Sounds like the type of trip you shouldn't do solo? Too right!
The following is my daily log, written "live" during the trail.
Even though I was leaving a bit later than first planned, there were still a few things I hadn't managed to do. Nothing important of course, just seam-sealing my new tent to keep the rain out, checking out my water filter which was still in it's box and doing a final pack to see if everything would actually fit and more importantly, how much it weighed.
However, even though I wasn't quite ready one can not just turn up at Yosemite willy-nilly to start the trail and I was "booked in" for the 14th. So without further ado, I mailed off my re-supply box to Vermillion Valley, picked up my boots which were getting repaired (not that I like to leave things to the last minute or anything!) and headed for Yosemite.
I got there at about 4pm which was much later than anticipated. I had decided to leave my tent seam-sealing to another day so the main thing was to actually pack my rucksack. However, I still had to collect my permit and get some last minute items.
Everything was thrown up in the air when the Ranger told me my permit was booked for the 21st Aug and not the 14th. I couldn't believe it. I had done it over the phone the day before and at first I was told there were none left and I would have to get there at 06:30 for the small amount of first come first served permits. However, as I had to pick up my boots there was no chance of that and I was looking at a day's delay (with hingsight that wouldn't have been a bad thing). Then suddenly a free permit became available for the 14th!!
Anyhow, being solo the Ranger took sympathy on me and managed to frig the system and get me a permit. Advantage No. 1 of being solo. Yosemite Village was mobbed and by the time all that had happened and I bought my last minute items (including a mug to drink out of and some lunch for the next few days) it was getting late. And I hadn't even started packing my rucksack yet.
I eventually found the "Widlerness Permits" car park which was full of dust covered cars which had obviously been there for a while. Now the first and final rucksack pack. What's to go and what's to stay? A lot of crucial decisions. It became apparent that my large and heavy 4-season sleeping bag wasn't going to fit. Hmmmm! The alternative was my 1-season bag which I had bought for Belize. I decided to go for that but I had the option of passing by my car in the morning and changing it. The final test, how much did it weigh? It was somewhere between f$^&#^^g heavy and totally f&^(&$g ridiculous. Disadvantage No 1 of going solo!
Once I got going it wasn't so bad and made my way through RV land to the "Wilderness Permits" campground. Immediately on arrival I spotted my first bear. Hmmmm! It didn't appear to be the least bit scared and was quite happily walking up to some poor guy's tent. I pointed out the situation to some nearby American campers who seemed to enjoy chasing it off. I then got talking to some other folks and the bear thing seemed to be quite bad. Apparently the only way to stop them getting food was bear boxes, of which there were very little on the JMT, or a bear canister of which I had not. The bears had apparently figured out the roping your food up a tree technique, which, unsurprisingly, was the very technique I had brought some rope for. Bugger! There was no way I could add a metal bear canister to my already ridiculously heavy rucksack and all my food wouldn't fit in it anyway. So basically I was stuffed!
With that re-assuring thought I went off to bed.
With some creative packing I got everything to fit and was quite chuffed. Something had to go and it was my fleece. I also had a thin fleece and figured with that and a shirt it would just have to do.
So this was it. Had I forget anything? Yes. My sunglasses. After squeezing them in, I finally locked the car and pulled my dust cover over. It was an eary feeling. It really brought home that I was going away for a long time. I reluctantly left the car suspicious that I had forget some thing else. Too late now, I was off.
The trail officially started (or ended if going south-to-north) at Happy Isles, right where a rockslide had happened about 4 weeks earlier which I witnessed from Vernal Falls, after having done Half Dome. It was weird seeing the place in daylight. When we had passed it before, it was dark, dusty and the scene of a rescue operation what with ambulances and Rangers all over the place.
The first section would be retracing our steps of that day. All the way up to the junction where the JMT leaves the Half Dome trail. I somehow managed to get a bit of a sprint on and managed to pass all the tourists out on a day walk to my and their amazement. Sweating buckets though. Had a rest of Vernal Falls and took the same picture I took during the rockslide. This time no dust!
The ascent was steep. My rough plan was to hit Sunrise High Sierra Camp which was 13.5 miles but a 4,000ft gain. Having started at 6,000ft made it quite a challenge. I had another rest at Nevada Falls and used my Pur Hiker for the first time in anger. Worked dandy and even filled up water bottles for other folks.
All of a sudden I remembered something important that I had forgot. Toilet-roll! I got into this situation in the Indonesia jungles once and had to resort to using leaves, after checking there were no ants or other bugs on them. It wasn't good and I didn't want a repeat. The next resupply was Tuolumne Meadows which was 2/3 days away. Usually when I go camping I get no activity whatsoever for the first week so I wasn't too worried about the situation. If the worst came to the worst I could always scrounge some from another hiker.
