Day 8: Marie Lake to Muir Trail Ranch

Today was a relatively short day compared to the others, actually it would be the shortest day yet! Just a little 8.2 jog down to Muir Trail Ranch, where we would be getting a resupply and a very deserved rest day.

The morning was cold, I made some instant oatmeal and choked it down before packing up camp. Erica and I started off on the trail about 20 minutes after Jeff took off. We were only short 1.5 miles away from the top of Selden Pass, so the climb would be quick.

The trail up to the pass was fairly easy, never getting too steep with it's smooth switchbacks. The top of the pass was pretty cold so I decided to not linger and continue down the other side. The trail descended down to Heart Lake and then cutting through Sallie Keyes Lakes. Looking Southeast from Selden pass was beautiful, with the many lakes and green trees lining the surrounding hills.

Coming down Selden Pass towards Heart Lake

We stopped shortly at Sallie Keyes Lakes to shed some layers since the morning sun was out and beating down on us. The lakes were so clear I could see many fish swimming beneath it's surface. I imagine this would be an ideal place for fisherman along the trail.

John Muir Trail along Sallie Keyes Lakes

We continued down the trail through a few meadows and wooded areas before the trail opened up to a beautiful valley. Down at the bottom, was Muir Trail Ranch. The long switch backs seemed to never end as I descended into the valley. Luckily the sun wouldn't be beating down on the east side of the valley until the afternoon, so I could hike in the shade.

View looking down into a valley. Muir Trail Ranch is down there somewhere!

On my way down to MTR.

The trail then dipped below the treeline, I decided to stop here and wait for Erica. The cut-off trail to Muir Trail Ranch was up ahead and from what I had read, it is very easy to miss. Luckily, we saw hikers coming up the cut-off trail, so it was wasn't hard to find. We hurried down the hill, and the site of the ranch was very relieving. It's amazing how much more enjoyable hiking is when you know there is a fresh resupply and hot springs ahead for you.

We entered the ranch and sat our packs down under some tents. There were a lot of people here, rummaging through the hiker bins and their resupply buckets. I got my resupply and traded some of the items for better items in the hiker bins. The hiker bins are there for "excess" supplies that hikers no longer need, they are free for all hikers to pick up. I had another 6 days worth of food in my resupply, but would only need 3 since I was exiting over Bishop Pass.

Erica entering Muir Trail Ranch

Frizzle and Erica at the resupply station.

Empty resupply buckets.

Hikers picking through the hiker bins.

Muir Trail Ranch is an awesome place, I had never been to a real "ranch" before but this was a great first experience. There were horses grazing, dogs running around, and a very friendly staff, who I later found out were actually the family who lived on the ranch. So cool! They really run a great operation there, they also offer internet access for a small fee!

Muir Trail Ranch Store. With wifi access!

Inside the MTR store. iMac seems a bit out of place in the wilderness huh?

Baby horse at MTR.

Muir Trail Ranch resupply hut.

Erica had reserved a room at the ranch for the night, so Jeff and I set off to find a campsite along the San Joaquin River. We found a couple of good sites but were told by a couple that they were saving them for their friends. This really peeved Jeff and I off, who reserves campsites in the wilderness?

Anyways, we found a campsite close to the river and began to set up camp. Chops just happen to be wondering by shortly after and set up camp near us. Jeff and I then waded across the San Joaquin to Blaney Hot springs, or basically hot tubs in the ground.

It felt so good to get a soak in, and rest the legs up a bit. We met a few other hikers here and had a great time talking with them. Kristen and Brad, who we met going up Silver Pass, showed up and took a soak with us as well.

It was getting dark, so Jeff and I crossed back over the river, made some dinner then went to bed. Tomorrow we would be hiking up to Evolution Valley, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life.

