2017 John Muir Trail

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...

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...