June 30, 2013 - Trinity Lakes

Title: June 30, 2013 - Trinity Lakes

Hike Info:

Trail: John Muir Trail - Day Six

Starting location: Island Pass

Destination:  Trinity Lakes

Distance:  11.5   miles  ¹

Start Time:  7:20

End Time:  5:30

Travel Time:  10:10 (1.13 mph)

Moving Time:  5:51 (1.97 mph)

Elevation Rise:  1,772   ¹

Maximum Elevation:  10,180'   ¹

Description:

Island Pass at Dawn

Woke up this morning to clear skies, frogs a croaking,  and a coyote howling. What a wonderful way to start the day! Yes there really was howling this morning. It sounded like it was across the pond on the other side of the trail. No sightings-rats!

Camp Chores

Got up at 5:30 and did camp chores. Saw the sun arising. Pretty nice. After eating, we are leaving around 7:20. The first part is descending from Island Pass. Pretty gentle. We get to see lots of low green area. As we approach Thousand Island Lake, there is more volcanic rock. Also we are glad that we have started early as the sun would be really hot through here.

Thousand Island Lake and Banner Peak

We met a couple, just married from Mendocino ². They look like they are enjoying themselves. We play leap frog through Ruby Lake, when we stop for a quick Clif Bar break.  This got stretched a ways. But we did enjoy the lake-nice reflections. 

Just Married

We climb up around 250', then start a descent into Garnet Lake. Glad it is morning when we are coming through this area. Pretty exposed. But the good part is that you are seeing a whole new  set of mountains, with snow covered ravines. Enjoying it. Banner Peak comes into view. I am enjoying Garnet a lot more than Thousand Island Lake. The south side has mountain hemlock for me to enjoy its shade. The trail gently climbs out of the lake's basin. This is about a 350' climb, but it does not feel too bad. Some trail runners pass us at the top.

Thousand Island Lake

When we get to the top of the saddle, we start a long descend into the Shadow Creek drainage. The upper part of the trail, for the first 300' or so is small volcanic rock. While trail is well made, rocks are sore to the feet. But once out of that area, you find a nice little ravine with a meadow in it to enjoy. Then we head down a never ending slope into Shadow Creek. There we stop for our second lunch. We enjoy a nice long break here before another mile down to Shadow Lake.

Garnet Lake

Where we have our lunch break is a trail crew. I go over and asked if they were part of the effort to clear the trail last year after the wind storm? Yes. Thanked them. A few minutes later an Inyo Forest Service ranger came over and asked if we needed any help. No, but could we get her picture go Capture California? Yes. We talked about possible campsites and bear sightings. So far pretty peaceful around here. Johnston Meadow has lots of bugs. Terri F was very helpful. She did ask to see our permit.

After a good climb

Then, it is up, up and up we go-650' up a side of a mountain. While the Forest Service has done a good job of grading the trail, it still is a major effort on our part. Lots of shade, with a pleasant, occasional breeze does really help, along with CytoMax and jelly bellies. We get to the top and have another break. About that time, the newlyweds come up the trail. They had done some fun stuff, like rock scrambling. 

Rocky Road

Shadow Creek

We go past Rosalie  Lake-only a few mosquitoes here. Then to Gladys Lake. It is 4:30 now. To get to Trinity Lakes is about a half an hour. To go to Minarets Creek, about three hours or more. So we decide to stick with the schedule and camp at Trinity. But I have also been thinking that Trinity even in the best of times is a mosquito haven. So we look for something a little bit dryer and away  from the lakes. Found a spot a little off the trail, but about 200 yards from water. (37.67583,-119.11577)

We have dinner and get cleaned up. Then head to the tent to escape the bugs. Listened to a sermon from Red Rocks Church. Then off to sleep around 9.

Garnet Lake

Today's JMT Lesson: Beauty is there. Find it!

 

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

¹The supplied figures come from either the book John Muir Trail: The essential guide to hiking America's most famous trail by Elizabeth Wenk. Also some information comes from topo maps as well. From today's tracks on my Foretex, I got only a partial reading. Below is the readings from today's status on the GPS. I view it as only somewhat accurate.
 Distance:  11.4 

Travel Time: ( mph)

Moving Time: 5:51 ( mph)

Elevation Rise:  1,200

Maximum Elevation:  10,180'

²As a further note, our daughter Andrea who works in the Berkley REI store waited on them a few weeks later. They were able to connect the dots and figure out we were related--not the newly married couple, but Andrea, Sherri and I.

June 29, 2013 - Island Pass

Title: June 29, 2013 - Island Pass

Hike Info:

Trail:  John Muir Trail

Starting location: Pond at 10,185'

Destination: Island Pass

Distance:  6.7 miles  ¹
Start Time:  8:00

End Time:  3:45

Travel Time:   7:45 (0.86 mph)

Moving Time:   4:37 (1.45 mph)

Elevation Rise:    1,440' ¹

Maximum Elevation:    11,060' ¹ 

There are a great many pictures today. Many of them can be found at the bottom of this page.