It was getting on so it was time to head. I tagged along with a group of young ladies who were doing Half Dome. Finally waived cheerio at the junction. The scenery was amazing. I was stopping about every five minutes. Hitting Sunrise Camp was looking dodgy but this would probably be my only opportunity to do the JMT so why rush things? I decided to take thing easy, enjoy the scenery and not bother with how much distance I was covering.
After the junction the amount of people noticibly reduced and I got my first feeling of being "alone" on the trail. However, there were still quite a few people going in the other direction.
I was checking the map carefully for the water situation. My bottle was only 0.5l so I had to refill regularly. I did have a 3l water bag but I was trying to avoid filling it to reduce the weight. The next water source was a slight detour towards Cloud's Rest. It was quite late, 4pm'ish, and I hadn't eaten lunch yet. No time like the present and what an excellant lunch it was - cheeze, salami, on a roll with cottage cheese spread topped by a tomato. I was very chuffed with it and felt quite filled.
Sunrise Camp was out by now and by looking at the map I chose a sight near a stream about 2 miles south of it. Eventually got there and to my horror the stream was dried up. Disaster! I had sod all water left. I was suspicious that my enourmous scale map would have such a small stream marked so I dumped my bag and walked on. The sound of running water was music to my ears. The dried up stream must have been a minor tributory. I checked around the area hoping to find other campers but it looked like I was on my tod.
Got there with my pack and set up camp in a well used spot. Then came the question about doing a bear hang. There were no suitable trees that I could find. Anyway, I came to the conclusion that hanging your food up a tree was just asking for a bear to take it. Bears live in trees after all. Without a bear canister that left two options - in your tent or out of your tent. The latter probably being less effective than a tree. So, I was going to keep my food in my tent. Yikes! My rationale was that bears are scared of humans and don't want a confrontation. So if they smell food in a tent with a human, they would be reluctant to go for it. Even if they did, at least I would be there to do something about it. Conversely, if it was hanged up a tree, there would be zilch you could do about it.
It was a scary night. Camped out in the middle of nowhere with nobody else around, in the middle of bear country with food inside your tent. Somehow I managed to fall asleep.
It was chilly outside and being in a forest the sun wasn't able to shine through. It took a long time to make the transition from warm sleeping bag to clothes. Too long in fact! I didn't get going until about 10:30am. Skipped breakfast to make up for lost time. Didn't feel hungry anyway.
The ascent up to Sunrise camp was steep. There was a whole batch of people coming down. They must have all left Sunrise at the same time. Having gained some height I started getting some glimpses of the surrounding mountains. The forest had thined out quite a bit as well.
Got to the top and had a break. I was just looking around when I saw a small furry animal. It ran up a tree but it wasn't a squirrel. Guessed it was some sort of chipmunk. The more I watched the more I saw them. They were very quick and darted around a lot. Once I got going I saw even more. It must have been some sort of colony. They disappeared under rocks, up trees and some down holes. There was one that made for a rock in the middle of bare patch of ground. There was nowhere for it to go so I sat and watched. Sure enough it popped it's head out, didn't appear to see me until it had left the rock and then whizzed across the ground to a fallen tree. It was quite funny if you actually saw it.
Came across my first meadow. Very pretty with all the wild flowers. Took a picture on timer. One thing I could have done with was one of these flexible camera stands.
Eventually Sunrise came into view across a large meadow. I stopped for a while admiring the view. It didn't seem to far and I got there in no time.
The place was deserted. Quite spooky. It was all tent cabins. There was a store and lucky me it opened in a few minutes. Even more luckier was that the toilet had toilet roll. I stocked up with a couple of days worth.
Once the store opened there was a tempting array of food. The store, BTW, was basically the corner in a room with a few shelves. I resisted going for M&Ms and settled for lemonade which was really just a lime cordial drink. The camp mainly caters for people on horses and a whole bunch of them came in wearing all the gear - cowboy hats, boots, etc. They seemed surprised to see a Scot and started talking about Braveheart. One of them worked for Mel Gibson or something.
Time to get going. I could make Tuolumne Meadows but would get there late. It was about 2:30pm now. The other option was to camp at Cathedral Lakes which was a slight detour off the trail. I got to the junction pretty quick. Highlight en-route was Cathedral Peak. Wouldn't want to be scrambling up that!
I sat at the junction trying to decide. Eventually I thought stuff it and headed towards the lake. When I got there I spotted a few tents. Great, I'll have some company tonight. I headed across and it turned out there was a whole lot of people all from a company in San Diego. There didn't seem to be much suitable camping in the vicinity so I boldly asked if I could camp with them and after a bit of teasing they obliged.
