June 28, 2013 - Lyell Canyon and beyond

Title: June 28, 2013 - Lyell Canyon and beyond

 (Preliminary)

Trail:JMT-Lyell Canyon

Starting location:  Tuolumne Meadows

Destination: above the Lyell Footbridge

Actual Destination: pond at 10,185'

Distance: 10.6 miles ²

Start Time: 7:30

End Time: 5:00

Travel Time: 9:30 (1.12 mph)

Moving Time: 5:07 ( 2.07 mph) ²

Elevation Rise: 1,506' ²

Maximum Elevation: 10,185'

Description:

Steven

Slept OK at Murphy's Inn in Lee Vining. Even though we had the A/C running last night I thought it was a bit stuffy. Woke up several times, but feel asleep. Sherri was up some also. Finally turned on the iPad around 5:30and read my devotions before getting up around 6. Got the last minute items put away, then off into the car at 6:30 and stopped at the Whoa Nellie Deli for breakfast on the way out. Steven and I had a breakfast burrito-which I did not finish, and Sherri had a eggs and ham croissant. Good eats with lots of food. Nice combination. Got to the trail head at 7:30.  Pretty good for us.

Morning Start

Our third instance of doing a little bit of cheating. There are two places where we could pick up the Trail. The first is the wilderness ranger station, where Steven picked us up.  Then there is the long term parking about a mile down the trail-see the purple line on the map. We opted for the mile down the trail-it cuts off a mile of walking beside the road, particularly since we have done this section of the trail several times and so far it had not added anything, except being tired.

So off we went, waving goodbye to Steven, thanking him for driving us around and the food drop off. We hiked this first piece three weeks ago with Betty. Not much has changed, except some of the mud has dried up. The Lyell Fork still is running strong and the grass is green. Before hitting Rafferty Creek, we see a buck and five deer. Nice sight. 

View From the Trail

Even though the pack is heavy on Sherri, mine is only a little more than the first days, we make good time, averaging about 2.5 mph. We meet the father of the PCTer which we talked with at Sunrise Meadow a couple of days ago. The opening comment he made was that this was the second JMTer who was carrying a Kelty which he had met, before realizing the first and the second were the same person. His daughter, Jessica-trail name Night Crawler¹, because she traveled at night in the desert, is with him. We chatted for a few minutes, then headed our separate ways.

We pass the Evelyn Lake trail junction and continue on. A little bit later, we stop and have lunch. Thanks Steven for making our peanut butter and Nutella sandwich. Tasted good. A little bit later, we came across the hidden campsite which Andrea, Sherri and I found.   This is the one which Zander stumbled across while we were there.

Campsite from six years ago

We keep going up Lyell Canyon, it is slowly rising, about a hundred feet in a mile. At the end of the level part, we stop for a Clif Bar and a break before a climb. There was a bit of frustration with some miscommunication. Also with the iPod not working how we thought it should. But when we started walking again, that gets shoved aside and our energy is concentrated on climbing 600' in the next mile to the footbridge which crosses Lyell Creek.  It is hot and dry, so we walk a bit then breath a lot. But step by step we get up it.

Lyell Glacier

Along the way, we talk with a guy who will be going up to Lyell Glacier. We then see him by the footbridge. We talk for a time, getting rested.  Clouds are gathering, cooling the air. So we decide to go another mile and 500' up to a pond. This will help out tomorrow when we go over Donohue Pass. This climb was a lot better than the first one. Being rested and cooler really helped.

Our Bedroom View

We have a spot  to camp (37.95887, -119.12091) at with a view, you would pay big bucks to have-we only needed to perspire.  This is at an unnamed lake, only known by its elevation-10,185'.  We watched several people cross the creek we will be crossing tomorrow. We do take some interest in observing peoples styles of crossing-some decide quickly to plunge right in and wade across, others try to keep dry and go across some marginal rocks-only one person was successful. Most decide to wade. One of the people is Lucy who is writing her blog. We exchanged cards. it was informative watching various groups crossing the outlet to our pond. Dinner was tamale freestyle-filling and tasty. We resolve some of the iPod problems. Then it is time to go to bed, around 9. The sunset was pretty good off of the snow above us.

 Today's JMT Lesson: Known and own^* your equipment.

^*The owning is not so much possession, but mastery of what you bring.

