Skip to main content

Day 163 - JMT Bear Ridge

Full-on cowboy attire was required for the dense smoke we encountered this morning as we climbed the steep Bear Ridge. We used bandannas to cover our nose and mouth, but had to remove them as we climbed, since we couldn't breath in enough oxygen with them on.  We could taste the smoke.

Bear Ridge went through a quiet, serene forest with some old growth trees.  This one was likely 500 years old.  We struck up a conversation with Bellingham Dude, a smiling gentleman from Bellingham, Washington during a break halfway up the ridge.  He was amused by our (especially Bob's) cowboy look.

Descending the ridge on the other side we found a natural water slide, and smartly deciding to break and slide!  We contemplated using our plastic bag pack liners to increase our speed, but thought better of risking our only rain protection to the rock.  Sliding felt wonderful and so fun, like a kid at a water park, but with the added solace of the outdoors.  

After two hours at the water slide, we packed up and hiked steadily uphill toward Seldon Pass.  We couldn't make the pass this day, but we could cut the distance for tomorrow.  We passed Bellingham Dude along the way, said hello and goodbye, and carried onward and up.  A view of the lovely mountains, cascading in the distance, was seen from a side-trail overlook.

We reached an open meadow named Upper Bear Creek Meadow and decided to stop and camp.  The mountain views were sensational in every direction and the creek flow mild and comforting.  We found a great campsite under dense trees and enjoyed the serene setting without a single human passing by all evening.

We ate dinner while watching the alpenglow descend over the far mountain ridges.  

Labels:

Comments

  1. David FrankstoneSeptember 22, 2015 at 11:43 AM

    Good timing for the water side photo. How many photos before you got that one?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 82 - Yellowstone to Montana

My alarm sounded at 5:30am, a time early enough for me to arise before someone found me secretly camping. The geyser prediction said Grand at 6:15am so I set out toward it.  I ran into geyser gazer Jim there and he said it likely erupted at 4:30-- missed it. Early morning eruptions are hard to predict as someone needed to have seen the previous overnight eruption in order to make a prediction. I walked on toward Artemesia, an unpredictable geyser at the far corner of the basin. I had seen her erupt from a mile away and wanted a closer inspection. The early morning setting was momentous, yet I didn't see a geyser erupt up close until Grand at 10:30.  Then Sawmill erupted with its twirling thirty foot action (pic).   The only remaining geyser left to experience on my mental list was Beehive up close. With a predicted window of 810 to 1210, I arrived at 1030 and waited until 1pm, before giving up. The sun was hot, I had read the geyser book cover to cover, and while seeing e...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 78 - Yellowstone Old Faithul Geysers

See Old Faithful, Grand, Lion and Beehive geysers erupt in 60 seconds:   http://youtu.be/tv7BPXW4x5g This morning was one of the most exciting mornings of my trip. It started off when I decided to take a long solo hike through the geyser field, leaving at 630am. Mist was still covering this dense geyser field as I walked from geyser to hot spring (20% of the world's active geysers reside here in this one square mile area).   Following a boardwalk, so not to get burned, I saw a man sitting on the boardwalk staring at an empty geyser hole. I asked him if he worked for the park service and he responded no-- he was an amateur geyser gazer-- he watched the geysers and recorded eruption times. He mentioned that we were quote "entering the window for Grand" -- geyser gazer speak for Grand geyser is about to go off. I walked a short ways to Grand and waited, one of a few at first and then one of a few dozen as a quick hour passed. The Geizer Gazer, Jim, instructed me on how to wa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 104 - Glacier to Vancouver

The hike up Balu Pass was supposed to be fairly easy, beautiful and dotted with waterfalls, but when I talked to the park ranger and learned that Vancouver was an eight hour drive away, I decided to skip Balu and drive west.  I left behind this pretty view.  And drove many hours through pristine mountains, fewer and fewer snow-capped ones the further west I drove. Some of the valleys were flooded to make reservoirs, leaving scenic sights.  I eventually made it to Vancouver and drove right on through to Point Roberts USA, a five mile by five mile coastal land just below the 49th parallel and thus in the USA. The park ranger had suggested this as a good place to camp but being late of the Thursday night before the Fourth of July there were no spots available. I drove around instead and stopped at a forested coastal park. After ten minutes of walking I came to my first grand Pacific view with Mount Baker 60 miles east.  The San Juan Islands and Orca Islands could also b...
Post a Comment
Read more