Day Summary:

Miles Hiked: 8.2  mi
Total Miles on JMT: 108.8 mi                                          Day 9: Muir Trail Ranch to Evolution Basin

Day 7: Quail Meadows to Marie Lake

I woke up early before the sun had completely risen over the peaks above us. I wanted to get an early start so I could tackle Bear Ridge before it got too hot out.

I packed up camp quickly, refilled my water supply and set off on the trail. I figured I would wait at the top of the ridge for Erica and Jeff. The trail was soft with dew on this brisk morning, a light amount of fog rising through the trees as the sun began to climb. The trail started to weave its way up the hill rather steeply.. Then each switchback became longer and longer, traversing the side of the ridge.

For the past few days I had stopped singing "Mr. Blue Sky" in my head and had moved on to another form of entertainment, film. To help pass the time during rough spots on the trail I would try to replay films in my head. I would run through them over and over, trying to think of scenes I had missed and how characters got into certain predicaments. Today it was "The Bourne Identity", the infamous Matt Damon spy thriller. This was a good film to analyze, due to it's complexity in plot, so time seemed to cruising right along.

At about every other turn in the trail I stop to take a quick breath. I was moving rather quickly and was starting to feel a bit winded. It must have been thinking of all those Bourne fight scenes! I slowed my pace down and continued back and forth up the ridge. That Russian was right! These switchbacks never seemed to end, but they weren't too difficult. The switchbacks began to shorten again as I got higher up on the ridge. I was getting excited, thinking I was almost at the top. But when hiking, when you think you are at the top, you never are.

The switchbacks stopped, and the trailed climbed slightly though the trees to a large opening in the forest. Here I found a sign for the Bear Creek junction, I had made it to the top of Bear Ridge. It wasn't too terrible but I am very glad that I climbed it early in the morning.

I sat down and enjoyed a nice granola bar and some water, while waiting for Jeff and Erica. I waited almost an hour before Jeff came strolling along the trail, not too long after, Erica appeared. They both were feeling great and didn't think Bear Ridge was too tall of a challenge for the morning.

I enjoyed these times waiting by myself for Friz and Erica. I kept thinking "I could continue down the trail and get to camp earlier." but something in me wanted to wait for my trail friends. Something about doing this hike with them was special, so often times I happily decided to wait.

We only had another 7.3 miles to Marie Lakes, not to hard to tackle in the afternoon. We stopped and rested along Bear Creek. The creek was roaring with water, it was a great place to bask in the sun and relax for a while. Of course, I took this time to soak my feet in cold waters.

I would say that this was my second favorite lunch spot next so far on the trail. The weather was fantastic and nothing could diminish our groups spirits.

Bear Creek

About to soak my feet in Bear Creek

Jeff with a nice lunch spot along the creek

Erica catching some Z's along the creek.

                     

We set back out on the trail shortly after noon. The sun was out in full force now, pounding down on the trail. We meandered through meadows and across some small creeks. There were many junctions for other trails that lead to Lake Italy, Rose Lake and Sandpiper Lake. Each, only a few miles off the trail.

The trail rose a few hundred feet through Rosemarie Meadow and up to Marie Lake. These last few miles were pretty tough for me. I was low on water and was feeling pretty tired, must have been the sun beating down on me all day, but eventually, I reached the lake. Erica flagged me down and showed me where her and Friz found a spot to camp.

The campsite had a perfect view of the lake and the peaks above. The site had very little wind protection however, which made it a tough task to set up our tents.

Marie Lake

The wind would howl across the lake and the breeze was very frigid. I quickly put some warm clothes on. The campsite was beautiful along the shore of the lake with Selden Pass right above us. I was washing my feet in the lake when I decided that I had to take a dip, I just had to!

Marie Lake campsite

Jeff preparing dinner at Marie Lake.

