day 22: 13th day on the JMT, campsite (location unknown) to Palisade Lakes

Today is one of the few days left where we aren't summiting a pass.  Therefore, I thought it would be easy.  We woke up early to get an earlier than usual start.  The blisters on my feet did not heal well at all over night. 

We began the day by descending quite a bit.  Then it was flat, flat, flat and rolling.  After awhile I told John we had to stop because my feet were hurting so bad.  We stopped at a ranger station (unoccupied) and he bandaged up my blisters, such a sweet husband.  Then we continued on.  The terrain was sort of woodsy with some meadows thrown in every now and then.  I don't know what it was but I started to get really bored and then felt like I had no energy to go on.  We had some trail mix and water and I felt better.

 

Hike, hike, hike.  We finally met up with Vegas a few hours into the hike.  He started a littler earlier and got in the zone so he was trucking it through the trail.  We were all hungry and ready for lunch so we agreed to hike until we found a water source (which isn't difficult on the JMT).  We finally came upon one about a mile later, we settled in and had lunch.  Then we continued on some slight uphills and rolling terrain.  I wasn't a huge fan of this area because it was all trees that had somewhat survived a forest fire, it looked like a sad wasteland.

 (Not the wasteland, obviously, I actually don't think we have any pictures of the wasteland.)

No worries because then the major ascent began up the Golden Staircase.  While looking at the map, John described it as "steep, steeper and steepest".  Yay.  And he wasn't kidding.  I made it through steep and steeper pretty well (although exhausted) but when we got to steepest, oh man!  That was so tough.  And it was rocky terrain, completely exposed to the sun (because it was above treeline).  There were a lot of overgrown bushes along this part of the trail and my poles kept getting stuck in them and the bushes kept scratching my legs.  However, it did smell like basil and blueberries so that was pleasant.  Up, up, up.  Our final destination today is the Palisade Lakes (over 10,000 feet elevation) and it seemed we would never get there.  This climb made Bear Ridge (2000 feet in 2 miles) look like child's play.  Every time I came to the top of a switchback or around a corner I expected to see the lake.  It's funny, normally I would've gotten really discouraged and it would've been harder for me to push through the climb.  But this time I was determined to finish the Golden Staircase, it was like it was my enemy and we were at war, and there was nothing that would keep me from getting to our campsite.  I noticed these extra bursts of willfulness towards the end of most days, like I would push through just about anything to get to camp.  Finally we came upon the lake and we were all so exhausted and excited!  We immediately dropped our packs and laid down on these huge flat rocks until we caught our breath.  Vegas gave me one of the biggest compliments at this point, he said, "man, I feel like such a wuss, I'm so exhausted and you don't seem that exhausted".  I was that exhausted, I was just trying to hide it.

Me going up the Golden Staircase, the smile on my face is very misleading.

John at what we thought was the top of the Golden Staircase, it was probably halfway up.

Getting close to Palisade Lake

After we caught our breath and felt we could sit up and eventually stand up we filtered water and "washed" clothes.  John went fishing (he obtained a CA fishing license before we began the trip) and I set up camp as best I could.  John caught 2 trout!  He cleaned them and we fried them up and had them with some mashed potatoes!  Yum!  Then we quickly finished up everything that needed to be done and now we are going to bed (9:00 p.m.).  Tomorrow, Mather Pass...

John fishing

First fish of the day!

What hurts: my feet.  Two of the blisters have calloused up but my little toes are all bloody and scabby from being squished together and it really hurts.

High Sierra sunset, gorgeous

Our tent and Vegas' tent

Total JMT miles: 146

Palisade Lakes at night

day 21: 12th day on the JMT, below Muir Pass to campsite (location unknown)

Happy Father's Day!  We love and miss both of our dads very much!  Today we began our slow ascent up Muir Pass that stands at 11,955 feet elevation (we needed to go 2000 feet over 9 miles).  Vegas hiked with us again.  We started going slowly up and out of Evolution Valley.  It was pretty and nice to hike through.  Oh yeah, John's thermometer said it was 27 degrees this morning!  Ahh, so cold!

frosty morning

Hiking the trail (center/right of pic) up to Muir Pass

On our way to Muir Pass, not bad to look at, right?

