September 3 - 16, 2002

Tuesday, September 3, 2002                                                                Sparks, NV

We learned that my youngest sister had her baby last night.  Elijah was born premature, and our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his mother, Kathy.  We have one more day to spend in the Reno area preparing to hike the John Muir Trail, before driving down to Yosemite tomorrow.  I spent most of the time prepping things in the RV while Christine crunched on her FINAL masters interpretive project.

Christine had picked up a cold at Burning Man, but has already gotten over it.  However, she gave it to me, and today was a real downer.

Wednesday, September 4, 2002                                                    Sparks, NV

Christine and I ran around today punching through our shopping list for the JMT.  I was feeling a bit better today and we did a good job on our tasks.  I think we’re ready to leave Reno tomorrow.

Thursday, September 5, 2002                                                    Midpines, CA

We casually got our act together and emptied our storage unit in Reno before making our way through Yosemite National Park to a campground east of the park.  We left a food resupply box for ourselves at Tuolomne Meadows.  We have another one that we’ll mail tomorrow after we pick up our backcountry permit.  I’ll spend tomorrow driving the RV all the way over to Lone Pine, near the southern terminus of the JMT. Christine will wait near the northern terminus for me to return on a motorcycle so that we can hit the trail on Saturday.  We celebrated tonight after Christine submitted her final project for school.

Friday, September 6, 2002                                        Yosemite National Park, CA

We got started at 6:00 AM this morning to get in line for our backcountry permits.  We were well outside the park, but we were in line at the permit office by 7:45, ready for them to open at 8:00.  There was already a line formed outside standing in the rain.  It was a nasty morning of cold rain.  We had our permits secured by 9:00, allowing us to depart Yosemite Valley at the Happy Isles trailhead tomorrow.  At this point it was looking pretty fortuitous that we delayed our start date by a day.  It wouldn’t have been any fun to start a three-week outing in the woods on a rainy day.

We also secured two bear-proof food storage canisters from the permit office.  Camp-savvy bears have become such a problem in the sierra parks that these bear canisters are required along most of the JMT.  We were pleased that we were able to rent them for $10 each instead of having to purchase them at $80 a piece.  The cylindrical canisters are made of a hard plastic and weight about 2.7 lbs each.  The canisters are smooth all over, and the lids seal so tightly that a bear can’t get his claws under them.  These have proven highly effective at keeping hiker food safe from the bears.  The bears have become so conditioned by the canisters in recent years that they don’t even mess with them any more.  The bears have learned that they can’t get into them.

I dropped off our food resupply box at the post office and sent it via Priority Mail so that it would reach Vermillion Valley Resort in time for our arrival next Saturday.  Then I helped Christine set up camp in the backpacker campground before driving the RV down to the southern terminus of the JMT near Lone Pine.  I was on my way at 11:00 and drove through the rain all the way over the mountains.  The temperatures were near freezing at Tioga Pass and winds were extremely strong.  I was concerned about what it would be like to return later in the afternoon on a motorcycle.

I reached Lone Pine at 3:00 and spent an hour closing up the RV for three weeks of dry storage.  I arranged to keep the RV at an RV resort at which we had previously stayed.  It will only cost $1 per day.  I was on Christine’s bike and on the return trip at 4:00.  The skies had cleared over Yosemite to reveal a fresh layer of snow blanketing the mountaintops.  I was anxious with the uncertainty of how severe our weather might get.  I got back to Yosemite Valley shortly after 7:00 PM from a tiring 420-mile round trip, and found Christine at the pizza stand in Curry Village.  We compared our days and made plans for our start time tomorrow.  We spent the first night of many in our tent.

By Christine: After Joe left today I spent the day walking around Yosemite Village and reading.  I thoroughly enjoyed diving into a couple of cooking magazines and a book of fiction.  I may have to do more work on my Masters project when we return but for now I am happily without a computer for almost three weeks.

Bear Canisters

The John Muir Trail

You will now read the log from our backpacking trek on the John Muir Trail.  This log took us awhile to complete due to a couple things.  1 - we had to type up the log from our written notes.  2 - we used our regular camera on the trip and so we tried to get the pictures done on a CD and in prints.  We are not very happy with the quality of these pictures and will be buying an extra memory stick for the digital camera to take to Mexico.  Unfortunately we were unable to obtain most of the pictures on CD so we had to take pictures of the pictures with our digital camera.  This is why all the pictures are different sizes and not as clear as usual.

First, please take a moment to look at the JMT Map and Profile we have provided.  The profile will allow you to understand the elevation changes that we covered on this hike.  Joe has all the major highs and lows marked, the elevation marked, and the days marked.

Please find the map and profile of the John Muir Trail by clicking here.

We've decided to include the above information in our log for you to reference.  I will place this link in various places throughout the log for you to reference.  All of the pictures for this trip are in the log under the correct days.  This will allow you to view the pictures after your read about them.  Some of the pictures turned out well and make sure you check out the ones at the end to see how skinny we got!  As a note, much of the rock looks really washed out.  It was not all covered in snow the rocks just washed out in the pictures.