Description:

Lyell Canyon

Got up at 6 and started to get prepared for the day. Washed clothes from yesterday, and  then did the usual. Sherri  got ready and made breakfast. We crossed the creek, wading across and put our stuff together. This was around 8. It was not too bad of a creek crossing. Only came ankle high, water was cold, but not as bad as we thought it might be. The crossing was about a hundred feet toward our pond from the outlet of the pond.

We immediately start climbing the first of our 1450' up towards Donohue Pass. Today I am not following Sherri because with two bear canisters I need to keep my own pace. But we both do pretty well. Actually, better than either of the other times we hiked this. It takes us 40 minutes or so to get to our other crossing of an outlet. Sherri decides to take off her shoes to cross. I think I can cross on the rocks. Well, I did mostly, that is until a rock rolls and my boot splashes into the water, followed by the other boot. Fortunately, it was only about an ankles worth of water before I recovered. Unfortunately, the water slopped over my boot top, getting the socks a little wet.

Sherri wondering wheres the top?

Gary Charging Up Donohue

At this crossing, a woman, Nicole, came up and crossed the same way as I did, but without getting wet. We would hike with her most of the day. We talked for awhile, then she took off. We followed her shortly, and slowly afterwards. The rest of the climb was of the one foot after the other variety. But there were some very awesome views of Lyell Canyon, Glacier and Peak to help moderate the effort.

We Made IT!

We made it to the top of Donohue Pass around 10:30. This is better than expected. Traditional picture taking and all of that. Nicole was up there as well. Pretty nice pass top time. Not as hot as we expected. In the distance we see thunderclouds forming, but does not look like a problem for today.

Coming down the south slope of Donohue, we do this pretty well. Sherri is taking the rocks much more in stride than into past. She is going down faster than I have seen her do before. Around 11:30 we catch up with Nicole and invite her to have lunch with us, which she accepts. She recently got her MBA from USC and will start work right after the JMT.  This is one of her first backpacking experiences, but she seems to have a good head on her shoulders.

Rush Creek

After lunch we hike together, down towards Rush Creek. The creek we are following is unnamed and is pretty gentle until the descent into Rush Creek. We do cross Rush on logs and stop for a small break. We are now in the drainage which goes to the Great Basin. We see many fields of snow gracing the northern flanks of the mountains.

But now we leave Rush Creek and take off on going up towards Island Pass. This is a trudge up it. It is only a 600' climb, but still the sun is on us. So we climb and rest. We meet some PCT'rs coming down. One is from San Jose. Even more so, she was born in Palo Alto at the same hospital I was born at-about 40 years apart.

We make it to Island Pass (37.73581, -119.19275) around 3:45. After talking about options, Sherri and I decide we will stay here rather than going on to Ruby Lake. So we  say goodbye to Nicole who is ready to make some miles today. We then set up camp, battling mosquitoes. After awhile we give up and crawl into the tent and just relax-reading and listening.

Sunset

Sierra Spectacular

Dinner was beef stroganoff. Not as filling as usual. Guess I will live off of my fat. We take a walk around a pond after dinner, waiting for the sun to set. Clouds have filled up the sky. On the plus side, it is making for a gorgeous sunset with the thunderheads rising majestically in the darling sky. On the other side, will it rain? We decide that we will compromise. Cover the packs, but leave the rain tarp off the tent. When we wake up at night, if there are no stars, we will put on the tarp. We watch an episode of Dr Who-Rose, and then go to sleep.

Today's JMT Lesson:  If it looks like you are at the top, you're not.

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

¹The supplied figures come from either the book John Muir Trail: The essential guide to hiking America's most famous trail by Elizabeth Wenk. Also some information comes from topo maps as well.The tracks from my Foretex did not get saved. This will become a problem for the rest of the trip. Getting either no or incomplete set of tracks. Below is the readings from today's status on the GPS. I view it as only somewhat accurate.

Distance:  7.3 miles

Moving Time:   4:37 (1.58 mph). 

Elevation Rise:    920'

Maximum Elevation:    11,190' 

Pictures:

 

Outlet from last water before Donohue Pass

 

Closing in on the top of Donohue Pass

Rush Creek Basin

Nicole and Sherri Crossing an Unnamed Creek

Sherri and Nicole Marching Toward Banner Peak

Nice Clouds

Waugh Lake

Donohue Peak with Sherri and Nicole

Mountain Heather

Place: CA-Ruby Lake

Ruby Lake (Mt. Ritter 7.5')
(Long, Lat)

Description:


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