass

I planned to hike until a small unnamed lake west of Helen Lake. The 2-mile or so hike to the campsite has extremely rough terrain, which wasn’t helping my blister. I had to pay so much attention to where I landed my feet and hiking poles that I barely looked at the amazing scenery. Arriving at the unnamed lake, I was felling pretty beat. I saw Jack and Kathy waving at me from the distance. We shared the campsite with two very nice guys, Bryan and John. I had seen them the previous day on the trail. They were ending their trip the following day and had a huge bag of extra trail mix. Kathy and I devoured it in no time. A man looking for his daughter dropped by and asked me if we had seen her. We hadn’t. Luckily he was able to find her shortly after and camped closeby.

Looking west from campsite

I was hoping the blister wasn’t going to slow me down for the rest of the trip. I also had terrible chafing in my inner thighs and on the back of my knees. I didn’t have any moisturizer but Kathy let me borrow some of hers, which alleviated the problem a little bit.

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for August 31, 2009.

Mark, Misty, Mike and Andy were already on the trail when I woke up a little bit before 8am. Jack and Kathy were almost finished packing. I met Tom from Alaska, who camped nearby and whom I had met briefly a few days ago at the ferry landing spot at Edison Lake. He was nursing a shin injury and was hoping to get back on the trail soon. I wished him the best before hitting the trail.

My pack was weighting over 35 lbs (16 kgs) with the fresh 10-day resupply, and I struggled greatly on the trail. I know most people base packs weight more than that and do just fine, but to go from 15lbs to 35 lbs was a huge change for me. I also don’t think the Osprey Exos 46 was designed to carry that much weight. My shoulders were really strained.

The hike was beautiful, especially after crossing Piute Creek and into Kings Canyon National Park.

Piute Creek crossing

Kings Canyon National Park

I felt that a blister was starting to develop on my left foot. After close inspection, it was just one of the scratches I got crossing the river to Blayney Hot Springs the previous day. No big deal. I stopped at a very nice spot covered by very long and thin tress for lunch. It was a little windy and the trees were swinging left and right, making some cracking noises. Very cool.

Nice shady spot for lunch

For most of this section, the trail runs right by the San Joaquin River, so water was everywhere. After crossing the bridge over the river, a series of switchbacks make me struggle even more. All of my camp mates from last night had resupplies too and were way ahead of me. That made me wonder if I was the only having trouble. But just one look at the scenery around me made it all worth it. The trail now paralleled Evolution Creek and offered a series of small impressive waterfalls.

Evolution Creek

Soon after, I had to get barefoot and cross Evolution Creek. With the help of hiking poles this time, it was a bit better than previous day’s crossing. I was surprised there was not a bridge here and I could imagine this crossing to be difficult earlier in the summer. Not that I expect there to be a bridge every time there is a crossing. It was just strange because the JMT is so hiker friendly with its great number of well maintained bridges.

Evolution Creek crossing

After a while, I emerged from the forest I’ve been in for the last few miles and got my first glimpse of Evolution Valley. Many people had told told me how beautiful it was and they were absolutely right. It was very impressive. I was really looking forward to my intended campsite at McClure Meadow to end this long day. When I got to the McClure Ranger Station I knew the end was near. I chatted with the ranger for a bit, inquiring about the weather for the upcoming days. He told me that it should be dry for the rest of the day and the following day, but some moisture was expected after that, caused by the remains of a hurricane from Mexico. Yikes! Bad news. The ranger also told me that there was a very large fire in the Angeles National Forest, about 20 miles from home. More bad news.

McClure Ranger Station

Evolution Valley

A few steps from the ranger station, I found the campsites I was looking for. Right away I recognized Jack and Kathy’s tent. I was great to see them again. It was also great to put my backpack down. No sight of Mark, Misty, Mike or Andy. They must have pushed on and camped at Evolution Lake, about 3 miles down the trail. I had dinner but ate just enough to not feel hungry. I wanted to eat more but decided to conserve food with the storm coming in. With no rain gear, I might be stranded for a few days if it gets nasty.

Evolution Valley

What followed dinner was the best sunset I’ve ever seen in my life. Incredible views of Mounts Darwin, Spencer, Huxley and The Hermit. The scenery was unreal and the silence all around made the whole experience even more surreal. I’m an atheist but for that hour or so I felt spiritual. If I had died at that moment in that spot, I would have died happy.

Evolution Valley sunset

Evolution Valley sunset

Evolution Valley sunset

Evolution Valley sunset

Back at camp, Jack and Kathy had started a nice fire. We had a nice chat before retiring to our tents. Judging by how much I struggled, I was expecting a long 12-mile hike the following day. I planned to get up “early” (by my standards) around 6:30am.

John Muir Trail Journal Index

Journal entry for August 30, 2009.

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 campsites. 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

Journal entry for August 29, 2009.

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

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

Journal entry for August 27, 2009.

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 on 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

Journal entry for August 26, 2009.

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 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

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