The lake was tempting and it wasn't long before I was in. It was surprisingly warm. Then I started about trying to find the leak in my Thermarest. I thought I had fixed it before I left but obviously not. After a while of folding it up several times underwater, I saw it. A tiny stream of bubbles. I deposited a large amount of seam-seal on the spot. There was no way I was having another bumpy bed night. Especially as tonight we were sleeping on rocks. That's one of the regulations in the US. You're not allowed to camp on vegetation. It has to be an existing campsite or rocks/soil. Also, you have to be 100ft from any water and 100ft from the trail. All washing, including pots, has to be done this same distance including brushing your teeth. You are however allowed to swim/wash in water, just as long as you don't use soap. Not a problem for me because I didn't have any soap or shampoo with me anyway. I never use soap when I go on trips like this and I've not used shampoo for years. Soap and shampoo apparently washed away your natural oils for cleansing. It seems to work. Nobody has told me otherwise!
And another thing about the US Park rules, all used toilet-roll has to be packed out. Even bio-degradable stuff! All that stuff makes life a little harder but it's for the protection of the environment and a very good cause. If abused, it can result in a fine! Something they should start doing in Scotland.
When I got back to camp they were talking about doing a bear hang. There wasn't any tress around and the plan was to use a cliff. I was game to keep my food in my tent but thought I better go along with the crowd and packed all me precious food in a stuff-sack. Four of us scrambles up this cliff and after a while had several stuff-sacks full of food in a totally inaccessible spot. Unless of course they fell down in which case the local bears would be having a free food party, BYOB at the cliffs. While we were up there the sun was setting and there was an amzing view of the campsite. I was cursing that I didn't have my camera.
Back down t camp tea was being prepared. As there was a whole bunch of them, there was plenty and I didn't have to make my own. Very nice pasta it was.
They were a very friendly bunch and I was really glad I hadn't went straight to Tuolumne Meadows. We chatted for a while and exchanged "things we did when we were young". One of the group had an intersting pastime of catching flies, glueing them to a pice of thread them attaching them to a balsa-wood plane for engines! Bizarre or what?
It was still early. My plan today was to get to Tuolumne Meadows, which was only about 5miles, seam-seal my tent before I got caught in a down pour, then do the toursity things. If I went on it would mean camping in the bear infested Lyall Canyon. But if I started from TM I could make it right through and camp at Donaghue Pass which was too high for bears, 11,000ft. A cunning plan should I say so myself.
By the time we had breakfast, etc, etc, it was 9:30am. I could have packed up earlier and got going but thought that would have been a bit rude. I blitzed it to TM and got to where the path meets the road at about 11am. There was supposed to be a shuttle-bus to TM itself but I couldn't be bothered waiting and hitched. My first port of call was the store in the hope they still had some alcohol fuel left. I had phoned from Yosemite Valley on Tuesday and there were four left. If they had none I would have to resort to fires but you can't have fires above 9,600ft and below that is bear country. So I was really hoping they hadn't ran out. At first it appeared they had but after some anxious moments the assistant found them. I got the second last one.
Once I got into the campsite and seam-sealed my tent it was about 2:30pm. I was planning to get the free half-hourly shuttle-bus down to Tenaya Lake and go for a swim. I had just missed one so I hit the store and bought another ice-cream. I then waited at the bus stop and after a while read a notice saying that there was no 3pm shuttle-bus! So it was back to the store for another ice-cream! The last shuttle-bus was 6pm so I only had a few hours by the time I got there. But it was worth it.
Once I got back to camp, via the store of course for another ice-cream, it was getting dark. It was chilly. We were at about 9,000ft. I tried out one of my dehydrated meals and it was okay. After a chit-chat to some fellow campers it was off to bed.
Then the ascent started. It was only 2,000ft but it was tough going. There were still lots of people around and lots of camping as well. I got a few stories about the bears. It was definately the right move not camping around here.
I kept on going and eventually came to a plateau. Spotted some dear which seemed quite tame and got a few good pictures I hope. There was another plateau futher up and I reckoned it would be definatelt out of the bear zone but I would probably be the only person daft enought to camp that high. It was about 11,000ft. Everybody else seemed to have bear cannisters.
Decided to go up anyway. There was not a soul there! It was also quite cold and windy. Oh dear I thought. I chose a camp then went for a wander. Much to my surprise I came across another person. Paul was his name and he had just came across Donaghue Pass. He was pondering on whether to stay or camp farther down. I went off and had a much belated lunch. My apetite was kind of strange. Maybe it was the heat but I wasn't feeling all that hungry. I had skipped breakfasts and as I was having so late a lunch wasn't bothered about dinner.
The sun went down and the temperature dropped immediately. It was a real "high in the mountains" feel.
Paul had decided to stay so I went across for a chat. He wasn't the most well equiped camper I had come across, which he admitted. He had left at the last minute. Didn't have a tent but had a very good sleeping bag. He also didn't have a water filter which was chancing it a bit with Giardia. He was also camped right next to the lake and had a fire going which is forbidden above 9,600ft in Yosemite to preserve wood. I subtly mentioned this to Paul although there was no chance a Ranger would appear up here at this time which we joked about.
