John Muir Trail Day 7 – Thousand Island Lake to Rosalie Lake
Journal entry for August 23, 2009.
Approximate distance hiked: 7.0 miles, 11.3 km.
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.