I convinced Jeff  to take a swim with me. We both gingerly walked in to the water before submerging into the icy lake. Marie Lake rests at 10,551 feet above sea level, so it was pretty cold! But it was really refreshing and felt great. We later convinced Erica to jump in as well! I dried off and prepared for dinner with the others. Erica brought it to our attention that we had just eclipsed 100 miles on the John Muir Trail! This really pumped the group up and allowed us to reflect on all that we had accomplished to this point.

We enjoyed our meals and had a hot beverage before retiring to our tents. The wind was blowing so hard at times that it was difficult to stay outside of the tent for long. Like two nights before, it would get very cold at night, so I layered up and crawled into my sleeping bag. Tomorrow, we had a short day down to Muir Trail Ranch for a resupply and hot springs!

Day Summary:

Miles Hiked: 13.0  mi
Total Miles on JMT: 100.6 mi                                           Day 8: Marie Lake to Muir Trail Ranch

Day 6: Lake Virginia to Quail Meadows

Last night was cold, very cold. My Marmot sleeping back is only rated to 30 degrees, so thank god I was wearing a few layers while I slept.

We woke up pretty early, we had 13.2 miles to go today and had to tackle Silver Pass along the way. I made a warm breakfast of oatmeal this morning. I needed it because it was so darn cold the night before. I finished eating and started to pack up my stuff. We hit the trail just as the sun was rising over the horizon which lit up Lake Virginia beautifully.

Looking back at Lake Virginia

We crossed over to the eastern side of the lake, crossing its' outlet and towards Tully Hole. The trail descended quickly about 500 feet. I stopped here to shed some layers because the morning sun was starting to make me overheat. The trail continued down from Tully Hole to the end of Cascade Valley. There was as beautiful bridge here that crossed Fish Creek, there were some amazing campsites here as well.

Bridge over Fish Creek

From Fish Creek, it was only another 2.8 miles to the top of Silver Pass. I knew there would be some good stopping points along the way up, so I pushed ahead with a pretty quick pace. The trail wound up through the trees and eventually breaking out over the timberline. This is one of the first times where I looked down from the trail and thought, "If I fall, I might die." The trail ran along a ridge just above the timberline before rising up to Squaw Lake.

Here I stopped to soak my feet and refill on some water. Also resting at Squaw Lake were Jeff, Chops, Anita and two others I had not met previously. Their names were Kristen and Brad, two good friends hiking the JMT. I sat down next to Chops and told him about my plan to exit the trail. He told me that Bishop Pass was a good option and wasn't too bad (he had done it the year before on the PCT). He even gave me a map of the trail that exited down over the pass. This was very helpful because I did not have a map of that area.

Erica, Brad, Kristen and Anita at Squaw Lake

View looking South from Squaw Lake. Jeff in the foreground

Having a great time on the trail!

Feel confident with my exit strategy in place, I started the climb back up Silver Pass with a new found confidence. The trail rose quickly, I could feel the air getting thinner and my pace slowing. I took frequent breaks along the way, taking a longer break at the Goodale Pass Junction. Anita was also here, deciding whether to take Goodale Pass or stay on the JMT to get to Vermilion Valley Resort, where she had a resupply. We showed her our maps and she proceeded on down to Goodale Pass to get her supplies.

Anita ahead of me at the Goodale Pass Junction

Erica charging up the trail from Squaw Lake

   

Erica had caught up to me and we both charged up the last .9 miles to the top of Silver Pass, and what a view! It was absolutely gorgeous from the top, barely a cloud in the sky, clear views in all directions. The coolest view was looking south from the pass, you could see in the distance Banner Peak and Mt. Ritter, where we camped 3 days before, nearly 35 miles away! So Cool!

Amazing view south from Silver Pass

Panoramic looking south from Silver Pass

Jeff relaxing in his "Throne" atop Silver Pass

Erica relaxing on Silver Pass

We rested on top of the pass for a bit, taking pictures and soaking in the view. This was definitely my favorite spot so far on the trail. The winds began to blow in, so we started our decent down the from the pass. The trail wound through an open wilderness, running in between two lakes.