We chatted away and it started getting dark, which was about 8pm. No light summer nights here! I was just about to tuen in when we heard, clip. clop, clip, clop. It was a Ranger appearing over the horizon on horse!! Paul couldn't belive his eyes.
The Ranger came down and after a bit of friendly chit-chat asked if either of us knew what height we were at. Paul replied 10,????ft. He then went on about wood preservation and also camping within 100ft of the trail and water. He was going to fine both of us until Paul pointed out that I was just across for a chat. After some negotation and acting the fool Paul got let off with the water violation which was $45. The whole lot could of came to $400!!
The Ranger was a bit of a nutter if you ask me. I had a shirt and fleece and was cold. He had a short-sleeved short and was on horse-back. It was dark. He had no light. The horse had fallen on the way up but he was still going to try to make Donaghue Pass. After the fine was over we all chatted away and Paul even offerred the gut his sweater. We suggested he was daft going to Doanghue Pass but he dissappeared into the dark.
Me and Paul couldn't belive it. Minutes after joking about a Ranger turning up, voila! Paul didn't seem to bothered about the $45 fine. We both couldn't believe he went on to the pass in the pich dark. By this time it was about 9pm. After we had put the fire out and moved Paul's stuff we sat waiting for the lone Ranger. We heard him coming back and stopped for another chat. By this time the guy was shivering with the cold. He didn't make the pass, funnily enough. We let him on his way and I wonder if he made it back in one piece?
I trekked up to the pass. Still had seen nobody. Took a few pictures on timer. I started my decent and on the way down came across a pack train on the way up. There must have been about twenty of them on horses. That was one thing I had bergan noticing on the trail. Serious amounts of horse-shit! It was disgusting. The pack train seemed quite surprised to see a solo hiker. I was surprised to see them.
As I decended farther I came into a lush, meadow land with littlew streams and some trees. In one particular spot there was a mixture od red, white, yellow and purple flowers. I was just about to take a picture but thought I'd wait to see if there was a better shot. There wasn't and I regretted my lost opportunity.
Eventually I got to Thousand Island Lake with Mt. Ritter in the background. I hadn't seen many people at all today but I bumped into a Ranger and chatted for about half-an-hour. I decided to push on to Garnet Lake which was another 3 miles. The Ranger mentioned camping on the north side but I was wanting to head to the south side to reduce the walk the following day. Lake Garnet was long and thin, kind of like a Scottish loch, and also had Mt. Ritter in the background. I saw a tent on the south side and made my was across to it.
The path started ascending which I didn't want so I cut off and scambled my way down to the tent. It got pretty tricky and I started wondering what the hell I was doing. It was quite steep. I spotted three other guys who were right doewn at the water. The occupents of the tent I had first spotted weren't around but they must be close as all their stuff was left lying out. I dumped my rucksack at a potential camp spot and went down to talk to the guys at the water. They were also from San Diego. I mentioned the 100ft from water thing and they seemed not to bother. After last night's experience I was taking no chances and went to look for a spot further uphill.
I was loooking around when I noticed some marks on the ground. Looked like a bear to me. I could also make out a trail running down the slope towards the water. It looked like an animal trail. Was it a bear? I eventually found a campsite. Once again I had not eaten lunch so had that instead of tea.
The guys by the water invited me down by their fire. We had a chat then went off to bed. I decided to stick by my guns and keep my food in my tent. As a back up, as advised by another elderly hiker I met, I also pissed around my tent. This apparently would deter any bears. The other guys had done a bear hang in a tree not for from my tent.
One strange thing that we had noticed was that nobody had appeared to come back to the tent with the stuff outside. A bit worrying.
I didn't really get to sleep until light. I was a little concerned that my food in my tent was going to be desert! I fell asleep at about 6am and was awoken when the guys found the remains of their food. I got up for a look and it was a real mess. The whole bag was ripped to shreds. So, keeping food in your tent and pissing around the area seems to work!
On top of the bear fiasco, something more worrying was apparent. Nobody had yet came to the tent which had all the stuff outside. This was most strange. I was going out to Reds Meadow today where a Ranger would be so I took down some details. It started looking like the worst. There was a sleeping bag, fleece and jeans inside the tent. Outside a fully packed rucksack, trainers and cooking pots. It looked like the guy had just left for 5mins or something. I looked inside the rucksack for ID. I found a JMT guide book and a wilderness permit. The guy was a he and had had entered at Lyall Canyon on the 11th Aug. That was eight days a go and it only took me two days to get here. Very strange indeed.
After all that it was getting on so I got going. I quickly caught the other guys up. We went our seperate ways at the Agnews Meadow junction. I carried on past Shadow Lake where there was a steep ascent.