Saturday, September 7, 2002                                        Day 1, JMT: 8.7 miles

It was 44° when we arose at 8:00 AM.  We loaded all our town clothes into the saddlebags on the motorcycle and hit the trailhead at 9:00.  It was warming and clear as we got started.  The northern terminus of the JMT begins at Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley at 4035’ elevation, the lowest point on the trail.  The advantage to starting at the northern end and walking south, is that one gets more opportunity to acclimate to the altitude, but it also means a steady upward effort for several days. 

We were impressed with how many people were out walking on the same trail today, but the crowds thinned dramatically after the turn-off to Half Dome, a popular strenuous destination for day hikers.  We gained 4000’ elevation our first day of hiking and reached our scheduled destination at 3:30, the junction with the Forsyth Trail (8000’).  We were so pleased with our progress that we toyed with pressing further, but our guidebook warned of very few campsites over the next five miles.  So we stuck with our plan and began to prepare dinner.

We were joined by two other JMT hikers over dinner.  Tony and Alexa are a middle-aged couple from the Lake District in England.  They were quite excited about being here doing this world-class trail.  We enjoyed their company over dinner and weren’t surprised when they decided to camp near us.  The evening cooled quickly once the sun fell behind a mountain.  We climbed into the tent at 6:30 and played cards until we got sleepy.  Christine and I felt buoyed by our first day on the trail.  It had gone very well.  We saw three deer on the trail today.

Day 1 – Christine

Before I start talking about pains and how hard this is I better get something straight.  Hiking the JMT was my idea.  I'm not saying it was a good idea, but it was my idea.  Most of you know that this has been a great year as far as our health goes.  At my last doctors appointment, my doctor finally got all the medications right.  My blood pressure has been normal and I haven't had one sinus headache since that doctor's appointment. (I better stop and knock on some wood.) These changes in overall health have done wonders for me.  I have been able to exercise without getting headaches and Joe and I have really spent the summer eating healthy and hiking a lot.  I thought there was going to be no better time to try a long hike such as the JMT.

Today was day one and it was hard.  But our start went smoothly and we knew today would be hard.  There were just too many people on the first part of the trail and they were obviously people who couldn't read.  We said something to at least 3 groups of kids (college age kids) who kept cutting the switchbacks.  I said "Please don't cut the trail, it causes erosion."  They look at me, "Erosion?"  "Yes, erosion, I know you've never heard that word but when you cut the trail, someone follows you and before long you've created a new trail and the water runs straight down the mountain in that trail, which causes erosion."  They give me the bitch look and I give them the idiot look and we all move on.  And then there was the girl feeding the obnoxious chipmunk.  Never mind that it teaches the chipmunks behavior like chewing into packs and stealing food and baggies when hikers aren't watching.  Hello!  There are signs about all of this behavior often along the trail.  If people are going to use our National Parks System they should have enough respect for both the beauty of nature and how hard the park system works to maintain that beauty for everyone's enjoyment to try and follow the rules.  Ok, enough of my ranting.

We saw 3 deer today and as we moved further along the valley the deer starting getting a little less tame.  My hips and shoulders hurt at the end of today.  I'm sure that is just the beginning of the pain.

1) Joe and Christine on a footbridge near Vernal Falls, this was only about 1 mile from the trailhead.  2) Christine in front of Grizzly Peak and Liberty Cap.  3) Vernal Falls with Grizzly Peak.

Sunday, September 8, 2002       Day 2, JMT: 13.8 miles            22.5 total miles

We both woke quite cold this morning.  It was 30° at 7:00 AM and our rainfly was coated in ice.  We both expressed concern about how unprepared we were if it were to get much colder.  We were only at 8000’, so it is very likely that we’ll have colder spells at higher elevation.  We brainstormed through our options and came up with a plan.  We decided to press all the way to Tuolomne Meadows today where we could call my in-laws and have them Express Mail our warmer sleeping bags to Vermillion Valley Resort, where we’ll be on Saturday to resupply.  I also hoped that we could purchase a couple heavier fleece pullovers as an extra layer of warmth.  We got started with this plan in mind.

We ate our cold granola while sitting warmly in our sleeping bags, and then began to break down camp.  We startled four deer that approached our camp as we packed up.  We were walking at 8:00 and made good time toward Tuolomne Meadows.  It was another clear and warm day.  We reached the Tuolomne Meadows (8650’) campground at 5:00 very tired.  We both had headaches and Christine was complaining of neck pains, but we had covered the miles today.  I had only planned a ten-mile day for Day 2, so we were entitled to be exhausted after covering nearly 14 miles.  We called my in-laws as planned and they had no trouble fulfilling our request.  We also found some inexpensive warm hooded pullover fleeces at the small store there.  All we have to do now is stay warm for another six nights until our warmer sleeping bags meet us on Saturday.

