JMT Day 11: And Then There Was One

Jo & Misty decided at Muir Trail Ranch that weren't going to finish the JMT; the only problem was how to get home. MTR is on the west side of the Sierras, and not close to anything, so it turned out the easiest (and most scenic) route for them was to do the 4-day hike south exiting at Bishop Pass. As I had a deadline to keep with my next resupply and miles to make, I headed out solo this morning.

The first hour out of MTR was pretty forgettable, just a rocky trail beside water rushing through a rocky ravine. Then as the sun got hotter, the trail got steeper until it turned into 1.8 miles of thigh-crushing rocky switchbacks until it finally plateaued at the Evolution Meadow. With a bear canister bursting with 6 days of food, my pack was at the heaviest it'd be for the whole trip, and my whole body was feeling it. I stopped for a half hour rest creekside to have lunch & soak my toes

only to have to switch to Crocs just a little further down the trail for a 60' wet crossing of Evolution Creek so the feet got a double dose of cooling today!  The trail was then flatter and roamed between well-spaced pines and sunny granite boulder flats = never any real escape from the heat.

I finally turned a corner into McClure Meadow and everything just got better. (See pic above) The view towards the end of the valley was stunning, and before me a lazy shallow river so inviting I stripped off my pants & shoes and plopped down in the middle of it for a refreshing lazy man's laundry! I laid down on a granite flat to dry and almost fell asleep. The draw to spend the night right where I lay was very strong but if I did I'd be hitting Muir Pass too late in the afternoon tomorrow to still make a decent campsite so I so very reluctantly packed up at 3:50pm to hit the trail for another 3 miles.

As tired as I was, this was my favorite hiking of the day: lots of shade, the birds were chirping, a soft wind blew in tree tops, the wildflowers reappeared and thankfully the sun was at my back. 

Another favorite campsite:

Today's Miles: 13.5?

I met a podiatry student hiking the JMT northbound today. She stopped me for a 10 minute survey on feet, blisters, general aches & pains. Certainly one way to find a test group!

JMT Day 10: Day of Rest

A zero day! We will accomplish exactly zero miles on the JMT today and will be loving it! We slept in till 6:30am, had countless cups of fresh coffee and a large breakfast. Chatted with fellow resortees about their days' plans. Fussed with "Mabel", the old-fashioned washer and the wringer-thingy trying to get our laundry from dirt-black to at least mangey grey.  There was more resupply rustling and backpack fussing, hot tubbing and hammock testing, cat petting and napping, and of course eating to do!

Today's Miles: 0

JMT Day 9: Halfway!!!

Selden Pass, Pass #4!  Twas just a few hundred feet above Marie Lake and so most of our day was spent hiking down, down, then steeply down into Muir Trail Ranch.  

2nd breakfast was spent at Heart Lake

a quick breather at Sallie Keys Lake

then lunch on the dusty trail overlooking the MTR valley

The drop to MTR was painful, but we were thrilled to be going south & down with near empty bear canisters (Misty!) than north & up & full & heavy.

MTR was an oasis after 9 days hiking. We had to deal with our resupply first; then, along with Shannon & Ed who are also staying here,  we had the grand tour of the resort before being shown our rustic 3-bed tent cabin. With proper walls and mattresses, we were in heaven. We had a soak in both of their hot spring pools, relaxed in the lounge, then feasted on the fantastic dinner they served. We are going to really enjoy our zero day here tomorrow!

Ed & Shannon - so great to meet you! You both are such an inspiration to us and we are looking forward to hearing about the rest of your journey.

Today's Miles: 8.1

JMT Day 8: Marie Lakes

It turns out that we were not alone in our aerie of a campsite. Another couple of JMT southbounders had camped just above us and had actually come down last night to share dessert with us (a Snickers bar) but we had already climbed into our tents to escape the dusk mosquitos.

Scott, of Scott & Susan, returned in the morning to introduce himself and have a chat, which was very neighborly. And we leapfrogged each other for most of the day as we each happened to take a break at different times.

We finished the descent into and then along Bear Creek, taking our usual flower pictures and enjoying the view along the way.

The Bear Creek Crossing was another spot that had instilled fear in us - the water was waist-high, it was forceful enough to knock people over, etc, etc. Misty & Jo didn't even take their boots off to cross! I was leery of getting wet feet as I had low-cut shoes so I did put on my Crocs but it was no big deal.

(No, this wasn't the actual crossing!)

After that it was a slow climb towards Selden Pass but the scenery once again got prettier and prettier as we reached the treeline. 

Marie Lake looked so inviting that we even went for a swim!! Actually, it was only a brief dip as the water was so shockingly cold it was impossible to breathe but it was lovely to fully immerse oneself instead of having only bird baths for a change. Shannon came over from her campsite and joined us in the water and for a long talk on the granite beach. Her dad, Ed wandered over later and it was fun to hear about their JMT experiences so far.