Here, Erica and I spotted a small pack of what we thought were coyote cubs, drinking from a small lake to the East of the trail. I was a bit nervous because they were somewhat far away but we couldn't be sure they were cubs, so proceeded down the trail quickly and quietly past the small lake.

Large Thumb rising up along Silver Pass Crek

We stopped to eat a proper lunch just before the Mott Creek junction. We had nice little spot along Silver Pass Creek, it's hard to explain but it was a very ideal spot to stop and eat. Large rocks to lay upon and dip your feet in the creek, sun peaking through the branches of the trees above. I was very content.

After about an hour we continued down the trail into Pocket Meadow. There were some very steep switchbacks here and descended very quickly. I couldn't imagine going up those switchbacks with a full pack. Luckily from here, the trail meandered downhill through some very beautiful Aspen Groves before dropping us down in Quail Meadows.

I met a Russian hiker coming the other way and we chatted for a bit and all he could talk about was these long and hard switchbacks that he had come down. He said he never thought that they would end. Of course, I  knew exactly what he was referring to, Bear Ridge, a 2,000 ft climb over 4.6 miles. I was hoping to tackle it early in the morning before the sun came up, hopefully it wouldn't be as bad as the Russian thought it was.

We found a nice campsite in Quail Meadows near Mono Creek. This was the first campsite where there was an actual fire ring set up. You are only allowed to have campfires in the wilderness at established fire rings, but we elected not to start a fire due to the ridiculously dry season in the Sierra. One spark could potentially cause big problems.

I ate my Kung Pao Chicken and rice meal and crawled into my tent. These dehydrated meals were all starting to taste the same and I was getting sick of it. But in two days we would be at Muir Trail Ranch where I could pick up my resupply and have new tasty food.

But all I could think about was the climb up Bear Ridge tomorrow. Oh God...

Day Summary:

Miles Hiked: 13.2  mi
Total Miles on JMT: 87.6 mi                                                       Day 7: Quail Meadows to Marie Lake

Day 5: Reds Meadow to Lake Virginia

I am going to start out by saying this was one of the worst days of hiking on the JMT. I knew this going into it, every hiker forum I've been on says that the day after Reds Meadow is boring and just a long gradual uphill that will wear you down. That's exactly what this was.

Jeff and I woke up and early and headed over to the Mulehouse Cafe for some breakfast. Coffee, Eggs and Bacon, what a great way to start off the day. The cafe reminded me of any inner city diner, but with a cabin feel. It was great to meet the staff and a few other hikers grabbing breakfast.

After we gobbled down our breakfast, Jeff and I headed back to the bunk house to pack up and get ready for the day. I ran to the store to grab some last minute snacks and water. I picked up 1 litre bottle of water since I decided to ditch using my water bladder. The bladder was convenient because it held 3 liters of water, but to fill it I had to basically remove everything from my pack and fill it up, which was a hassle when I just needed a quick refill on water. The combination of the 1 liter bottle and my 32oz Gatorade bottle proved to work out better.

Sign leaving Reds Meadow Resort

We waited outside the store for Erica to get ready and then set out on the trail. We got a late start, 10am, I blame it on the large breakfast. The trail lead south out of Reds Meadow and up towards the Red Cones, large hills that are covered in some sort of red grass.

View leaving Reds Meadow

Through this portion of the hike I hung back from Erica and Friz. They seemed to be getting into some good conversation but for some reason I was holding back. I am usually a shy person around strangers, but it was beginning to frustrate me. I knew they were more experienced backpackers than myself and I guess for that reason I felt a bit excluded. But hiking experience aside, I was a person just like them, with a normal job and normal life somewhere miles away. I had no reason to be shy out in the wilderness, I knew Erica and Friz were great people and wouldn't judge me for thoughts. So I quickly raced to catch up with them and join the conversation.