We cooked up another filling meal of mac & cheese with tuna.  I heated some water for bathing, and we gave each other quick showers before retiring for the evening with a true sense of accomplishment.  I felt that it would have been very irresponsible to try to complete the trail with the lightweight sleeping bags we had, and I was concerned that we might have to scrap our hike if we couldn’t find a solution.  It was a great relief to feel like we had resolved this issue.

Day 2 – Christine

We pushed hard to get to Tuolomne early enough today to call my parents.  We made it but I was pretty nauseous by the time we got there.  I kept stopping thinking for sure I was going to puke.  I wanted to take my pack off and not put it back on but we had to go to the store first and then back to the campground.  My knees started hurting on the downhill today.  I expected that pain.  I think the hips might be going numb which is a bonus!

  Joe near Sunrise Camp.

Monday, September 9, 2002      Day 3, JMT: 11.0 miles    33.5 total miles

We both slept warmer last night, but it was 27° when we woke this morning.  We ate a hot breakfast at the Tuolomne Meadows Grill as we waited for the post office to open.  We picked up our food resupply box that we had placed there Thursday and repacked our food canisters for the next six days on the trail.  I repaired a grommet that had failed on my pack and Christine bought some deli sandwiches for lunch today.  We chatted more with Alexa and Tony as they prepared for the next leg as well.  We were finally under way at 10:00.  We had an especially easy walk up Lyell Canyon along the Lyell Fork of the Tuolomne River.  It became another clear and warm day.  We met another backpacker out for a week of hiking in Yosemite, Emily.  It was a pleasure to have her company, and the miles really slipped by in conversation with her.  She camped next to us tonight (9650’) and we got to know a lot about each other.

We also ran into a group of 14 Brits hiking the JMT.  They were British military personnel and civilians working for the military.  They had received a grant to come over here and hike the JMT as part of a team-building exercise.  The 14 were divided into two groups of 7 that hike about an hour apart from each other, alternating which group started first each day.  They had all just gotten on the JMT today at Tuolomne Meadows, skipping the first 23 miles out of Yosemite Valley, and were attacking the trail on a pretty ambitious schedule for a group that had spent no time acclimating to the elevation.

Day 3 – Christine

A hot breakfast was really nice this morning and we enjoyed getting our food all ready.  Another couple, Alexa and Tony, that we met our first day shared our picnic table and it was nice having their company.  Hopefully we will see them a lot as they are on our same path.  On our way out of Tuolomne today we were hiking and we met a single female hiker, Emily.  She is out for a week.  It was great hiking with her and the miles flew by as we talked.  I enjoy having someone to talk to as I walk.  We shared a campsite with her tonight and that was great.  My shoulders and knees seemed to mellow a bit today but it was also a pretty smooth day with no big climbs or downhills and not as many miles.

  Emily making dinner.

Tuesday, September 10, 2002      Day 4, JMT: 11.2 miles      44.7 total miles

It was 32° at 7:00 AM.  We said goodbye to Emily and began our long climb over Donohue Pass at 8:45.  We saw five deer during our ascent.  There was no wind, and it was clear and warming.  We had excellent views of Mt Lyell (13,144’, Yosemite’s highest) above and of Lyell Canyon below.  Christine has begun to blister around some of her toes.  The blisters aren’t in painful spots, but I taped them up anyway.  Christine had a tough day today.  At Donohue Pass (11,056’) we left Yosemite National Park and passed into Ansel Adams Wilderness.

We stopped at Thousand Isles Lake around 5:00 and made dinner under the imposing reflection of Banner Peak (12,945’) and the Ritter Range.  Ansel Adams immortalized this scenery in many of his photographs.  We continued on a bit farther and camped at Ruby Lake (9900’) around 6:30.  It was a warm evening.  We had seen seven deer today.

Day 4 – Christine

The sun was harsh today.  I'm not sure what we were thinking not bringing suntan lotion.  I've been using my face lotion just for some protection because it has SPF 15 but it's a little expensive to be putting on my arms.  Hopefully we can get more lotion in Red's meadow tomorrow.  This afternoon I had a lack of energy and my hips, shoulders, and right quad were hurting pretty good.  And I have 2 blisters in very weird spots on the inside of my big toes!  But there were some beautiful views today and 7 deer!

1) Christine below Mt. Lyell.  2) Kuna Crest and lakelet below Donohue pass.  3) Mt. Lyell reflection.  4) Joe from Donohue pass facing East.  5) Christine above Lyell Canyon from Donohue Pass.

Wednesday, September 11, 2002     Day 5, JMT: 12.9 miles   57.6 total miles

We woke from our warmest night yet.  We struggled to get going by 8:15, knowing that it would be a long day.  It was another clear, calm and warm day.  Most of today’s walk was in the cool shade, which meant fewer views.  The first 3.5 miles seemed to take forever, leading me to think there was an error in our guidebook, but the pace improved after that.