I started feeling some blisters so I stopped and treated them. This was the first time my good old hiking boots had given me blisters. I also noticed the soles were starting to go in a few places. Looks like the repair I got done the day before I left wasn't that good. I had a bad feeling about it when I picked them up. The shoe-repairer had taken the whole sole off and re-glued them because he said too much dirt had got in and he had to clean it out. I was just really wanting some glue squirted into the small areas that were already coming away. Anyway, they didn't look too bad so I ignored it for the time being.
After Shadow Lake I passed a series of lakes which were all quite quaint. The trail started going downhill and I got a pace up. It was bad when I stopped because I could feel my blisters so I had few stops. It was a big decent down to Reds Meadow past the Mineret Waterfall.
Eventually I came into the Devil's Postpile National Monument. A bit futher on there was a complicated junction. Rather than geting the map out I followed the sign for the JMT. After A while I became suspicious. It should have went downhill towards the Devil's Postpile themselves but this was going along the hillside and even up in places. What more it was a first class horse trail with copious amounts of horse-shit and lots of sand. It made walking a nightmare, especially with blisters. It was like walking on the beach. Suddenly I spotted the Devil's Postpiles, across the valley on the other side. What the hell was going on? I got the map out and the JMT was signposted to follow the PCT. The JMT should have went straight on to the Devil's Postpile. I was just a little bit non-happy about that. I had come too far to turn back som my only option was to carry on. The trail seemed to go on for ages. It ended up near Rainbow Falls at which point my language would have made your hair curl. Just as well nobody else was around. Then it was a 1mile walk down a road to the campsite. When I got there I found out that it was $9/night which was a complete ripoff. And they didn't even have bear boxes! At least there was hot showers straight from a natural hot spring.
Anyway, I was totally non-impressed by Reds Meadow by this time and decided to try the campsite at the Devils Postpile. After a quick visit to the store for some ice-cream, I caught the free shuttle-bus. The campsite at the Devils Postpile wasn't any better. There was a Ranger there however and I reported my finding to him and also enquired about the JMT signposts. The latter was to try and divert traffic away from the Devils Postpile. I was a mug and fell for it. I should have looked at the map. The former he was very intersted in and took down full details. After that I trekked back to the Reds Meadow campsite via the Devils Postpile. I should have been doing this about 2 hours earlier and without a 1.5mile detour. I was most pissed.
I got back to the campsite just in time to catch the store open and bought some more supplies. When I got back the Ranger turned up and asked a few more questions. Then a huge black bear waltzed into the campsite. It was promptly chased off. Didn't feel too happy about having food in my tent tonight, that was for sure. By that time it was getting dark and I hadn't even had my hot shower yet. That was first priority so off I went. It was magic!
It was dark and I haven't even put my tent up yet. I was invited across for some hot chocolate by other campers who had also offerred to keep my food in their camper van. I was the only backpacker in the place. Yet again I skipped tea but thought I would make up for it by having a cooked breakfast at the Reds Meadow restaurant.
Eventually we turned in. What a day!
I had been following this trail for about forty minutes when it came to a strange junction. It said Horseshoe Lake left, Reds Meadow Resort, where I started, right. This couldn't be right. It was out with the compass. I dumped the rucksack and followed both trails. It became apparent that I was not in fact on the JMT at all. God knows what trail I was on. My only resort was to go back to Reds Meadow and back on the "horse" PCT trail. I was again most pissed off and scoffed a whole Snickers bar to cheer me up. I could not believe it. I had to laught to myself but it wasn't really all that funny. By the time I got back on the PCT it was noon.
The trail up to Red Cones was a bitch. Huge switchbacks, ideal for horses of course, with loads of horse-shit and sand. I was going slow and my blisters were killing me. I had another look at my boots and they were a lot worse that I thought. It was looking dodgy whether they would last the whole trail. I discussed with some passing hikers and to add salt to the wound there were loads of good camping shops at Mammoth Lakes which you can get to via the free shuttle from Reds Meadow. There was NO WAY I was turning back to Reds so I said stuff it and carried on.
The trail was gruelling. My blisters were killing me. My boots were falling apart. I was going slow. I was exhausted. This was bad.
The trail was pretty unintersting. It was through forest with no views. I began thinking why I was so tired. I counted up the main meals I had in the last three days? None! Breakfasts? One, this morning and it wasn't enough to feed a budgie. I decided to plod on to Duck Creek and cook some food there.
I got there at about 5pm and it wasn't a good spot for camping. I quickly cooked up some noodles, eat them, and had a rest. I was wanting to make it to Vermillion Valley Resort, my re-supply point, tomorrow. There I would see about getting my boots sorted. To do that I had to make it at least Purple Lake which was another two miles.
I got up and went for it. I still felt very weak going up the steep ascent. Eventually I got over the pass and it was downhill to Purple Lake. A view emerged and I started feeling better. I started singing to myself. The pain of my blisters were dulled and I felt I had come past a turning point. I got down to Purple Lake by about 7pm. There were two guys there fishing. We talked for a while and they offerred for me to camp next to them. I was feeling good and was eager to make sure that I could get to Vermillion tomorrow so I decided to bash on on to the next lake, Virginia. It was another two miles but a steep ascent of about ???ft. The guys that I was daft and wished me the best of luck!
