Skip to main content

Day 166 - JMT Muir Pass to LeConte Canyon

We woke up to wonderful reflections off Evolution Lake.  The smoke from the previous night was gone, leaving the high alpine (11,000+ foot high) mountains in stark relief to the morning sky.  We've settled on a 5:30am wakeup call combined with a leisurely breakfast and a 7-730am pushoff, as our smoke defense.  Get miles early!  We need to do 12-14 miles per day to make Mount Whitney, the famous trail finale, in seven days.  These mornings are so wonderful: we wake up in complete darkness, have hot coffee and a yummy breakfast at sunrise, then hike as the rising sun creates each new day.

We passed beautiful lake after beautiful lake on our way to Muir Pass.  When we reached Sapphire Lake, I felt compelled to jump for joy off a large boulder.  What a joy this life can be.

We reached the famous Muir Hut, an emergency shelter at 12,000 feet built by the Sierra Club in the thirties.  The remoteness of this pass and the danger of the terrain in storm conditions warranted its building.  The large stone plaque and moose rack inside gave a very hunting lodge feel.

The view going down the south side of the pass was rocky, remote and alluring.  I love nothing more than staring at layer after layer of rocky mountain.  My feet didn't like the view though: we had 3,500 feet to descend and my weary feet, used to my normal 175 pound frame, were collapsing under my new self+pack 215 pound frame.  My socks all had holes under the bridge of my feet and my insoles were beginning to hole-up as well.

Stopping at the "Rock Monster," we took a photo while being eaten alive, talked with a nice mother-daughters group from Oregon, and repaired our feet.  I cut two large, thick moleskin pieces, placed them under the bridge of each foot, and wrapped my feet with surgical tape.  It looked silly but this additional support was what my feet needed.

We pushed downhill ferociously, stopping for a minute to take this shot of the smokey mountains, fading sun, and happy hikers.

LeConte Canyon amazed us, the views improving with every step.  The surrounding mountains, some 3000 feet above us, rose from the ground without warning, with sheer rock faces resembling Half Dome and El Capitan in Yosemite.  We were laughing with joy-- "a real pinch me, I must be dreaming" moment.

Bob captured that "pinch me, I must be dreaming" feeling perfectly in this golden shot.  This day, LeConte Canyon was God.

Resisting the urge to camp in the otherworldly LeConte Canyon meadow, we pushed onward, finally turning up the adjacent valley towards "The Golden Staircase."  The Staircase was a series of steep switchbacks carved into a cliff, a big climb that preceeded a longer, equally steep climb to Mather Pass.  With nearly 4,000 feet to climb tomorrow, we marched forward as darkness set in.  We passed one decent campsite in search of a better one with a view, but the fire-burned hill territory had few good options.  We eventually settled on a small site with a large tree.  We did our chores (water treatment for me, cooking for Bob) and then collapsed in bed, exhausted after a brutal, memorable 19 mile day.
Labels:

Comments

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