JMT - Day Nine

August 1, 2015
15 mi + 6 mi to VVR, 89 miles total
Lake Virginia to Vermilion Valley Resort

Courtney and I left Lake Virginia this morning at 7:00am after a nice breakfast watching the sunrise. The trail started downhill for three miles, then up for another three. It was quite hot even at 9:00am, so I listened to a podcast to get my mind off the hard climb. At the top was the beautiful Squaw Lake, the reward for our efforts. Heather and Jennifer were already there, so we stopped for a break with them, and then Courtney and I went for a swim.

When Andrew caught up we discussed our options for the evening: our destination was ultimately Vermilion Valley Resort, which was a few miles off the JMT. There were a few ways you could get there: you could walk one mile off trail to take a ferry from one end of the lake to the other, you could walk the full six miles around the lake to get to the resort, or you could take the Goodall Pass junction which shaved a few miles off the six mile trip. Courtney and I were planning on camping near the ferry tonight so we could take it first thing in the morning. Andrew, Heather and Jennifer were planning to hike to Goodall Pass today and hike all the way into VVR (Heather and Jennifer had yurt reservations there tonight). All of us were planning on taking a “zero” mileage day tomorrow and spending the day hanging out at VVR.

With our plans set, we hiked to Goodall Pass together and said goodbye, Courtney and I taking the JMT while the others took the junction. Courtney and I climbed Silver Pass, and the view from the top was so stunning that I was glad we had not skipped this part of the trail. We had lunch at the top and admired the view, though the abundance of fluffy cumulus clouds in the blue sky was worrying me.

After lunch we hiked down the pass, the storm clouds chasing us.

At 3:00pm we were only half a mile from our camp destination when the shies opened up and it started pouring. Courtney and I quickly put on our raincoats and tried to decide what to do. We didn’t want to set up our tent in the rain, so we decided to try and wait it out. We soon met two hikers named Steve and Evan who were in the same predicament. They suggested trying to hide under a nearby bridge to get out of the rain. In theory, this seemed like a good idea, but the wooden bridge was made of slats, and even crouching beneath it didn’t keep the rain from sloshing down through the gaps. We were soon soaked all the way through, and our packs were sitting in a lake of water under the bridge. The space was cramped and uncomfortable, and the river was rushing loudly too close for comfort. Pretty soon it started hailing, and after an hour, the rain had not let up.

Courtney and I reassessed our options. We had seen a sign nearby that claimed VVR was only four miles away, which would only be another two hours of walking. We decided to keep going instead of trying to set up camp in a deluge.

We struggled out from under the bridge, said goodbye to Steve and Evan, and took the trail around the lake. We discovered afterward that four miles really meant six – and it took us a slogging, miserable, soggy, exhausting three hours to get to VVR. It rained the whole time, cold, bone chilling rain that turned the trail into a river, and it seemed like VVR would never arrive. I started lagging behind and soon couldn’t see Courtney on the trail anymore. We were both starving, cranky and exhausted and couldn’t talk to each other without snapping.
When I finally rolled into Vermilion Valley Resort, I found Courtney and Andrew sitting warm and cozy inside the restaurant drinking beer. Every article of clothing I was wearing was soaked, and I stripped off my soggy boots and dropped them on the porch. I sat miserably with them, not trusting myself to talk without food in my stomach. The rain finally calmed down late in the evening so that Courtney and I could quickly pitch our tent. I passed out very quickly – we had covered 21 miles today and I was exhausted.

JMT - Day Eight

July 31, 2015
15 miles today, 74 miles total
Red’s Meadow to Virginia Lake

With another day of high mileage in front of us, Courtney and I again woke up at 5:00am to get ready. We snuck down from the loft and tried to creep around the kitchen where Cole was passed out on the sofa bed. Courtney and I packed up and soon Cole, Heather, Jennifer, and Andrew were awake and packing up, too.

The rain had died down, but the weather outside was still looking ominous. Heather and Jennifer were determined to get some miles done before it started raining again, so they left the cabin at 7:00am. Courtney and I weren’t far behind, geared up in our rain jackets and pack covers. But despite the weather prediction, the sky was mostly just overcast and a little drizzly.

Today was mostly uphill, but it was a slow, steady climb out of Red’s Meadow, so it didn’t feel as bad as the elevation map showed.