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

Notes:
¹We have a strange world which we live in. After reading a draft of this blog, Lindy, a PCTer and a person who is doing the JMT this year, met Night Crawler's Dad up in Seattle. Also Night Crawler gets mentioned in several blogs: PJG and Guy on a Buffalo.

²The 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: 11.3 miles

Moving Time: 5:07 ( 2.2 mph)

Elevation Rise: 996'

Maximum Elevation: 10,185'

June 27, 2013 - Cathedral Area and Tuolume Meadows

Title: June 27, 2013 - Cathedral Area and Tuolume Meadows

Hike Info:

Trail: JMT between Long Meadow and Tuolumne Meadows Wilderness Ranger Station 

Starting location: Long Meadow

Destination: Tuolumne Meadows Wilderness Ranger Station

Distance:   9.25 miles

Start Time:  8:01

End Time:    3:34

Travel Time:  7:33 (1.23 mph)

Moving Time: 5:02 (1.84 mph). 

Elevation Rise: 1,168'

Maximum Elevation:  10,082'

 





Description:

Tent above Long Meadow

I watched the morning glow through slotted eyes, then had my quiet time. By the time I escaped from the tent's protected cocoon it was 6. That protected cocoon is against those pests called mosquitoes. Evidently some joined us during the night and sucked some of our blood-at least I am finding blood on my sleeping bag and pad. Went for a little walk around, probably about a mile. When I got back, Sherri was stuffing the bags, again-meaning she did the same thing yesterday. We had our breakfast, then broke camp. Got on the trail at 8.

Snowballs in June

We are on a short, 400' ascent up to Cathedral Pass, about a mile and a half.

Sherri climbing our peak

Not too bad of walking, plus you get to enjoy the peaks beyond the Merced for the last time. Cathedral Pass is one of those passes which you may never know that you went over it, it is so gentle. We stop here (N 37.49.243, W 119.24.98) for a break and then decide to climb this 100' outcropping. Last year I made it about 70% of the way to the top. This year with Sherri beside me, we made it all the way. Maybe this is symbolic for the rest of our journey?
    (As a note, later on looking at the map and Cathedral Pass-N 37.50.24, W 119.24.81-is about a mile further on. )

Gary and the mountains

The view from here is a 360 DDG! We can see from the Columbia Finger, south to the mountains beyond the Merced (but not Half Dome), then around to the east where Emeric Lake resides, where we were a couple of weeks ago. Then the  Matthes Crest, around to Echo And Cathedral Peaks, swinging back around to Tressidder Peak and the Columbia Finger. What a view! And we are the only ones up here!

Successful climb

We then start the long walk down to Tuolumne Meadows. First we pass Cathedral Meadows, lush, green with a nice pool in the middle of it (Note: this is where Cathedral Pass really is). Then we come to our first lake of the trail-Upper Cathedral Lake. This lake is becoming another meadow, but probably not during my lifetime. The park service has rerouted the JMT so that the meadow above the lake is not being impacted by us hikers.

Cathedral Peak

Upper Cathedral Lake

We continue down and just below the Lower Cathedral Lake junction, we meet a series of four pack trains going to Sunrise.  Three of the pack train wranglers we saw yesterday.  We then met ranger Cliff A, riding on his  horse. Even got a picture of him. We would meet him again-he even gave a recommendation on Lee Vining eateries. Friendly fellow.

We stopped for lunch around 11:30 at one of my favorite spots along the trail-the spring (N 37.51.61, S 119.24.36) . Mountain spring water. That is something which will carry you home. So fresh tasting, so invigorating. We spent some time here, even got out a text to Steven to bring some things.

We keep going down the trail. We both think it is better going down this than coming up it. There is another stop we make by Budd Creek to have a  Clif Bar. Then over to the visitor center to enjoy the bathroom. Cliff passes us on our way. We go on to the meadow itself and take. In a couple of the historical places in the area:  Parsons Lodge, Soda Springs, and Tuolumne Meadow itself. We eventually make it over to the  Wilderness Office (N 37.52.62, W 119.20.74), where we wait for Steven's arrival.

Tuolumne Meadows and Lembert Dome

He gets there around four and we take off for Lee Vining and Murphy's Inn. This may not be proper JMT etiquette, but we enjoy the  time off the Trail. We eat at the Whoa Nellie Deli, often known as Mobil, then pack for tomorrow and the next six or seven days.

Today's JMT Lesson: The beauty you see, words do not describe its fullness, pictures only show  shadow.  (Words from Sherri)