Gary-Summer: July 3, 2013

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

July 3, 2013 - Pocket Meadow

Title: July 3, 2013 - Pocket Meadow

Hike Info:

Trail: John Muir Trail from Lake Virginia to Pocket Meadow

Starting location: Lake Virginia

Destination: Squaw Lake

Actual Destination: North Fork, below Pocket Meadow

Distance: 10.51 miles

Start Time: 7:58

End Time: 6:18

Travel Time: 10:19 (1.01 mph)

Moving Time: 9:42 (1.08 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,869'

Maximum Elevation: 10,900'

Description:

Beautiful night last night. Clear skies. Stars shining oh so wonderfully. Got up late this morning as we knew this was an easy day. We had decided to divide a long day into two nice days. So I did not get out of the tent until 6:15. But Sherri's first words were, "oh, it's going to rain today!" Sure enough, clouds are coming in-dark ones at that. But by the time we leave, they have passed us by, and we are left with scattered cumulus clouds, with some alto-cumulus. Looks like a fine morning for hiking.

Start of the day's hike

Even those clouds clear up by the time we start at 8. We start with Sherri and her cup of tea, which gets us a relaxed start. Then we hit the the drop into Tully Hole. The drop is steep, but the views are great. The meadow where Tully Hole is, is a vibrant green, with a little creek going down the middle of it. It's reputation as a mosquito haven was not lived up to today. But you could see the potential.

Tully Hole and Cascade Valley

We continue down Fish Creek's narrow valley until we came to a bridge across it. Sherri says it was not here when she came through seven years ago. We stop and have a Clif Bar break, along with making sure Sherri's feet are well taken care of. Then we start on our ascent to Squaw Lake.

There is some cloud cover now, but plenty of sun light. We go up pretty good, but need to stop several times. Sherri is starting to have some feet troubles, but not too bad. We come to this nice place around 11:15, but I am thinking if we push on for another 20 minutes, we will have gone not more than a couple of hundred feet and be about half way up the ascent. Well, at that time, the trail turns away from the creek and starts up this pretty good climb. By the time we finish the climb, we have reached Squaw Lake.

Toward Squaw Lake and Silver Pass

We eat and rest by the outlet, admiring the scenery and view. The vegetation is sparse and the trees are small. But we get some rest. We decide to go over Silver Pass. But there are clouds. After we have gone 15 minutes up, we hear thunder.

Now if you do not walk in the mountains much, you should know, do not be on a high place during a thunderstorm. So as the thunder grows more persistent, we hunker down under a small grove of trees, donning our rain gear. I will say I looked very stylish in my REI rain jacket, Sierra Design rain pants, and REI pack cover. They kept me dry.

We talk to a PCTer who has just made it over Silver Pass. He joins us, while eating and staying out of the rain. He has decided that his goal is not so much to complete the PCT, but to enjoy what he travels. Refreshing and wise beyond his young years.

Conquering Silver Pass

After the thunder subsides for awhile, we also move on, going up to Silver Pass. Within an hour or so, we top it. But just to let us know who is in charge, there is one last rumble as we cross the pass. The climb up has been steady, and a bit hurried. We do not stay much on top. Just enough to get a few pictures, then we start on our way down.

And down we come. We hurry past Silver Pass Lake. Then, continue down this trail. We stop for a quick break on a small ridge above Silver Pass Creek. We eventual descend to a nice little meadow, before dropping down into Pocket Meadow.

But before we do, we met a person who was walking the PCT for type one diabetes, in memory of is father. He has a web site called crestblessing.org. He suggested we go up on a rock overlook, to get a great view of the Valley. I do this while Sherri travels on. It is a view which should not be missed, and I am glad I did not miss it.

In the meantime, Sherri has descended a ways while I have been gawking. This descent has got to be the worst on the JMT. It is steep, rocky and the stones are cut in places, so you have three to four foot steps. Not sure how Sherri made it down this. But I came close to stumbling down in in several places. But after being worn out by this, we make it to Pocket Meadow. We decide to go on for a ways, but soon realize we are tired from this "short" day and want to find a camp. Any camp will do. About 3/4 of a mile down the trail, we find someplace where I could draw water and pitch our tent. We make dinner and go to bed. Apparently, we did not get any wisdom from the trail today

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang.	Peanut Butter and Nutella on crackers	Tamale Pie Freestyle	Clif Bar, Jelly Bellies, CytoMax, Propel, GORP