Courtney and I were feeling strong for most of the morning, enjoying the cool temperatures and admiring the view of the rolling mountains as we climbed higher. But by early afternoon we were already dragging, our feet sore and our bodies feeling run down. We found ourselves stopping every two hours to take a break, and we leap-frogged with Heather and Jennifer all afternoon. Andrew quickly caught up with us and we took a long lunch break beside Duck Lake outlet. I was feeling cold and exhausted right down to my bones, so Courtney and I cooked a hot meal on our stove to warm ourselves up. It helped our fatigue immensely.

We climbed up to Purple Lake, which was going to be our destination for the evening. Courtney and I stuck our feet in the lake and laughed when Andrew threw himself – fully clothed – into the water. Courtney and I debated going swimming, but quickly discovered that Andrew, Heather and Jennifer had plans to keep going another two miles to Virginia Lake. Not wanting to let our friends leave us so quickly, we decided to follow. It would also make tomorrow’s mileage shorter on the way to Vermilion Valley Resort, our next resupply.

Unfortunately, the last two miles to Virginia Lake were steep and rough. The distant storm was gathering again and the air was thick and humid. We could hear thunder and we worried about reaching our camp before it started raining. When we finally reached the lake, we ran the trail around the outside of it, looking for a good spot to camp. Andrew found a space to hold two tents and his tarp, so the five of us quickly set up camp under the trees. We made hot meals and collected water from the lake, and the rain held off until we were safely sequestered inside our tents at 6:00pm.

JMT - Day Seven

July 30, 2015
14 miles today, 59 miles total
Garnet Lake to Red’s Meadow

Courtney and I knew we had a long day today since we skimped on our mileage yesterday, so we were awake by 5:00am to tackle the miles. We were trying to get to Red’s Meadow today, which was our next resupply stop, and it was 14 miles away.

We tried to stay quiet packing up, but we woke up Cole, so the three of us watched the beautiful sunrise over Garnet Lake. Feeling refreshed by the beauty, Courtney and I hiked out of camp, passing by Heather and Jennifer’s tent on our way out. They were still sleeping, so we did our best to tip toe by.

We climbed out of the lake valley, passing by Shadow Lake, Rosalie Lake, and Gladys Lake along the way. They were all beautiful, though unfortunately the trek from Rosalie Lake to Gladys involved quite a bit of elevation change, so we huffed up switchbacks all morning. When we reached the top we took a break at Gladys Lake and dug through our bear vaults for snacks. The air was still cool, so pretty soon we were refreshed again and continued onward.

The final five miles of trail was all downhill, so we powered down it while blasting music from our phones. We still hadn’t run into any other hikers today, so we didn’t worry about bothering them with the music. I was reflecting again on my PCT hike through this area; I remembered it being a long, slow slog uphill and the mosquitoes were so terrible that I was half jogging, half crying through the swarm, desperate to get away from them.

This year, the mosquitoes were barely noticeable, and knowing how awful they could be, I was beyond thankful that they weren’t ruining our trip.

The last stretch before Red’s Meadow was hot and dusty, and soon we were covered in the dirt that swirled around our feet. We reached a natural wonder called Devil’s Post Pile first; it was a wall of columnar basalt that attracted quite a few tourists from the area. Once again Courtney and I found ourselves surrounded by people reeking of perfume, and felt quite out of place in our stinky hiker clothes and dusty backpacks. Courtney said she felt like an animal in a zoo the way the tourists gaped at us. But we were exhausted and our feet hurt, so we tried to ignore them as we stumbled our way around the area. The JMT near Devil’s Post Pile was confusing, so we got a little lost as we tried to find our way to Red’s Meadow. I was growing cranky and there was more uphill climbing to get to our destination, which didn’t help my mood. But despite having hiked for seven hours and fourteen miles, we arrived at Red’s Meadow at the early hour of noon – finished for the day!

Red’s Meadow was a packing station with mules and horses, secluded in the backcountry for those who were traveling the trail by stock animal. They also had a few cabins, a laundry facility, and a restaurant – which I remembered quite well sold amazing milkshakes. Courtney and I found the backpacker’s campground (a bit of a hike from the facilities) and set up our tent before returning to enjoy a burger and shake at the restaurant. Cole caught up with us in time for lunch, and we talked a lot about our home lives. We learned that Cole worked as a special effects technician, and his latest work had been on the new Marvel movie AntMan! He was a movie connoisseur and we spent a lot of time discussing our favorite movies and tv shows.