The sun was setting and I was well and truly all by myself in the middle of nowhere. I sensed more animal activity as dusk began. I changed into my fleece as it got cooler. I was at 10,000ft. I seemed to cruise up the steep ascent and before I knew it was decending towards Lake Virginia. When I got down there it appeared destered. Not a sole. Then I saw a fire on the other side of the lake. By this time it was dark and I had my headtorch on.
I headed towards the fire eager for some company and on the way came across another fire with three guys, Paul, Jim and Buz. They were very surprised to see me and offerred to let me camp by them. Sounded good to me and I dumped rucksack, put up my tent, and got a meal out. From now on I was having a meal every night.
We chatted away while I cooked my spaghetti. I had a spare lump of cottage cheese which I chopped up and chucked in. The one of the guys offered me parmesan cheese! I couldn't believe it. Away out here and they had parmesan cheese. That wasn't the end of it. They also had some Rum for my hot chocolate!!
It was a brilliant end to a hell of a day. Probably the best outdoor meal I've had in a long time. They always are after a hard day. We did a bear hang. They were sleeping right next to it so I reckoned if a bear did come they would wake up.
After that it was off to bed and a good nights sleep.
Paul offered me 2nd skin for my blisters which made a big difference. By the time I had administered that and got sorted out the guys were off fishing down the trail. I eventually got away at 9:30am. The ferry to Vermillion was at 4:45pm so I moved quick.
I got down Tully Hole and met up with the guys. After some pictures I carried on. I met up with a couple who were doing the JMT fell-running in 10days. Amazingly I kept up with them for a while until I stopped for water.
I carried on and approaching Silver Pass passed them getting water. I whacked up Silver Pass, 11,000ft, and got chatting to bunch of lads up top. They had carried a shit-load of stuff up to the pass and had sort of set up a garden party affair what with deckchairs and tables. Unbelievable. I had to bash on so declined their offer of a beer. The fellrunners caught up again and we decended Silver Pass together. I stopped again for water.
There were much more people around now. This area was popular for short 2/3 day hikes. I would have liked to stop and chat but I had a ferry to catch. The decent got steeper and there were no long switch-backs. It was much more vertical. This was my kind of path, just like Scotland, and I really got motoring. I soon passed the fellrunners and kept on going. It was the last I saw of them. It flattened out towards Mono Creek and I soon turned off the JMT for the ferry. I got there one hour early. I impressed myself. However, after stopping, I realised my feet were in a bit of a mess. The 2nd skin had came away and I had some pretty huge blisters on my heels. Not to worry, I would soon be at Vermillion.
The ferry arrived and we boarded. There was a surprising amount of people on it. Most were doing short hikes though. Some were doing the whole thing. There were a whole bunch of girls on their way out who had been doing trail work. Pity I hadn't met them before!
On arrival I met Butch, the owner. We had talked a few times on the phone about using my Palmtop PC and his mobile phone to test out email. It was still on. I had my first free beer and headed to the tent cabin to get sorted out.
Some guys I had got talking to on the ferry had offered to by me dinner which I took up. They were soon going to Scotland and wanted to pick my brains. After that I got my re-supply box which had arrived safe and sound. Then I started enquiring about the possibility of getting my boots fixed or getting a new pair. Butch kindly arranged for me to go to Clovis with Rton tomorrow. He was heading out to Prather but Clovis was another 20miles so it was very kind indeed. We also arranged to give email a go tomorrow when I got back.
I had another few beers and went to bed feeling happy that everything was going to work out.
When we got into Clovis we went straight to a sporting shop and I found a pair of Merrel lightweight boots that would be easy to break in. And they were on sale and only cost $30. Lucky me. I got a few other odds and ends and that was me. I was concerned that it would have taken hours to find a pair but I was all done in half an hour. Butch had asked me to get him a good Scottish malt whisky. I went for my favourite, GlenLivet.
We headed back and got some lunch. There were still a few more things to get and while Ron was getting hunting permits sorted I made a quick phone call home which was good.
Eventually we got back to Vermillion. In order to get a clear signal on the cell-phone we had to go out on the ferry into the middle of Lake Edison. So here was me, with my Palmtop, in the middle of Lake Edison, receiving emails. And there was a lot. It took a while to get connected and download them but we got there just before it got dark.
We returned to shore and I showed Butch a few emails about the resort which interested him greatly. A big juicy cheese-burger interested me greatly.
During the trip on the boat, and before, and after, Butch had been plying me with Buds and whisky. By this time I was pretty pissed and eventually stagered off to bed. There was nobody else in the tent cabin.