Anyway, hike hike hike slowly up.  We saw a lot of PCT hikers.  We passed some beautiful lakes: Sapphire Lake (the water did look like sapphires), Wanda Lake, Helen Lake (both named after John Muir's daughters) and plenty of other little ones.  The last 1000 feet is near and we go up, up, up and across some snow (of course).

(trail to the left)

Still hiking up to Muir Pass

I'm thinking this might be Sapphire Lake (I'll have to check with John)

Gorgeous

Since it was Father's Day I mentally dedicated this climb to my dad.  It may seem silly but I thought of him the majority of the climb, how lucky I am to have him for my dad and how proud he would be of me.  So, I did good, Dad!  The climb was hard but not too difficult, I think I'm getting stronger.  At the top is Muir Hut.  A little stone hut the Sierra Club built in honor of John Muir and it provides shelter for hikers who are hiking through that very long, very exposed part of the trail.  It was pretty cool (the hut), John and I ate our lunch inside.  It felt really odd and very comforting to be inside a building after being outside for so long.  It's funny how you begin to notice things like that, that you would never realize in your regular day to day life.

 Still going up to Muir Pass

360 view at the top of Muir Pass

Muir Hut in the distance (middle of picture)

Muir Hut up close

We ran into some PCT hikers as we were packing up and they told us the other side of Muir Pass was the most difficult one they've crossed.  Great.  Because we were just about to begin doing that in about 2 minutes.

 Snowman at the top of Muir Pass, created and left by previous hikers

Looking back on the landscape we'd just hiked

John overlooking where we just came

Difficult it was.  It was heavily covered in snow.  John had to try and figure out where the trail might be because so much of it was covered, so we just started hiking in a general direction.  I hated it.  Descending on steep, snow covered mountainsides is scary.  But we got through it!  We had to cross a lot of creeks and snow covered areas but we finally made it out of there.

Going down the other side of Muir Pass

Still going down

Rocky trail (trail to the left and curves to middle of pic)

Trail to the left, packed snow and stream to the right

After that we descended a lot (2400 feet).  Then we came along a great camping spot a little earlier than planned but decided to stay because getting down from Muir Pass was more difficult than we planned.  Plus mine and Vegas' feet were killing us (blisters).

So happy to see grass and little wildflowers!

Then we were greeted by rain and a little hail.  We all set up our tents really quickly and ate dinner under some trees (out of the rain).  After awhile the wind started to blow something fierce and the temperatures plummeted.  Now we are about to go to sleep (at 8:45 p.m.).

Again, yay grass!

What hurts: blisters on my feet!!  So many new ones.  John's feet are sore too.  Other than that, we're good.

Campsite for the night

Total JMT miles: 131

*Side note: This may sound silly but I am just now thinking I can complete this trail.  I haven't had much confidence in myself and with 6 days left I'm thinking I might be able to do this.  6 days...

day 20: 11th day on the JMT, Marie Lake to just below Muir Pass

I'm sorry that it's taken me awhile to post.  My in-laws were in town and we were busy, busy, busy with lots of house renovations!  Pictures will be coming for that soon too!

Today we started the day by breaking camp, shoveling down Clif bars and setting out to summit Selden Pass.  This is the easiest pass we've done because we only had to climb 300 feet, yay for that!

Heading towards Selden Pass

Going up Selden

Panoramic at the top of Selden

Then we went downhill and passed some beautiful lakes.  We went on and down until lunchtime.  I was so ready for lunch because my feet were really hurting and I really needed some water. I'm pretty sure I could've fallen asleep right there on the ground.  After an hour long lunch break we continued on rolling terrain and slightly uphill for a long time.  Also, it was not shaded by trees so it felt super hot.

