2017 John Muir Trail

Pretty Wildflowers Trailside  It's a quick packup and outa Dodge, we aim to get to the Whitney Portal for late lunch if possible, only 6.2 miles but 3300' downhill, nice little warmup hike for those going up to the peak. As always we're following a very pretty stream down and there are wild flowers trailside, a nice way to finish. I waited till we got outa the no poop zone before heading off into the woods, that opportunity comes at Mirror Lake, a small and pretty body just off the trail, looks like a popular spot to take a dip and Elena avails, I'm washed up a bit and feeling much better now, a group of hikers stops by and the guys plunge in the water, one naked and without a care. Quick Stop by a Waterfall We're flying down the trail but keep stopping when hikers ask us questions or just stop to chat so we're losing a lotta time, the plan was not to eat anything else till we got down to Whitney Portal where there are rumors of a cafe and cold beer

Cold But Determined Leaving Guitar Lake Up early to get up the mountain, 6:30am, it's cold and frosty, there's ice on the inside and outside of the tent, gonna make it heavier to carry, we find out later that the bottom is also frozen to the ground, and the water bladders have some ice in them, not frozen solid luckily, coldest morning yet. Trying to eat brekkie with gloved hands is a challenge, Nutella is like a rock so in a pocket it goes to warm up a bit, some hot water also helps. As we pack up a cheeky chipmunk comes along and tries to chase us outa the campsite, it keeps making circles and threatening noises, imagine the hide of this little guy after our crumbs. The sun pokes its way over the nearby mountains and we start to warm up a bit, it's slow going to pack up in the cold and we don't get going until 8:30, still dressed up to stay warm, into the sunlight and it's quite hot, outa the sunlight and quite chilly, hard to get a comfortable level of cl

Frosty Ground Near Our Campsite  No early rise today, should be an easier day, our strategy was to pass Crabtree Meadows where a lot of hikers go, that would put us closer to Mt Whitney for the next day, then an easy hike out to complete the journey, as well as giving more time on the peak. We're at a fairly high camp, our highest yet (that's gonna be every night now) and it's frosty in the am, there's grass by the ponds behind us covered in ice and it's cold in the woods minus sunshine. Gloves and hat go on, all the little campsite chores now take much longer, just getting the stove to light isn't easy in this kinda weather, one reason I gave up really cold weather backpacking. We keep running out into patches of sunshine through the trees to warm up a bit. The campsite is empty, the brother and sister crew hauled out early. We come to Bighorn Plateau fairly quickly, a wide flat area that looks like a great place to camp, other hikers had mentioned it

Stream Gurgling Down Off Forester Pass Gonna be a tough day, another long climb making 2 days in a row, even though only 8.6 miles, so we're up and out relatively early. It's 6.8 miles up to the pass and it starts off relatively easy and get's steeper as we go up. We can see that the trail is getting ready to pop outa the trees and get steeper so stop for 15 minutes to calorie up with a car for 15 minutes before attempting. It's steeper and winds around and I'm already feeling tired, we pass a couple stopped to rest trailside, we'll see them again a few times. The trail twists and turns around small peaks on the way up, then we're suddenly at the bottom of a large snow bank, we can see tracks leading up in the snow and also some off to the side, the treadway on the bank looks kinda tricky to me so off to the side and stay on a bit of slope, one foot on the dirt and one on the snow bank, makes it a little easier. Majestic Views On the Way Up to F

Finn Dome Reflecting Off Rae Lake Up early to catch Blake and get the spare fuel canister, meanwhile Sarah boils water for us for morning coffee. Blake shows up early too, guess he's keen to back to civilization after a few days in the mountains, the fuel canister is about 3/4 full, should be enough to get us through to the end. It's gonna be a long day, 9 miles and 3500' up Glenn Pass, nice to get an early start, we leave about 8:30 am, Sarah as usual lingers around the campsite. One of the highlights of the day will be the Rae Lakes complex, not too far from the pass, we hear along the bush telegraph how beautiful they are and they don't disappoint, there are some Asian fisherman trying their luck at the first one and we see a big rock formation towering over the lake, the fishermen tell us it's Fin Dome. Beginning to chafe a bit, undies have got too much salt in them so off they come and use Gold Bond medicated to try and keep it down, my experience in

Trail Maintenance Crew Near Pinchot Pass First poop since being sick, bit of a struggle and not much shelter in this area, it's high and there aren't a lotta trees, the trail is always in sight. It's only a short jaunt up to Pinchot Pass, on the way up we pass a trail maintenance crew reinforcing a part of the trail, one of the workers is maneuvering a huge rock down onto the trail, it looks a bit scary, can't help thinking the thing is gonna roll down on top of the other workers. On top and there are a couple of hikers there, an English lady who turns out to be a writer, and young guy who calls himself Jojo, she asks about Trump and mentions that she hiked for a while with a guy who was a Trump supporter and how odd she found it that someone could be out in all this beauty and support Trump, knowing some of the hikers back in the DC area I wasn't so surprised. Jojo and I have a discussion about Fascism, what it is and how to fight it. Switchbacks on