We seem to be the only Americans doing the JMT right now.  We continue to see the large groups of Brits, though their schedule should have them well ahead of us by now.  They have a three-person road crew that is driving to meet them whenever possible to restock their food supply.  That sounds great, except there are very few points where the JMT is accessible by road.

Christine faded seriously today after about 10 miles.  She now has an authentic hiker hobble, but her whole body hurts.  We pushed to do the extra miles today to see Devils Postpile National Monument and reach Reds Meadow Resort for the night.

The Devils Postpile is an excellent example of polygonal columns formed from volcanic basalt.  A heavy flow of basaltic lava filled part of this valley.  It was cooled rapidly and evenly by the cool air on top and the cool granite beneath.  The stresses of shrinking as it cooled caused cracks in the mass.  The angle that offers the greatest release of stress under these conditions is 120°.  One crack would connect to another and reach through the mass from top to bottom, mostly forming hexagonal columns.  Following glaciers distorted some of these formations, but Devils Postpile is well-preserved.

We reached the campground at Reds Meadow (7400’) at 5:30 and set up camp.  After brief consideration, Christine decided to walk the additional quarter-mile to the café for dinner of bacon-cheeseburgers.  The burgers were great!  We bought some necessities and a beer at the store and returned to the campground to take showers.  There is a very primitive bathhouse fed by gravity from Reds Meadow Hot Springs.  Under any other circumstances we might be too disgusted to make use of the facility, but it would be our first real hot shower in five days.  The shower rooms were unlit, and darkness was upon us, so we used our meager tent lights to illuminate the dark room and helped each other bathe.  This is one of those situations where less light is probably a good thing.  The water temperature was perfect and I thoroughly enjoyed my shower.  I think Christine was nearly as satisfied.  We had little trouble falling asleep tonight after our exhausting day.  All 14 Brits were camped just across from us.  We saw 4 deer today.

We didn’t remember until the end of the day that today was the one-year anniversary of the 9/11 bombings.  When reminded, we paused to reflect on events of the past year, but we were mostly glad to be away from the media overdose that had to be going on in the connected world.  We often cherish the occasional detachment that comes with our travels.

Day 5  - Christine

Physically today was the hardest so far.  I think my body freaked out today and said "Wow, she is really going to do this--we must stop her!"  I barely dragged myself into Red's Meadow.  Every part of my legs and feet hurt and I didn't think I could go any farther.  I passed a really old guy with a cane at the Devil's Postpile and he was walking better than I was.  But oh the power of food…

I got the pack off and convinced my body it could make it the ¼ mile to the café.  A great burger and an ice cream bar to follow really helped my attitude and body.  Then we got to take the hot showers.  As we were walking to the showers an older couple were coming down and I asked them how the showers were.  They only had complaints about them.  I said, "You must not be dirty enough." 

I was very happy that we were able to buy SPF 50 suntan lotion today.  It looks like a lot of this trail is above tree line and that sun gets harsh above 10,000 feet.  We were also able to buy more Ibuprofen.  So a couple hours after we ended our hike today life is a little better already.  I hope this is the worst day.   

1) Banner peak reflected over Garnet lake.  2 and 3) The Devils Postpile.

Thursday, September 12, 2002     Day 6, JMT: 12.5 miles       70.1 total miles

It was a warm 39° at 7:00 AM.  It was so warm that I slept barelegged last night, also because my legs were clean.  We walked back to the Reds Meadow café for an outstanding breakfast.  We had the Packers Special: 3 hotcakes, 2 eggs, bacon/sausage.  We shared some home fries and enjoyed coffee and O.J.  It was a true hiker meal and we relished every calorie-packed mouthful.  Reds Meadow Resort is hard to call a resort due to the primitive nature of the facilities, but it serves its outdoor oriented customers well.  It reminds me of mountain retreats captured in films from the 40’s and 50’s.  Nothing much seems to have changed here except for the prices.  The establishment has preserved an authentic feel of a historic mountain getaway.  It caters to men that like to fish the trout-rich mountain lakes, and horse lovers that can access miles of stock trails.  The resort also welcomes the PCT and JMT hikers that pass through here for a hot shower and a good meal.  Some even send food resupply boxes here.  We finally got under way at 9:00 after chatting for a while with a couple northbound JMT hikers.

We climbed steadily all day on an easy grade of soft pumice.  Initially we passed through an area burned out by the 1992 lightning-caused Rainbow Fire.  It was interesting to observe the progress of natural reforestation that has occurred over the past decade.  We left the Ansel Adams Wilderness and entered the John Muir Wilderness.  We climbed to Red Cones, some classic volcanic cinder cones and met up with one of the Brit groups.  This group had started out first this morning, two hours before us, but had taken a wrong turn that probably added five miles to their hike today.  They were all looking quite weary and suffering from depressed morale.  A wrong turn on the trail can do that to you.  We are all prepared to walk the full 218.3 miles of JMT, but don’t ask me to do a single mile more than that if I don’t have to.