Fully sated by food and dessert, and our phones almost fully charged by now, Courtney and I debated about the best way to get a shower. Red’s Meadow had paid showers in the laundry room, so we decided to pay the $8 to get clean before attempting to do our laundry. After our showers, however, we discovered that Cole had secured one of the cabins at the resort and invited us to stay with him. We jumped at the chance to sleep in a real bed for the night – and promptly collected our things from the backpacker’s campground to bring back to the resort.

By then Sean and Cassidy had arrived and made the sad announcement that they had decided to leave the trail. They weren’t making the miles they needed to, and Cassidy’s knees had started hurting her. Instead, they decided to road trip their way home, and they had already gotten tickets to a bus to take them out of Red’s Meadow in the morning. It was a shame to say goodbye to new friends so soon, but we understood it was their best choice.

Heather, Jennifer, and a new friend named Andrew showed up in time to say goodbye as they boarded the bus to Mammoth. Cole extended the invite for his cabin to the three of them, so the six of us piled into the little A-frame and spent the evening divvying up our food resupplies and laughing with new friends. I discovered that Heather and Jennifer were also alumni from NC State – they had grown up in Raleigh, too – but now lived in San Francisco and Seattle, respectively, with their husbands.

Courtney and I took the creaky bed in the upstairs loft, and we fell asleep listening to rain start pounding on the roof outside.

JMT - Day Six

July 29, 2015
11 miles today, 45 miles total
Lyell Canyon to Garnet Lake

It wasn’t too cold last night, so Courtney and I woke up refreshed. We packed up camp at 7, which we discovered was much earlier than any of our camp-mates, but we wanted to tackle the rest of the climb to Donohue Pass in the early morning breeze. The climb was steep, but the air was cool and the views were beautiful, so I barely noticed the climb. My body was slowly becoming adjusted to wearing a pack again; it felt as though it had melded to my body and we were becoming one unit, working together. The altitude still stung my lungs, though, and my nose had started bleeding in the dry, high air.

At the base of Donohue Pass we paused beside the river to gaze down over Lyell Canyon and take photos of the snow-tipped mountain peaks. We took a long break to enjoy the views and I was again having flashbacks: Rotisserie, Sansei, Papa Bear, Honey Bunny and I wading through this very stream, laughing as Sansei stacked rocks to walk across and Papa Bear slipped and fell into the freezing water. It was as though I was watching a home video slowly in reverse, winding my memories backwards in time. It felt like just yesterday, and here I was again.

After our break, Courtney and I crested the top of the pass and then slowly descended the south side. We ran into a band of teenagers doing a weekend loop through the area. I was jealous imagining living close enough to this area that weekend backpacks through the Sierras were a normal occurrence. They looked exhausted under their heavy packs, though, and told us stories about the bears they had seen last night at their campsite.

Courtney and I continued on through wandering valleys and over rivers. We came to Island Pass later in the afternoon, which looked like barely a blip on the elevation map, but it proved worse than it looked. It was hot and without shade, and the trail was littered with horse and mule droppings that were roasting in the sun. The smell of it hung stagnant in the air, and the elevation of the climb made me suck in air with every breath; I felt like I was suffocating. The view from the top, however, was worth the effort. It looked down upon Thousand Island Lake, which was dominated by the Banner Peak. The lake itself was dotted with thousands of tiny islands, and looked too inviting not to stop for a visit. We hurried down to the shoreline and had a long lunch after going swimming. The glacial water was obviously very cold, but it was refreshing after such a hot morning.

At 2:00pm we continued on from that beautiful spot and passed Ruby Lake, then Garnet Lake. Both were stunning, but we could hardly keep going when we reached Garnet. It was only 4:00pm so we considered moving on, but both of us were tired and knew the next stretch of trail might be devoid of water sources. While we tried to decide, Cole showed up and pitched his tent near the lake, so we opted to stay. Unfortunately, the campsite we chose was very rocky and we had a difficult time pitching our tent. I borrowed some extra rope from Cole and we somehow managed to rig the tent around some rocks to keep it – sort of – standing. The sky was darkening with clouds, and I hoped it wouldn’t rain tonight because I didn’t think our lopsided tent would stand up to a harsh wind.

We cooked dinner while watching the sunset, and by dusk Sean and Cassidy caught up with us. Heather and Jennifer were not far behind, but they decided to hike to the other side of the lake before camping.

The evening beside the lake was beautiful; the clouds rolled over and we were rewarded with some beautiful colors before bedtime.