I started sorting my kit out and a box to go back to Davis with my knackered boots. It was getting on and going out on the boat was looking dodgy. Then a storm blew up. My first Sierra storm. A lot of wind and a lot of rain for about 30mins then it all died down. Quite dissapppointing really. By this time going back out in the boat was off and postponed to tomorrow.
I set about sewing up my #33 American football shirt which after Belize had quite a few holes. Didn't get it finished before dark.
There was supposed to be a band tonight but they failed to turn up. It was a pretty quiet night. Two other JMT'ers had turned up who were going in the same direction. Jeff and John. I told them about my Reds Meadow disaster. They were in stitches. Two others who were going north also turned up. One of which, a girl, had been wearing sandals!
Then disaster struck. This little Palmtop which had survived the jungles of Belize went dead on me. I changed the batteries, I put it on the adaptor, it was doing nothing. I was most perplexed. I then tried a few reboot keys. Nothing. I wasn't sure if I had remembered the correct sequences so Butch let me make a few phonecalls. Trying to get HP support on the weekend was impossible. Everything was closed until Monday.
Much reluctantly I packed my 200LX in the box to go back to Davis along with my knackered boots. It was like loosing a friend and I was quite sad. I was just about to set off when I remembered something I hadn't tried. Pulling out the backup battery. I wasn't bothered about loosing all the data as, by some miracle, I had done a full backup the day before. I don't know what made me do it but I was very glad I did.
Unfortunately that didn't work either. I then had the idea of phoning a local dealer. I got through to one but they didn't deal with Palmtops. There was one last chance. If I phoned my parents in Scotland they could look up the manual and tell me the correct reboot sequence. It was now 1am there time so I would have to wait to tomorrow. Was it worth it? Butch was tempting me with a BBQ. There was also the fact a storm was coming inand it was now 3pm so I wouldn't get very far. After much deliberation I decided to stay!
I went back to the tent cabin and unpacked my rucksack. I re-opened my box and took my 200LX out. I noticed it was warm which meant it was still doing something and at least that meant it was probably a software problem. Rather than draining the batteries I decided to put it on th adaptor at the store. When I plugged it on, low nd behold, it came alive, albeit from square one just like they day I bought it. I was ecstatic!
For the next couple of hours I restored all the files. I was most chuffed and glad I stayed. It was fate!
It was dark now and I went looking for my mini-maglite torch. I couldn't find it anywhere. What was more important was that my car key was attached to it. Then suddenly I remebered. Last night I had hanged it underneath the bunk above as a reading light. Was it still there? Yes!! Boy, was I glad I didn't leave. If I had I would have been in a spot of trouble. Definately somebody up above pulling strings!
After that I had a BBQ tea, some beers, and stayed up late chatting to one of the waitresses.
Strange being back on the trail by myself after three whole days of being in semi-civilisation with lots of other people. After a while it seemed that I had never been off it.
I was on the Bear Ridge trail which was longer than getting the ferry back to the JMT but bypassed some pretty hideous switchbacks, of which I am no fan of. It seemed to take ages to get back on the JMT and I had my compass out checking that I hadn't overshot or something. Then, voila, the junction and I was back on the road again.
I came to a view and could see where I was headed. It was on the horizon and looked miles away. It was downhill for a bit then a long gradual incline.
I had seen nobody for ages when I came across a camp by the river. And then another. There were loads of people fishing. Must have been a popular river. Never passed any other hikers though.
It was threatening to rain but didn't. I was sort of wishing it would as I was lugging around a goretex jacket and trousers. It would be a real bummer if I never used them in anger.
Had to cross a river. It wasn't deep but as I now had canvas boots my feet were wet. Better that than no soles though!
I eventually got to my target Lake Marie which I reckoned was high enough not to pose a bear problem. There was a couple camping and I set up not too far away. As the sunset there was beautiful lighting on the mountains. There was also just about a full moon. It was so nice I took my flysheet off so I could see the night scenery through my mesh view-ports. Eventually nodded off under the moonlight.
Eventually got going at my usual late time. Passed Sally Keys lake and some others which were all stunning. Got speaking to the dayhikers and yes they were from the pack train. Some life. The horses carry all their stuff and if the feel like a walk they can just go off and do their own thing. Wimps!
After the lakes a big descent started towards Muir Ranch. Got to the bottom quickly and had a long break. Then John, one of ther JMT'ers from Vermillion turned up. He and Jeff had left a day before me but they got caught in a storm (just as well I stayed another day) and were very late in starting today. I had overtaken them. Jeff had went off to Florence Lake to get some more food. He wasn't using a stove and was keen to get as much fresh as possible.
We walked a bit but I was too fast for John so we said cheerio and I sped on. More than likerly we would meet up again at some stage. I was in no rush to finish ther trail.
I turned into Goddard Canyon and walked along to the bottom of Evolution Valley. I had a choice: camp here or climb 600ft and camp in Evolution Meadow. After talking to some hikers from the opposite direction I decided to camp here. The only thing was the bears. There was no doubt about it that this was bear territory - low altitude, forest and a popular camping spot.