Christine did much better with today’s hike.  I credit our awesome hotcake breakfast for our sustained energy level today.  We went nearly the same distance today as we did yesterday, but the days can still be incredibly different.  We joked about how Christine has an 8-mile body, but we’re on a schedule of 12-mile days.  Something is going to have to give.  She made a mental adjustment to cope better with the pain of the final four miles each day now that she knows its limits and knows that she can bear it.  She much prefers going uphill than downhill.  Uphills are generally slower and require a greater cardiovascular effort, but the stress on the joints is greatly reduced.  Downhills have a way of jarring the body and inducing more comment from the feet and knees.  We are in such good shape that the climbs are very manageable as long as we pace ourselves, but my feet and Christine’s knees both reject the repeated abuse of descending the mountains. 

Christine’s right knee is giving us cause for concern.  It has a discolored swelling just below the joint, and occasionally causes sharp shooting pains.  It appears serious enough that we have talked about contingency plans in case she can’t continue with the hike.  We’ll have to make a decision about this while we’re at VVR this weekend.  That will be the last practical point to get Christine off the trail.  Then the question becomes whether I would continue without her.  We will monitor her knee carefully.

We reached our campsite at Duck Creek (10,150’) by 5:00 and enjoyed the quiet peace of having our own private Eden.  We ate and were in the warmth and comfort of our familiar tent by 7:00.  It had been a lovely clear calm day.  Clouds had passed through in the afternoon, but cleared out by evening.  We have been so blessed with this great weather.

Day 6 – Christine

Well, this morning I felt better so I put on the pack and kept moving, one day at a time.  It was a pretty walk today and I've learned I prefer uphill.  It is more work but it sure hurts less.  The great pancakes at the café this morning fueled me up and over the hills today no problem!  But the last 2-3 miles were downhill and I had a sharp pain that ran from my foot directly into the center of my knee.  The pain kind of worries me as it is beyond an ache to deal with on the hike.  I'll have to watch it.  I did note though as yesterday was so bad, I was more mentally prepared for the pain today and because of that the pain wasn't quite as debilitating. 

The café at Red's Meadow was fun.  It was super expensive but the atmosphere and food were good.  This morning they had a CD in with all old country songs and the café was filled with a combination of cowboys and hikers.

The blisters are still there but don't seem to pop or grow so I guess we'll just leave them.  One whole group of the Brits got lost today.  They looked really tired.  I hope that doesn't happen to us.  Joe is better than me about always being able to follow the trail.  Sometimes I kind of wander off the trail when I'm crossing big rock areas.

1) This was the Rainbow Forest Fire and it happened a few years ago.  2) This is Joe in front of Silver Pass but Silver Pass didn't turn out in the picture.

Friday, September 13, 2002       Day 7, JMT: 10.1 miles            80.2 total miles

We were just stirring from our sleep when a voice greeted us from outside the tent at 6:30 AM.  It was a Search and Rescue (SAR) worker announcing that a helicopter was landing here in 45 minutes to evacuate one of the British hikers from the group that suffered through the wrong turn yesterday.  The entire British party was supposed to be camping two miles farther along the trail at Purple Lake.  The one group of seven had gotten just a half mile past our campsite last night about 5:30 when one of them complained of chest pains and had a seizure before collapsing and lying unconscious for about twenty minutes.  The leader of the group smartly identified a side trail out to a Mammoth Lakes campground and ran the five miles there to get help.  SAR arrived by midnight and monitored the condition of the sick hiker throughout the night.  Efforts to get a helicopter in there last night were considered extremely dangerous in such extreme terrain above 10,000’ and the hiker’s condition stabilized through the night.  Six SAR volunteers responded to the event and they brought him down to our campsite at dawn on a stretcher rolling awkwardly on a one-wheeled transport aid.

Our campsite was the best helicopter landing zone in the area, and I mean our campsite.  They marked off the LZ with flags less than fifty feet from where our tent was pitched.  Needless to say, we were up quickly with all this excitement.  We quickly packed up all our gear to secure it from being destroyed by helicopter gusts.  We ate breakfast and chatted with the SAR team and the Brits we’d gotten to know. It had been a long night for all of them.  We learned that the hiker’s condition was considered stable enough that the helicopter dispatched for him had been diverted to another SAR of greater concern.  A backup helicopter was now in the air to evacuate him, but it had a much later ETA.  Christine and I decided that any further lingering could be considered in poor taste, and would unnecessarily put us behind schedule.  We offered to take a news update to the rest of the Brit group on up at Purple Lake, and then we said goodbye.