Today's Miles: 6.8

JMT Camp Notes: Food

This took a lot of planning and research. I've never backpacked before so I had to rely on online advice on what to bring. I knew that once I was in shape, I liked to be fed every 3+hrs, so the ultra-lightweight hikers diet of mashed potatoes and oatmeal wasn't going to work for me. Nor was the pre-packaged stuff where you couldn't even recognize the ingredients. Additionally, everything for 3-6 days had to squeeze into a bear-proof canister.

Months ago I bought a dehydrator and spent much of the winter prepping food: ground beef, spinach, peas, corn, pasta, quinoa, chili, etc. From these I made all kinds of meals: Tex-Mex, Chix Pesto Tortellini, Shepherd's Pie, Turkey Mushroom Pasta, meat/pot/veg, and so on. These I portioned out into freezer ziploc bags, which are heatproof, and those were my dinners. Add boiling water to cover, voila! Meal-in-a-bag. All have been good, some absolutely delicious. Move over Lean Cuisine, I maybe having dehydrated lunches from now on!

Lunches are peanut butter/jelly in  tortillas, rehydrated tabbouleh w/ chicken, rehydrated dried hummus or dried refried black beans in tortillas. Simple, fast, easy to digest.

Snacks. Lots of snacks for munching on the go. It's hard to hike after a big meal so lunches are small and supplemented with snacks, ie. Clif bars, granola bars, peanut butter stuffed pretzels, Snickers, peanut M&M's, cookies, etc. Anything with high carbs and high fat is good when you burn so many calories a day.

Then there's breakfast. Boring. Well, to me at least. As long as I can have my coffee, I'm good. Occasionally I'll add a bar or a rehydrate a little bag of ground beef/mashed potatoes that I made, but that's all.

JMT Camp Notes: Tenting

Ha! All I know about 'tenting' I learned on this trip. Besides 2 car camping adventures, I'd never done it before. And I actually slept in this tent only once before we left. So, this is what I know...

1. Get a good site. Sure, you want it to be scenic, but at the end of a long day hiking, you're gonna rinse off, eat, and go to bed so pretty doesn't figure into it too too much. Instead, you want good compact soil that will hold your spikes (not too sandy or underlying granite). 

2. Close enough to a water source to carry it back to camp yet far enough away the mosquitos won't follow you back. (Extreme example below but wind kept bugs away and it was legal)

3. Sheltered. Scott & Susan camped at Upper Palisades and had their tent collapse on them in a heavy wind, and another hiker's tent actually blew away before she could get in it and it ripped! So a tree break or big boulders are helpful near exposed areas.

4. Comfort. Ideally firm sand, but beneath trees are fine if you don't mind sweeping away tons of acorns else you'll have a lumpy bed (and potentially rip the tent floor). A couple flat rocks are nice for sitting and for setting up your 'kitchen'. And as lovely as sunsets are, you'll probably be in bed before they happen; it's positioning for the warming sunrise that you want.

5. Organization. Well, that'd be nice. One does develop a system after a while, especially as you only have limited gear with you. I tend to do the 'dump' first, then put it all around my sleeping space once I'm in. To each his own.

JMT Day 7: Bear Of A Day

We had constant brief showers through the night and so woke up to moisture spotted tents. Well, it kinda appeared that Misty & Jo's tent had showers inside the tent as well! It didn't appear that the sun would reach our little enclave to dry things out until well after it was time to go so we packed up the wet gear and set off once again.

The sky was thankfully bright blue as we set off along a very pretty slope to the edge of a valley, then 2300' and 5 miles of switchbacks down to Quail Meadow. 

We were fairly concerned about the immediate climb right back out of the valley as this was the dreaded Bear Ridge! 2000' in 5 miles with NO water sources. We contemplated staying at the Meadow, dry camping somewhere along the trail, or just sucking it up and doing it all. M&J feel slightly differently, but I thought it was a lovely, pretty easy hike. And it was so not as advertised! The start was through lush ferns with several streams, then abundant wildflowers and quaking aspens, and finally, steady well-graded switchbacks with a thick fir tree canopy. I went ahead and had a great time, snapping photos and leaving trail notes.

I knew there'd be cell reception at the top so I was able to post some blogs while M&J ambled up. We thought we'd had made it to the top but the darn Bear Ridge kept on going. The way was open and easy but it never seemed to end. 

We didn't want to descend to Bear Creek as we'd heard reports of it being buggy so as soon as we started going down we kept an eye out for a convenient water source, which happened to be a grassy trickle, then a spot to camp. I think we found our favorite place yet.

Total Miles: 11