2017 John Muir Trail

Big Warm Hot Tub  Another gorgeous morning, we get up bright and early and head to the hot springs for an early morning, pre-brekkie dip to get us refreshed and hungry. We start off nice and hot, then to mid-temp pool, and then the lake to get that lovely tingly feeling before eating. I feel so warmed up after the cool lake that a 2nd hot spring not needed to warm up, it's the best feeling yet. We have brekkie on the rocks and cross the field to the river, this time crossing with the aid of the rope, much easier and the river is easier here to, shallower and not as fast. We pick up our "Homers Bucket" at MTR and sort through it, I've packed more than we need of some items like Toilet Paper so we give it away to other hikers while munching on some of the bars in the MTR hiker boxes, there are lotsa these, sorted by the kind of food inside. Then it's back inside the outfitter shack to check email and F1 results. A hiker who calls himself AWOL is around, I g...

Campsite Near the Hot Springs at MTR It's a spectacular morning after the storms of the night before, bright and clear with the washed blue sky, albeit a bit chilly. There's a mass backpacker exodus, we see lines leaving the area, again no hurry for us because we bookended by our mule train resupply on the 14th. It's an easy down on the trail until the MTR cutoff, that trail is steep and rocky and won't be great to come back up with fully loaded packs, there's a short cut that eliminates this section but also misses a few miles of the JMT so we'll just suffer through it. We're hoping for a cabin at MTR, it's kinda expensive but having a hot meal and a real bed is attractive, we talked to a woman who got in last night so hopes are high, we couldn't reserve online because it's a 2 night minimum, meaning it would be $700 for us. We see a large of backpackers at a trail junction, we're initially a bit nervous that they might be also l...

Wild Berries for our Oatmeal Brekkie No hurry today, we're taking it easy to get to MTR, it's 4.6 miles and 1,500' up to Selden Pass, a nice long and gradual climb. It's a blueberry and oatmeal brekkie for us, really makes the porridge taste much better, and we can use the Vitamin C. We pass some beautiful meadows along the way, and Elena finds wild strawberries trailside, they give an amazing boost to tired hikers. Buddha comes by as we pick and eat, and then we come to a stream crossing, he seems determined not to take his shoes off and marches away upstream to look for a crossing, we just take our shoes off and cross, nice and simple. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea, the other side is plagued with mozzies, it's a scramble to dry feet, put shoes back on and get outa the way. There's a tricky stream crossing by a lake, there's a couple going Northbound sitting by the side, the guy has his shoes off, the woman points to the best crossing an...

A Small Giant Sequoia  Biscuits and Gravy for brekkie, one of my favs, and to top it off I order an egg, they don't come however and gotta ask the waitress, who we now know quite well, to check, the cook has taken a quick break so it's not too quick, she makes up for it by coming back with an extra free egg, not too bad. A large group of hikers has gathered outside, we decide to weigh our packs while waiting for the taxi, my comes in at 34 pounds, ouch this is the heaviest pack I've ever carried, and we're relatively light, at MTR there'll be an extra two days food. Among the hikers waiting are some Forest Service Service workers, they're geared up with obvious maintenance tools like saws, axes, etc, attached to their packs, looks like they're out for a few days, and they're not dressed like rangers at all, there clothes look very work related, stained and a bit ragged, so it's a bit of a shock when one asks for our permits, at first I think ...

Relaxing on the Beach We have brekkie with Katya and Jim, then a walk by the lake as we wonder why it's named after Thomas Edison, this Edison company seems to be all over and wonder if they're related in this age of corporate mergers, the Bob Dylan song "Talking World War III Blues" with the line "but I didn't pay the Con Ed bill so the radio didn't work so well", Con Ed being the electric monopoly in New York City, Consolidated Edison, could they be related? Back for lunch and the menu is already getting a bit tired, gotta have the same salad I had yesterday, but at least they have some cold beer, which of course forces a nap in the afternoon. Elena in the Moonlight Apres nap and it's time to repack, they're resorting the resupply container (it's literally a small container like goes on a ship) and they can't find our resupply box, a moment of consternation until someone realizes that it's back in the store behind ...

The "Trail" to VVR We're anxious to get out early to make the taxi, a light brekkie of coffee, biscotti and bars and we're off at 7:30, make the trail cutoff by 8 and as we approach the short trail down to the taxi landing I see an older hiker packing up a lotta gear slowly, I stop to chat while Elena goes on to keep a place in line for the taxi. We talk for a minute about the trail and the taxi, it's no problem to get aboard, they have plenty of room and it's still early so time to chat, we talk about resupply and I mention the spread sheet kept by a guy in San Francisco named John Ladd which helps hikers coordinate resupply to keep the cost down, and he says "oh, that's me, I'm John Ladd", what a pleasant surprise to see him out on the trail like this, also headed into VVR to rest and resupply. He's camped in a great spot, right on Mono Creek, it feeds the nearby Edison Lake and is quite a flow of crystal clear water into the la...

Quick Morning Dip in Lake VA We get a nice easy start in the am after Elenas early morning bathe in the lake, flat then downhill through a beautiful gorge to Tully Hole and Fish Creek, which has no fish. Then it's 2000' uphill to Silver Pass and I somehow miscalculate the distance and it takes a long time to come. We stop across a bridge for a snack, it's another great spot by the raging stream coming down the gorge, we sit and admire the view for a while, then more climbing up to 800' from the pass, bit tired so stop again by a lake for another snack and a wash to refresh us. Beautiful Waters of Lake VA There's a snow bank near the pass, we ascend and there's a guy admiring the view and very willing to help with photos so of course we take the opportunity. Another snow bank just over the pass, amazing turquoise color with a snow bank to feed it, need to get a bit closer along the snow bank for a better shot. Silver Pass Lake is our spot for a late...