Day 158 - JMT Donahue Pass

As we climbed the hillside trail towards Donahue Pass and our exit out of Yosemite, the vista opened up, exposing high arête, glacier-carved walls and a rocky path up to a mountain pass. We took this portrait showing the color scope of the Sierras--pink flowers, yellow grasses, green trees, grey mountains and blue skies.

Near the first pass, the trail climbed further left, passing a high lake, and then up past the green trees to the rocky alpine tundra above. You always have further to climb than you think.

The view at the pass was spectacular. Blue mountains in the distance chanted to us--beckoning us forward, but smoke far in the distance reminded us of the challenges and likely early-ending that our trip could face.

After a few miles of dusty paths leading through pretty but mainly just rocky terrain, the view changed: a powerful, mystical, compelling mountain began to dominate our view and our minds. The blue mountains spiked into the sky, their sharp edges countering the smoothness of the lower grounds with masculinity and power.

Mount Ritter finally came into clear, epic view at Thousand Island Lake. We stood in awe.

We considered camping here but continued instead to the next lake, called Garnet Lake. We had been told by a friend that Garnet was the most beautiful lake in this area. How it could top Thousand Island was beyond imagination.

But it did. Ritter towered over the lake like a general over his army. We found a hillside camp with narrow, level camp spots perfect for us.

We settled in, cooked a great dinner, setup our bear hang and watched the sun set over Mt. Ritter and Garnet Lake, our first true show of nature's divine glory, since setting out yesterday. What a great life?! What a wonder?! I felt blessed and so very happy. This trip was going to be special.

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Day 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole

We got our first glimpse of smoke far across the valley as we climbed higher. Up on a ridge after a morning climb, we followed a side trail to an open viewpoint beyond the trees. Selfie:) The smoke, while visible, seemed to give the mountains a blue glow-- like a highlighter to a sketch. You could still see the edges of the mountain ridges, the story of their creation. We could hike in this. But the smoke looked worse farther south. Or it was getting worse as time rolled incessantly forward. On day two we had ran into a northbound hiker we nicknamed Speedy Steve. Speedy Steve had hiked 18 miles a day through eight consecutive smoke-filled days, including atleast three "very bad days" when he couldn't see the surrounding mountains, the sun glowed a haunting orange and ash accumulated overnight. On the way to Purple Lake we ran into three dirty, beat up, tired north-bound hikers with a similar story. They had to spend one night in an emergency hut at Muir Pass to avoid the...

Day 41 - Escalante Coyote Gulch

This one or two night Coyote Gulch hike was an easy test of my newly learned navigation skills. Anxious to get started I awoke at 545 just as the sun was rising. I followed an obvious landmark, a tall thin spire called Chimney Rock, northwest to Hurricane Wash (a drainage running into Coyote Gulch). After a couple of hours of walking up over and around slick rock, I entered the famous Coyote Gulch. The walls around me raised up, darkened and th water flow increased--like nature hinting at the scenic beauty ahead. The normally crowded Coyote Gulch was fairly empty on this early Thursday morning, giving the canyon a very peaceful and quiet feeling-- fragile almost. Down steam, I ran into the famous Jacob Hamilton Arch and then thirty minutes further-- the Coyote Natural Birdge. Both were beautiful due to their see through the wall character, but both would be overshadowed in my memory by the Stevens Arch tomorrow. Pics. By 1pm, I had hiked for six hours...

Day 42 - Escalante Stevens Arch

The Stevens Arch is so massive that legend says daredevil pilots would fly through it. I was excited to see it! Having napped most of the afternoon, I awoke promptly at 545, packed up my things and hiked down to the Escalante River as the first morning light was pouring into the canyon. Hiking around more waterfalls and ledges and along the stream before anyone else was up was nice. My written directions said to look for sandy hill to my right which led up to my only exit from the canyon-- the Crack-in-the-Wall. I ran into the confluence of the Escalante River, a point which my guidebook noted was passed my exit route, requiring a ten minute backtrack. This was fine though because I had tons of time and wanted to see the Stevens Arch. I crossed the knee-deep Escalante River several times before the Arch came into view. Like a window in the Roman Colloseum, the Arch seemed almost engineered by man in this tall curving canyon wall. I hiked under the arch and couldn't eve...

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