Day 167 - JMT Mather Pass

Our spirits lifted from weary (after a long hike yesterday) to cheery once we saw the Golden Staircase, an exotic coliseum of white rock. We pointed towards the direction we had to climb: up the rock.

We were mesmerized by the view as we hiked along this fantastic stretch of trail. The beauty of earth on display once again.

The trail eventually led us to Upper Palisade Lake. We had passed two experienced hikers, Scott and Jeff, just below the Golden Staircase. We heard them catching up to us as we rested at the lake, so we pushed upward towards Mather Pass before they could catch us. This wilderness seemed best experienced in silence.

As we neared the pass, smoke could be seem coming up the valley from where we had come. The white stone valley, a chamber of rock, seemed to melt away from view.

Once over the pass, the trail led down to a desolate upper basin strewn with stones. We marched downward towards the valley with our heads held always up, admiring the misty mountains.

The trail continued down to the valley and then climbed upward towards the next pass, eventually curving by this low lake, near the Bench Lake ranger station. We found a great campsite under the trees and decided to stop for the evening.

And what a grand decision that was?! The alpenglow off the cathedral mountain beyond the lake was masterful-- a Sistine Chapel in the Kings Canyon. We setup our damp gear in the sunlight then I bathed in the lake and got into my full down gear. I found a 30 degree curving rock and lounged for a spell -- slowly eating trail mix and watching the sun descend in the sky.

The sun finally fell beneath the mountains, the unofficial end to a marvelous day. We ate dinner as the light turned to dark, and I read John Muir's words about his summer in the Sierra.

"Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days, inciting at once to work and rest! Days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God. Nevermore, however weary, should one faint by the way who gains the blessings of one mountain day; whatever his fate, long life, short life, stormy or calm, he is rich forever." - John Muir

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Day 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole

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