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 43 - Capitol Reef

Capitol Reef, a national park centered around a 90 mile ancient seabed reef was next on my list. A sensationally scenic three hour drive from Bryce, back through Escalante, and then through a national forest led me to the park. A stop by the visitor center to get the lay of the land and insider info on local free BLM campsites complete, I set out on Chimney Rock trail up the the top of the first reef to get a view. Yes sir!! The weather was ideal for hiking and the views completely blissful, but I was frankly tired today. I set out along the scenic road down the west side of the reef and remember wanting to take a nap-- but still having a sense of urgency to complete the desert portion of my trip-- I pushed on and set out to hike down the Capitol Gorge and Grand Wash canyons. The Capitol Gorge had a "Pioneer Wall" with inscriptions from the early 1900s and the Grand Wash had a nice narrow section with towering canyon cliffs all around. I took a photo of the surrounding reef...

Day 35 - Escalante River

Our group of eight intrepid but novice backpackers and two incredibly experienced guides gathered for breakfast at 8am to meet, greet and bulk up for 5 days in the Escalante River area. We laid out all our gear to ensure we had the needed hiking, camping and survival supplies and drove to our trailhead for departure. We hiked along a trail following the course of the Escalante River for a mile or so before getting to our first of many river crossings. Wet feet were not something we could avoid so we simply hiked across and sometimes down the river. When the river ran close to the canyon walls we knew we would have to find a shallow entry to the river, then cross the river to the bench on the other side. Guides Andrew Skurka and Alan Dixon offered instruction along the way on map reading and route finding and information on local vegetation and geology and how the knowledge of both helped make your off trail travel more efficient. For example in geology their were two main ro...

Day 54 - Great Sand Dunes

I awoke to clear skies, a dry mattress and pillows, a second hot shower and a waffle-filled motel breakfast. I decided to head east to Great Sand Dunes National Park in order to climb 700 foot sand dunes surrounded by snow-covered alpine mountains--a rare site. Just about every road in Colorado goes over a pretty high mountain pass eventually, and this three and a half hour journey didn't disappoint. And Great Sand Dunes didn't disappoint either. After securing a dune-side campsite and waiting out a rainstorm, I set out to climb the dunes for a sunset view. Great Sand Dunes is also famous for its Medano Creek wave-like flow and ankle-deep water, making it popular with young kids. I hiked through it and started climbing the dunes, first to a high dune on the east side and over to the next highest dune and then the next highest et until I got to the highest one-/ properly called High Dune. I sat down, setup my phone to capture a time-lapse of the beautiful sunset my eyes were ...

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