We set out and passed one of the Brit hikers minding all the gear along the trail where the seizure occurred last night.  We heard the helicopter thwack through the canyon at 8:50 to get the hiker.  We reached Purple Lake and spent some time with the rest of the party giving them an update and suggesting alternative itineraries that would help them complete their hike.  It was clear that their ambitious pace was not working for them, and that an adjustment in their schedule was imminent.  Christine and I weren’t sure if we would see any of them again after this.

 Christine and I continued on with our hike feeling very fortunate that we started out better acclimated to the altitude than most hikers in the High Sierras.  We stopped to pump some water at Virginia Lake and got into a discussion with a US Forest Service worker doing trail maintenance on a crew of five.  She generously talked to us for a while and commented on the different manners in which various agencies interpret the Wilderness Act of 1964.  This act aimed to preserve some areas of our country’s wilds to a degree greater than any prior laws supported.  Some of these areas are managed by the Department of Interior through the National Park Service; other areas are managed by the Department of Agriculture through the US Forest Service.  The USFS has a much stricter interpretation of how to manage the designated Wilderness Areas.  The USFS proudly refrains from using any mechanical equipment or installing any permanent structures.  The reference to mechanical equipment includes all power tools, and even prohibits the use of a wheel.  This philosophy has prompted a rebirth in the use of 6-foot bucksaws to clear blowdowns from the trail.  The National Park Service however, sees no problems with the use of chainsaws and other power tools in their Wilderness Areas.  This was all very interesting to me.

We descended the hot exposed switchbacks into Tully Hole and cooled our overheated feet in Fish Creek.  I watched and felt my swollen feet shrivel up in the chilling 52° water.  It was quite refreshing.  We continued our day with a steady climb up toward Silver Pass.  We stopped at 4:30 to take a break and eat dinner along the shore of Squaw Lake.  We’ve been choosing to eat dinner prior to reaching camp when practical.  This is an effective way to minimize the attraction of bears to your camp.  We reach our camping spot this way and don’t introduce any cooking food smells into the air or leave any food traces on the ground from washing our dishes.  It’s not always practical, but it makes for a nice late-day break before getting a last mile or two of hiking behind us.  We left Squaw Lake and continued up to Chief Lake (10,600’) for the night.

Day 7 – Christine

Well the Search and Rescue got us up and going this morning.  I don't understand how some hikers can take so long in the morning.  Once I'm up it's cold and I might as well be walking to warm up. I sure hope we see the Brits again along this hike.

My knees started right out with the sharp pain this morning.  I seem to have a bruise under my knee and some swelling.  It is starting to worry me.  After 7 days I know I can climb the mountains and I think I can do this trail, the only thing that might end it early would be an injury.  I'm hoping there's not something internally wrong.  We took some long breaks and soaked the knee in cold water.  That seemed to help.

I've started to realize I'm really not a mileage hiker and I don't really want to be one.  We've been saying I have 8-10 mile a day legs and we are on an 11-13 mile a day pace.  I still like the backpacking but I hope in the future we can focus on maybe going out and doing a loop in a week and being able to hang out some days and do day hikes up mountains without the pack.  I really don't like the schedule and always having to keep up with the schedule.  Joe is always working it out in his head.  Because we got to Tuolomne early we had a few miles to play with but Joe never lets us use them, he's always saying tomorrow will be easier.  I'm already tired of hearing that!  Well, we'll see, only 12 days left.

1) Virginia Lake.  2) This is Tully hole.  It was a steep downhill hike into Tully Hole and then we walked along the river you see in the picture.  3) We took a break at the bridge that crossed the river out of Tully Hole to soak our hot and aching feet.  The water was very cold but it was good for swelling feet and knees.

Saturday, September 14, 2002          Day 8, JMT: 8.0 miles          88.2 total miles

Like most other mornings, I’ve been getting up at about 6:30 AM.  I get out of the tent to make a morning visit to the nearest tree and then I get our breakfast out of one of the bear containers that we leave sitting out in the open about twenty feet from our tent.  I climb back in the sleeping bag and enjoy our cold breakfast in bed with Christine.  This is usually followed by me stuffing my sleeping bag away and rolling up my Thermarest sleeping pad.  I can then leave the tent and give Christine room to go through her morning routine.  I busy myself by washing the breakfast dishes and readying our gear for the day.  We are now able to get under way in about an hour without feeling too hurried.  The sooner we start walking, the sooner we begin to warm up.  It was 42° at 7:00 and we were walking by 7:30.  We finished the short climb to Silver Pass (10,900’) and began an easy 3200’ descent to Edison Lake down the Mono Creek drainage.

Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) lies on the westernmost side of manmade Edison Lake (7700’).  The resort draws enough business from the hikers that they operate a ferry service five miles across the lake to pick up and return hikers to the trail.  This service runs at convenient times twice a day during the summer, but by September they cut back to a single run each day at 2:45.  The power company also substantially drains the lake for the winter by this time, making it a dangerous crossing because of submerged tree stumps and rocks that are otherwise safely beneath the waterline.  We reached the ferry landing at 1:30 and sat around waiting for the boat with seven other passengers.  One of the hikers with a cell phone fortunately called ahead to ensure that VVR would send boats with enough capacity to pick up all of us and our gear. 