Descending Selden

One of the many beautiful lakes

Ahh, flat land :)

Vegas/Dan hiked with us throughout the day.  Hike, hike, hike.  I sang songs in my head (Jesus Loves Me, Come Thou Fount, Amazing Grace and Wagon Wheel) and prayed while we hiked. Then we got closer to Evolution Meadow which we heard was pretty cool.  We hiked way up to get to that (1,000 ft?) and I was counting 1-20 the whole way.  Then we had the joy of crossing Evolution Creek where the water came up about 2 inches above my knees.  Thank goodness for John and his encouragement.

Beautiful mountains

Hike, hike, hike.  We see Evolution Meadow and it was very peaceful and pretty.  Something nice to look at since I'm almost in tears because my feet hurt so bad. We find a ranger station, unoccupied, as they haven't manned their posts yet for the season.  We consider camping there but Vegas said there's supposed to be better sites in 0.1 miles.  So we walk for a few minutes and find a good site.

Evolution Meadow

More of Evolution Meadow

(trail to the left)

Thank goodness because I was really pushing my limit for a meltdown (completely from foot pain).  We set up camp, put on warmer clothes, eat dinner, pop new blisters (2 new ones), write in journal and now I'm going to bed because I'm exhausted.  While we ate dinner we all talked about the food we fantasized about eating.  Mine was Mexican food, sweet tea and a Krispy Kreme doughnut.  John wanted pizza.  I anticipate another restless night of sleep as all my nights on the trail have been.  But we hiked 17 miles today so yay!  Muir Pass is tomorrow, may the Lord help us...

Our campsite a couple of miles from Muir Pass

What hurts: feet, left calf muscle hurt earlier in the day but feels better now.  John is fine, of course.

Total JMT miles: 117

day 19: 10th day on the JMT, Vermillion Valley Resort to Marie Lake

(Sorry for the delay, I've been painting our kitchen for the past few days so it's been all consuming.  And our internet wasn't working for part of the weekend.  So here we go...)

Dan (another hiker we met at VVR) asked the night before if he could hike with us because he was a solo hiker and was looking for someone to hike with for part of the way.  We said sure.  We left VVR around 9ish but had to wait for the ferry and didn't hit the trail until around 11:20 a.m. (late!).

The spot where the ferry to VVR picks you up.  Dan is to the left and the other guy is a PCT hiker.

We knew this day was going to be bad because we had almost 10 miles uphill ahead of us.  The first ascent was Bear Ridge, 2000 feet in 1.5-2 miles.  Oh my goodness!!  So tough!!  And with completely full packs (due to our resupply of food)!  But we got through it, eventually.  I was incredibly thirsty during this climb and went through my whole Nalgene and some of John's. 

entering the John Muir Wilderness

beauty all around us

one of many streams

Then we descended 900 feet and finally found a place for lunch/refill water and rest for a second.  After lunch it was a slight ascent over the next 5 or so miles. Ahh!  My feet and back were killing me.  John was in front and was way faster than me and Dan.  Dan gave John the trail name "Navigator" because he always knows where we were going and what exactly is lying ahead.  Dan's trail name is "Vegas".  I think because he's going to a bachelor party in Vegas or something.  (Trail names are nicknames other hikers give you while you're out on the trail and a lot of the intense hikers use it as their actual name while they're out there.)

beautiful sunset on the Sierras (near Marie Lake)

incredible Marie Lake sunset

Anyway, up up up!  Finally around 7:30 we arrived at camp (near Marie Lake) and I thought Dan and I were going to pass out on the spot.  John had a lot of energy.  We set up camp, made our dinners and are now going to bed after a beautiful, short sunset.  Tomorrow...Selden Pass.

more Marie Lake sunset

Just look at the colors in that sky, amazing.

What hurts: feet, calves, back.  John is fine.

Our Marie Lake campsite (yes, I was very cold)

Total JMT miles: 100 (yay!)