A solo northbound JMT female hiker turned up which was very unusual and we talked for ages. She was having a tough time of it. Her pack was just about as heavy as mines which was 50lbs (23kg) when I left Vermillion. Then two guys from England tuened up and they were doing the same as me. One of them wasn't feeling too great and went to his bed. The rest of us talked around a campfire until 10pm which is way late when your on the trail.
It was a slow ascent up to Evelution Valley. There was another stream crossing which resulted in wet feet. Before that was some impressive waterfalls. Once into the valley itself the first thing that struck me was the birds. Big and small, they seemed to be plentiful. The valley had a "garden of eden" feel about it. I had been told about some wild strawberried but no matter how much I looked I could not see them.
I got to McLure Meadow which was stunning. Then I saw John fishing and went across for a chat. He was in his element. It was a beuatiful spot to fish at. I carried on and bingo, I saw some strawberries. The only thing was that they were tiny. However they were ripe and tasted good, for all that they were. It wasn't going to fill me up but it was satisfying to actually find them.
Just a little further up I came across a rather perplexed looking man with his son. The day before his other son had fell and sustained a serious head injury. Luckily there was trail work crew at Sapphire Lake who had a radio. Within three hours a heli arrived and evacuated his son. Unfortunately the heli could not take him and his other son so he was making his way out not knowing how his other son was doing. What a situation! As he was making an early exit he had way too much food and was trying to offload it. I willingly helped out and was promptly given a huge chunk of cheese, salami and pistachio nuts. I left giving my best wishes.
I quickly scoffed the much welcome fresh food. Then a steep ascent started to Evolution Lake. I was either going to camp there or Sapphire Lake. I followed the trail on the map to see how I was doing. I was getting there, slowly. Eventually got to the top and Evolution Lake made it all worthwhile. I considered camping but decided to go on to Saphire. On the way out I got talking to two ladies who were sunbathing.
Somebody had mentioned the north end of Saphire Lake ahd good camp spots. Well, I could not find them. The south end was dominated by the trail crew and I couls see all their tents. I saw a tent on the east side and decided to have a look down there. I was wanting to have a dip in the lake before the sun went down and it was setting quickly so I moved fast. There was plenty of camp spots so I quickly got stripped and jumped into the lake. It was ice-cold freezing. When I got out a wind seemed to blow up from nowhere. My God! I ran back into the sun. Warmth - ahhh.
I started looking for a campsite. The trail was on the west side so I was really out here alone. Or so I thought. Just over a bump was another tent. It was another solo guy. He had being going cross-country and had a bad night out at altitude. His tent looked in a bad way. Anyway, I was still in my shorts and the sun was setting fast so it was time to get changed fast.
When the sun disappeared over the ridge it got cold, very cold. I had my fleece, gortex jacket and gloves on whilst putting upp my tent. After putting up a washing line and things it was getting dark. I snuggled up inside my tent and started making tea from the door. Tonight was the night. I was going to attempt my DIY mushroom pasta. All my other meals were dehydrated packages. It took a while to make. There was no rush though. Mt. ???, which I was directly facing, had a glowing golden colour. Then it got dark but almost immediately there was a spectacular moonrise over Mt. ???. No need for a torch anymore. I scoffed my mushroom pasta and marvelled at the moonlit landscape.
It was a brilliant feeling watching the scenery. I fell asleep with my door still open. I awokened hours later, thr moon now in the west. I gor undressed, still had my goretex jacket on, and went asleep. Best night yet.
After having another swim and shave, and a late breakfast, I got going towards my first major pass, Muir Pass. It was 11:30am by now! I had to pick my way across the south end towards the trail. I ran straight into the trail crew camp and got talking to the cook, Maureen. They had just been resupplied and I left with two bananas, much to my delight. I devoured one when I eventually got back onto the trail and saved the other for Muir Pass.
The ascent up to Muir Pass was quite gentle. The views were the best yet. Rock and mountains all around. I passed a guy carrying a guiter. He was doing the JMY northbound. I was the only person there when I got to the Muir Hut on top of Muir Pass. I took some photos of the mindblowing scenery and sat down to eat my banana. Then John appeared. We talked for a while and then a couple appeared from the south. We all got talking for way too long and soon John and I rushed off.
I was aiming to camp a few lakes below Helen Lake. So to John. I went on ahead a bit and waited for him at the lake. The trail down was steep, quite tricky in places, and crossed a few melting snow fields. Once again the views were amazing.
The lake wasn't as good a spot as hoped and we decided to go on. John went on ahead and found a not bad spot. It was good to have company after a night of solitude and we talked into the dark. John was maybe going to have to leave the trail earlier than expected. I decided to put my food in John's bear hang off atree branch. My first yet! It was a laugh getting it sorted. The it was off to bed.