Christine and I were crowded onto the small pontoon boat and settled in for the 30-minute ride across the lake.  This turned into a two-hour ordeal after the boat engine failed several times and finally refused to function.  I paddled the boat merely to keep it facing into the wind and minimize the rolling from the considerable waves.  We were initially towed by a couple familiar guys out fishing in a simple motorboat with an 8-HP outboard, but that wasn’t getting us very far.  Finally a fleet of small motorboats arrived from the resort in response to a radio call for help.  It was 5:00 when we finally reached the other end of the lake.  We could have walked along the shore and made it just as quickly.

Christine and I were initially very disappointed by Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR).  We had heard positive things about this stop from other JMT and PCT hikers, and their website was quite impressive.  I even called ahead and made a reservation for a room so that Christine and I could have a comfortable bed and private bath to enjoy for a night.    The disappointment hit us in the face when we learned that our reservation had been given away while we were stuck out on the lake dead in the water.  We learned that the room we had reserved was one of several dumpy old camping trailers that had been installed for permanent service.  We had been so looking forward to a nice private bathroom and a big comfortable bed.  It was our own expectations that got the worst of us.

We realized quickly that nothing was going to make this stop live up to our expectations, so we just had to make do.  We were given the loft of the store to sleep in after they displaced a crewmember for the night.  It was a dirty unfinished room with no headroom and hardly any light, but it was ours.  They even put clean sheets on the bed.  Christine took a less than satisfying shower while I went to do the laundry.  It took forever to get the clothes dry, but we finally had enough to wear for dinner.  The food received high marks for quantity, quality and price.  Christine and I both enjoyed a big plate of BBQ chicken and ribs and some cold beer.  Word got out to the entire staff that we had suffered a disservice and they all did their best to improve our experience there.  The other relief for us was learning that both our resupply boxes had arrived; the food we had mailed to ourselves from Yosemite Valley and the warmer sleeping bags Express Mailed from my in-laws.  I finally got my shower after dinner and went to bed on a very soft bed, yet didn’t sleep well.  It had been a long trying day, and I was glad to have it end.

Day 8 – Christine

Well today started out good but it sure didn’t end like we expected.  We covered our miles well today and got down to the landing with plenty of time to sit and chat with the other hikers.  I just wanted a shower and a nice bed for an evening.  And a good hot meal was on the list also.  Well you've already heard the story from Joe. 

I have to say I stayed out of the whole haggle over where we were going to sleep and I think I would have been happier in our tent.  Joe handles those kinds of haggles in a calmer manner than I do.  Vermillion was a TOTAL disappointment to me, and we'd heard such good things!  It made me realize how low most hikers expectations are when it comes to comfort.  I'm willing to do the hike and not complain about the lack of cleanliness or comfort but darn it if I'm going to be in a populated place that means I get a bed and a shower without mold.  I could have laid down in some of the streams we passed and had less contact with mold than I had in that shower!  The people are nice here but they drink more than the guests.  The food was good and I'll give them that.  We had a good meal.  But the lodging was horrendous and the pricing exorbitant.   I said they don't nickel and dime you, they dollar and five you.  I won't be going back to this hillbilly resort.

We were very lucky though to get our food drop and our sleeping bags from my parents.  I am looking forward to that comfy bag.

Sunday, September 15, 2002        Day 9, JMT: 6.0 miles              94.2 total miles

We had originally planned to take a zero-mile day here at VVR and spend two nights in the comfort of our room, but there seemed no point in that now.  We got started on our resupply boxes and then went downstairs for an excellent breakfast almost identical to the one we had three days ago in Reds Meadow.  It’s amazing how much better you can feel when your stomach is full.  Christine’s problematic knee has decided to behave.  The swelling and discoloration have left, and most of the pain is now tolerably dull instead of shooting.  Christine wants to continue, so continue we shall.

We have eleven days worth of food to get us the remaining 130 miles to Lone Pine.  There are no other opportunities to get food on the JMT without wasting day(s) on lengthy hikes off and back onto the trail.  We had determined that carrying all that food out of VVR was our best option.  Most other hikers are so discouraged by the idea of carrying that much food that they plan the long side trips off the JMT to resupply.  When we arrived at VVR yesterday with no food in our packs, Christine’s weighed 26 lbs and mine weighed 35 lbs.  When I weighed them filled with our food today they weighed 36 lbs and 55 lbs respectively.  I was quite impressed with these weights.  Even though the 55-pound pack felt heavy to me, I knew that it was a very manageable weight for me, and that Christine could handle 36 pounds.  I was amazed that between us we were only carrying 91 pounds, plus whatever water we had at the time.  It’s a credit to how little excess stuff found its way into our packs.  I am becoming a strong proponent for the “lighter is better” mantra of ultra-light backpacking.

