2017 John Muir Trail

Igor and Leah at Home Bacon and eggs to be lingered over for brekkie, so we get a late start, Igor and Leah try to persuade us to stay another day, I'm agnostic on that. We're backtracking our route and forget about a long stretch of road with no gas stations, the last one in this direction is in a tiny town in Utah and we blow right past it. The gas light comes on miles from nowhere, we try to use the GPS to find a gas station but nothing comes up, I slow down to try and conserve, we don't think we can make it to Beatty, it's still a long way off as we turn onto US 93 that will take us into Las Vegas. Luckily this stretch has a lotta downhill, I let the car coast along for a bit till we down to around 50 and then speed up gradually, there's a big tractor trailer behind us that looms large, they're usually not real happy about being slowed down. We make it to Beatty and coast into town on fumes, a big gas station suddenly appears on the right and the

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

Ice on the Trail After Evening Weather Mather Pass It's a cold morning, there's frost on my crocs, it's the first frost we've seen, bit ominous. It's 1500' up to Mather Pass, looks like a couple of steeper sections, particularly towards the top, likely some switchbacks. It's icy on the way up, slushy stuff fell last night and has frozen on the trail overnight, bit tricky to walk on, we make good time to get there. There's a great view out over the next valley, it seems quite flat and we can see the trail winding off into the distance, where there's a tree line. Hikers look like ants below us. Down off the pass and into the valley, it's just gently sloping downhill and a very comfortable treadway, we make great time moving along quickly, passing the big group from UC Davis who have also stopped for lunch by a stream. Down into the Upper Basin From Mather Pass The creek is a rock hop to cross, there are 3 different options an

Nutella for Brekkie Only 8 miles today so late start again, somehow not feeling great in the morning, things improve as we start moving. The trail follows Palisade Creek up the valley, we're as clean as you can get under the circumstances, the valley is surprisingly hot and humid though and we begin to sweat and smell a bit, ala East Coast, bit of a bummer after spending all that time getting clean. We stop for a bit of break where a bunch of creeks seem to come together, Cataract creek comes crashing down from a side valley to join Palisade Creek, and another creek comes in from the right so we got some crossing to do, it does make it easier to figure out where we are. Lunch by the Stream, Great Spot Further up the valley there's a great rest spot by the stream, one of the nicest on the trail, the creek comes tumbling down through a series of rocks slides and water falls from the lake above down into the valley and there's a nice flat spot just above a waterf

Small Pretty Lakes on the Way Up Muir Pass We bounced out early to get a good start on the day, it's 5.7 miles up to Muir Pass, another bright sunny morning by the lake and the wind has dropped off a bit after a very blowy night. There are a couple more lakes on the way up to keep us energized, we're feeling much better this morning and we get up the pass without too much trouble, there's a beautiful old hut on top that's for emergency shelter only, no overnight stays unless the weather is bad. The hut is well made, almost all stone, it's been surveying Muir Pass since 1930, the Sierra Club put the whole thing together, musta been quite a project back in the day to haul building materials up the mountain. Inside the Stone Hut Atop Muir Pass We spend about 30 minutes on top checking out the hut and admiring the view while snapping some pix, then a winding trail across some snow banks to start down towards LeConte Canyon and the Bishop Pass trail junctio

Sapphire Lake Feeling a little better in the am, no shovels in the woods this morning, a good sign, there was another camper in the area last night and she's down by the stream getting water as I head down to do the same, for some reason I tell her about our ailment and she's very sympathetic. Her name is Sarah and she's doing a part of the JMT. Elena goes down a bit later and bumps into her as well and is surprised when she brings up our predicament, she offers us Imodium and Pepto Bismol to soothe our tummies, very kind offer, apparently she carries a lotta this stuff, we don't use the I modium for now, no cramps. Our plan is to go talk to the Ranger in the cabin just about 200 yds North and see what options he might be able to suggest and then make a decision, even though we feel better we're very weak and have a climb coming up in a few miles. He's temporarily gone to the privy just up from the cabin so we sit to wait, he's very friendly and not

 As we pack up, Elena complains of not sleeping well and having some tummy issues, I feel fine for now. The program for the day is to climb up into Evolution Valley, which is rumored to be one of the most spectacular parts of the trail. It's not far outa camp the ascent begins, feel OK for a bit and then cramps begin. Evolution Creek Tumbling Out of the Valley The scenery going up is spectacular, Evolution Creek tumbles down to meet the San Joaquin in a series of waterfalls and slides, we're feeling worse and worse, Elena goes to poop on the way up, my cramps are getting worse, there's a crossing of Evolution Creek coming up and as we arrive I gotta rush off into the woods, shovel and toilet paper in hand. Evolution Creek Meandering Through the Meadows It's a croc crossing, no rocks to hop on. I'm now starting to feel very tired, a symptom of the body fighting the disease, whatever it is. We pass another hiker going North, no big pack and as we get closer