We winded through Upper Crater Meadow, which was nice, but it was hot out today which made it not so nice. I tried my best to stay in the shade at all times to avoid the burn from the sun. The trail was a slight uphill until we got to Deer Creek, where we decided to stop for lunch.

Here we met another hiker, Chops, who looked like a hiking machine. Tall, long legged, with a very athletic frame, this guy was made for hiking. We chatted with him for a bit over lunch, the previous summer he had hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail which is over 2,500 miles!

Chops!

From here the day was just all downhill, not literally, it was uphill, but it was terrible. The afternoon heat was very hot and the trail continued uphill along a ravine for about 6 miles. 6 miles of the same scenery can get very boring. The view down into Cascade Valley was very beautiful, Erica and I stopped for a bit to rest and take in the view.

View down into Cascade Valley.

The video below shows the valley and some great commentary from Erica.

                 

We pressed up, up this god damned ravine to Duck Creek, Where we found Jeff and Chops soaking their feet in the water. They were joined with a few others, an older woman, Anita, and a group of younger hikers from Stanford University. We rested and chatted a bit. I ate a granola bar and soaked my feet in the creek.

I was developing some nasty blisters on my feet and toes. Luckily I had treated them early on in the trail so they wouldn't become infected or get any worse. So a good soak always felt amazing on my feet. A few people here decided to make fun of my white fuzzy slippers. I didn't feel embarrassed at all, as a first time backpacker I felt like I was establishing my trail persona, I was becoming "Slippers".

Only about another 4 miles to Lake Virginia and boy would they be tough. This involved a large incline up to Purple Lake and another incline to Lake Virginia. I hung back with Erica because we were both struggling to keep a strong pace throughout the day. And yes, it was still very hot out.

After trudging 2.3 miles, the sight of Purple Lake was a refreshing one. The lake seemed pretty crowded, I noticed quite a few tents set up along the shore and a number of people fishing. Erica and I were considering camping here for the night since we were both so exhausted. We caught up with Anita and Jeff and talked to them about camping at Purple Lake. They wanted to push on to Lake Virginia, and after some convincing, we all agreed to continue on.

Man fishing in Purple Lake

At this time I wondered where Chops was, but Erica pointed him out jumping naked into Purple Lake! I was very jealous because I had not had the opportunity to swim in a lake yet on the trip.

Erica was having some trouble through this section of the day. She had a asthma attack while climbing out form Purple Lake. We stopped to give her some water and let her rest. I slightly started to panic as well, the one thing I was probably least prepared for was First-Aid on the trial. Basic First-Aid I was okay with, but anything more than that threw my brain into a frenzy. But like the champ she is, Erica mounted her pack back up and began to charge up the trail again.

We hiked out of Purple Lake and across a very rocky terrain that to me seemed almost like a foreign planet. There was very to little vegetation anywhere and just piles of broken rock that had fallen from the peaks above. The trail wound through a tight canyon of broken rock with two peaks scaling up either side of the trail.

The trail somewhere between Purple Lake and Lake Virginia

Jeff and Erica on our way to Lake Virginia

We finally made it down to Lake Virginia as the sun was setting and found a good campsite along it's western shore. We ate in the dark and soaked in the stars again. I think everyone was pretty drained on this evening and was eager to get to sleep. I was a bit excited though, tomorrow we would be going over Silver Pass.

My knee seemed to be holding up alright, still a lot of pain in the mornings and at night, but it was tolerable. Here I was considering different options to leave the trail. I wanted to leave on the East side of the Sierra so I could catch the shuttle to the Reno Airport. It seemed my only option to do that was to hike out over Bishop Pass in a few days. I decided to put off the decision for a couple of days until we got to our next resupply.

Finally arrived at Lake Virginia

Looking for a campsite along Lake Virginia

And still looking....

Day Summary:

Miles Hiked: 15.7  mi
Total Miles on JMT: 74.4 mi                                                  Day 6: Lake Virginia to Quail Meadows