We packed up our old sleeping bags and arranged for VVR to mail them back to us in Independence, CA for us to pick up when we finish.  We then settled our bill.  What a shocker!  VVR runs a tab for all your expenses and then hits you with it in the end.  They provided us with our attic accommodations, gratis and even threw in some drinks and a dessert, but our bill still came close to $200 for our 24-hour visit.  We had gotten to the point where we were actually eager to get back to the predictable solace of our trail life.  VVR is under new ownership this year and they appear to have big plans.  In spite of our disappointments, the owners and staff tried very hard to please us, and it was appreciated.

By the time we caught the ferry back across the lake I was not feeling well.  I had a headache, some nausea and felt quite piqued.  I’m not sure what was going on, but it had me down.  We caught the 2:00 ferry without mishap and were walking back to the JMT by 2:45.  We finally reached the junction that put us back on the JMT at 3:30 and immediately began a climb of 2300’ in less than four miles up 60 switchbacks.  I decided that I would just shock my body out of its funk by pressing it hard up the climb.  It slowly seemed to work as my piquedness was replaced by hard-earned fatigue. 

I had planned for us to get six miles in tonight before dark which would carry us over Bear Ridge and down to Bear Creek.  We were hurrying with the uncertainty of finding a campsite near water before dark.  A windy front had blown in with many clouds and gusty winds.  As dusk approached, the clouds thinned out and the wind abated leaving us with a beautiful sunset filtering through our tree-lined trail.  It washed the mountains in pinks and reds.  We barely found a spot by dark (9,100’), but we managed.  We cooked and ate our dinner in the dark and relished the consistency of our life on the trail.  We know exactly what to expect from our trail dinners and camping in our tent, and we like it.  It was 9:00 when we finally climbed into our WARM sleeping bags for the night.  We saw a deer and a couple grouse along the trail today.

We left VVR with more food than we could fit in our two storage containers.  We triple-bagged the excess food and placed it between our sleeping bags in our tent.  We draped Christine’s smelly hiking socks on top of the bag for added measure.  It seemed like a suitable solution for the next few days until our food supply shrinks enough to fit in the two containers.

Day 9 – Christine

Well I got to watch some football this morning and that was a good thing but the Packer scores I was seeing were not!  I was very ready to be going by the time we got our ride back across the lake.  Although I'm not sure I was prepared for the next few hours.

I pushed myself to stay close to Joe on our 7-mile sprint out of Vermillion today and I'll pay for that tomorrow.  I can't move that fast without leg pain but there were clouds and I wanted to make it over the hill and to a camp spot before dark and/or rain as much as he did.   We just made it, and it was hard not to stop too much to look at the beautiful sunset.  It's the first real good sunset we've had because they are the first clouds we've seen!

Monday, September 16, 2002       Day 10, JMT: 13.2 miles        107.4 total miles

It was 36° at 7:00 AM and we were walking by 7:50.  Today was another tough day for Christine.  It’s the hump day, number 10 out of 19.  I fear that she caught herself looking ahead at the next nine days and getting overwhelmed by the remaining effort.  She’ll have to get back to finishing one day at a time to keep it all in perspective.

We completed the 7-mile climb to Selden Pass (10,900’) by 1:00 and Christine decided to leave her bad mood on the north side of the pass.  She regained her composure and we took several nice breaks on our way down.  We stopped at Senger Creek at 4:00 to fix and early dinner and then walked another three miles down to Muir Trail Ranch by 6:30.  Muir Trail Ranch is a possible resupply point, but there is considerable expense getting a box delivered there. The ranch only serves its guests that stay there for a week at a time, so we had opted for Vermillion Valley Resort instead, though we were second guessing ourselves after the experience there.

This was a long day for us, but we were lured by Blayney Hot Springs, located next to the Muir Trail Ranch (7800’).  We had a tricky ford of the South Fork San Joaquin River, and I had to do some bushwhacking before finding the spring, but the warm water was worth the effort.  Christine and I stripped down and slipped into the murky pool for a peaceful cleansing soak.  We scrubbed the dirt off our bodies without using any soap, but still managed to get pretty clean.  We slept well after the long day and the soothing dip.

Day 10 – Christine

This morning I started out irritated.  Joe keeps waking me up earlier and I hate the mornings.  Not because I want to sleep more but I don't want to get up because it's cold!  I know my hands are going to be so cold they will hurt and then I'll just have to walk again.  So what's the deal with having to get up earlier, I still have to walk all day whether we start at 7 or 8 AM?  We had a long seven miles to climb this morning.  It seemed to take forever.  What a haul!  But I managed to leave my grumpiness on the other side of Selden Pass.  It was a long but ok afternoon.

It was our hump day and it was just like a Wednesday.  We are half way done and I wish we were further.

1) North from Selden Pass.  2) South from Selden Pass.

Please find the map and profile of the John Muir Trail by clicking here.