Day 164 - JMT Seldon Pass to Muir Trail Ranch

The moon shined bright this morning, adding fantasy to the delightful morning sun's glow.

The reflection of the far sand-like mountains shone wonderfully off Marie Lake's mirror surface. We struck a pose. At the top of Seldon Pass we ran into a group of fifteen Korean hikers, of all ages. As we left the pass and descended down the other side, the Korean group held up their hiking poles to make a wedding tunnel for Bob and I to walk under! How funny?!

This playfulness was cut short at Heart Lake. Bob stepped up on a phonebooth-sized boulder on the side of the trail in order to chat with another hiker below. The boulder gave way under Bob's weight and fell fifty feet to the lake shore. Luckily Bob fell back, weighed by his huge pack, and stuck the landing, landing with both feet and two trekking poles maybe ten feet below. A mild wrist pain was his only injury.

The lake views continued in their excellence as we hiked on. Bob wrapped his wrist with a wet bandanna and continued marching without complaint; and we laughed at our/his luck: that he didn't break his leg was a miracle.

We arrived at midday to Muir Trail Ranch, a resort and resupply station, the last resupply for 120 miles. We organized the contents of our two buckets and counted out one dinner and one breakfast and 2000 calories of snacks per day for eight days. We raided the hiker buckets (unused supplies) for better trail mix, moleskin and tasty protein bars. Friendly hikers like Bellingham Dude, Charleston Couple and Travelin Mike entertained us with stories and surprised us with free food and supplies.

And then we mounted our crazy heavy packs and set off 1.5 miles down trail to a San Joaquin River-side camp. Part Two of our voyage, the famous Kings Canyon-Sequoia section, begins tomorrow!

Comments

Day 62 - Colorado National Monument

Established as a national monument early in 1911, Colorado NM is known for its high canyon "rim road" and sandstone spires of Monument Canyon. The canyons of west Colorado are pretty--as they have more green trees and shrubs than the more famous Utah canyons. This gives them a more alive feeling, although the sandstone spires were formed many thousands of years ago by erosion. Rim Rock road curves up the the top of the canyon cliff, goes through several round tunnels and is lined with scenic viewpoints. The best views were in he Monument Canyon section, and included in sequence, the Coke Ovens, The Kissing Couple (behind my head), and the most famous of all: Independence Monument, the tall spire in pic 3 and viewed from the side in pic 4. The original promoter and caretaker of the park, John Otto, was the first person to climb Independence Monument and now it's a climbing right of passage. Every July 4 climbers ascend and mount an American flag at the summit. Fun! ...

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...

Day 170 - JMT Forrester Pass

The mountains had a surreal glow this morning as we climbed up towards the 13,200 foot high Forrester Pass. One of the wonderful things about the mountains is that they change appearance as the sun changes height, creating a movie-like experience as you walk. I felt so free and happy this morning--just in love with this light. After sixty minutes of walking, we stopped in the first sunny spot we could find to thaw out and rest. Another hiker came bustling up the trail behind us and stopped at the sunspot to shed a layer of clothing. Sly was a Canadian hiker, just turned 40, who seemed happy to see us. We struck up a conversation about travels and when we pushed off Sly asked if he could join us. We said yes of course. We hiked quickly up the trail, reaching a high plateau with epic alpine views. Selfie time! We skirted around a high alpine lake and then went up a ridge line ever further higher. We were at 12,000+ feet now and the world began to look small y...

Road Trip Daily

Search This Blog