Day 2: Sunrise to Lyell Canyon

Well after a brutal first day of hiking I was ready to start Day 2. I didn't sleep well the night before, I kept hearing things in the woods, thinking a bear was going after by bear canister. I guess a lot of first time backpackers must experience something similar. Overall, I didn't sleep that bad and felt pretty good to go for the day.

I woke up at 6AM, ate a quick breakfast and was on my way. I started the decent down into Sunrise Meadow which was beautiful as the sun began to rise from the East. I reached Sunrise High Sierra Camp and was able to fill up water from a spigot there, which was nice because I didn't have to treat the water.

Walking through Sunrise Meadow

I continued on my way up Cathedral Pass. I reached the beautiful Upper Cathedral Lake and took a break for about an hour. I sat on the edge of the water and just admired the beauty of Cathedral Peak. I ate couple of pop tarts (Cinnamon Brown Sugar of course!) and continued down the trail.

Approaching Upper Cathedral Lake - A couple of German JMTers ahead of me.

Relaxing at Upper Cathedral Lake

Here was the first an only time I took a "Trail Update" video. I originally planned to do one every night, but by the time I got into camp I was a bit tired and didn't really feel like it. This video recounts the morning of day 2.

           

It was Labor Day weekend, so the trail was very crowded with tourists as I approached Tuolumne Meadows. Many groups without packs or water asking "How much farther to Cathedral Lakes?". I felt sorry for them, they easily had another 2 miles to go and look exhausted. It was because of the massive amounts of tourists that I suffered my first trail injury.

A family was coming up the trailing as I was heading down. I got off the trail to take a quick break and let them go by, but they got off the trail to let me by. So I started down, but then one of them started to hike back up. To avoid collision I quickly stepped off the trail onto a rock and slipped. Luckily I caught myself with my trekking pole but I felt a sharp pain in my right knee. My knee didn't hurt much right away so I continued on not thinking much of it.

I decided to not stop at the Tuloumne Meadows shop or restaurant and continue down to Lyell Canyon. I was later scolded by a hiker claiming "You didn't stop for Ice Cream?!", eh, I just didn't feel like heading back into civilization. Lyell Canyon is a very flat part of the trail so I knew I could make some good miles, so stopping wasn't an option.

After about 5 miles down Lyell Canyon I stopped to soak my feet in Lyell Creek, I met two men here, Sarge and Steve, they were a bit older and doing the JMT as well. I told them maybe I would catch up to them later that afternoon or tomorrow. Unfortunately, I never saw them again. I was hanging out with my feet in the creek when I noticed another young hiker to my left doing the same.

The John Muir Trail along Lyell Canyon - Nice and flat!

He looked a little intimidating at first, a long black beard and a bucket hat with the top cut out and his hair rising out of it. He yelled over "JMT?" I replied "Yes, first time". He came over and we chatted for a bit, it was also his first time on the trail. We talked about where we were from, about the trail and our plans for the rest of the day. It turns out we had a pretty similar itinerary for the next few days, so we decided to camp together in Lyell Canyon.

Washing my feet in Lyell Creek. 

I was very happy to have met another solo hiker on the trail to camp with. Jeff and I set up camp along the creek and sat down and ate dinner. I think I had a Spicy Chicken and Rice dehydrated meal, it wasn't too tasty but it was filling. Jeff and I chatted a bit more and learned a little bit more about him. We discussed our plan for the next few days and if we both made our miles we would camp together if possible.

Our campsite in Lyell Canyon wasn't very picturesque but it was nice to have the sound of a trickling creek to fall asleep to. After we started eating our dinner we heard a bell ringing from across the creek. It was a small group of horses grazing, we admired them for about a second then Jeff said, "That bell better stopped ringing by the time I go to sleep." Luckily it did.

Horses grazing across from our campsite near Lyell Creek.

We finished eating and crawled into our tents for the night. Then the knee pain started.....

Day Summary:

Miles Hiked: 20.6 mi
Total Miles on JMT: 36.6 mi

Next: Day 3: Lyell Canyon to Garnet Lake