160 Miles on the John Muir Trail, 1992
MONDAY, JULY 6 -- DAY 8
I arise at 5:15am today, my earliest morning yet. The weather looks even worse than yesterday -- kind of wild, with variable, cloudy skies. There are some very dark clouds to the southwest and they seem to be coming this way. Gosh, déjà vu all over again!
It was warm during the night, with the overnight low only 50°. Although its early, the mosquitoes are out in force! Maybe they're more sensitive to temperature than to time and perhaps they've been absent the past few mornings because it was cool, not because it was early.
The weather looks bad! I hurry and pack up, skipping breakfast again. At 6:30am, I'm on my way, heading downstream alongside Woods Creek toward the stormy weather. RATS! This trip could be so good with clear weather! The wind is gusting and a few raindrops fall, then quit. When I get about 50' away from camp, I look back to see if anything obvious is left behind and I see that already a marmot has moved in to look around the campsite for scraps. He must have been watching all along.
In ten minutes, I pass through a gate. Why are there gates and fences in this wilderness? I have no idea. I come upon a baby prairie chicken-like bird (but we're not on the prairie) at the left edge of the trail. I stop and watch and then notice its mother off the trail on the right. I've come between them and stand silently while the mother coaxes the chick across the trail to her side, just 10' in front of me. They disappear into the brush.
Lower in the valley, the forest provides protection from the wind and I feel warmer. Twenty minutes later, I arrive at a trail junction with a sign that indicates that its six miles to Rae Lakes. Its even warmer here, in the upper-50's, and the mosquitoes are swarming! Its completely calm too, and the sky and the weather in general are actually kind of nice. Like yesterday, its mostly grey with patches of blue showing through. A few raindrops fall on me, but then quit again.
I cross Woods Creek on a new, bouncy, wooden suspension bridge that's fun to walk across, and quickly come to seven people camped in two groups on the other side. I talk to a man with his two sons, one only about eight years old, and he takes my picture on the bridge. I'm bottomed out in elevation here and now have about a 2000' climb up to Rae Lakes, where I intend to stop for the day.
The trail climbs up and out of the Woods Creek drainage and is fairly difficult at times. As I gain elevation the grade eases off. I pass by several marmots in a meadow and hear a thrush. I meet an elderly ranger coming downgrade from the Rae Lakes ranger station. He says that the weather is supposed to continue doing just what it is doing right now, that is, stay unsettled. There is a low pressure cell moving in, but no major precipitation is expected.
I keep climbing, now out of the forest and into the meadows. I'm tired today. I climbed over two passes yesterday and my legs just don't want to go. This is just plain hard climbing! Perhaps the trail is actually steeper than it looks. This weather is strange! Like yesterday, the dark clouds keep rolling in from the west, but dissipate in the eastern sky, leaving the sun mostly unobscured. At least its not getting any worse for now, and it may even be improving. I descend briefly into the Baxter Creek drainage, pass through another gate, and then climb back out again. I inhale a mosquito and choke on it.
By the time I get to Dollar Lake at 9:45am, the grade levels off and the walking becomes easier. Fifteen minutes later, I arrive at Arrowhead Lake and stop for a snack break. This is a pretty lake, but there is a bit of a cold wind, so I don't stay for very long. Walking seems more pleasurable than sitting in the cold wind. There are lots of campsites around here and a correspondingly large number of beggar marmots.
In another hour, I arrive at spectacular lower Rae Lake with spire-like Finn Dome looming over its western side. The upper two Rae Lakes are just ahead and lie in an exquisite basin surrounded by towering walls. Glen Pass is visible behind a distinct formation named the Painted Lady, and it looks like an imposing climb. Quickly, I come to the middle Rae Lake and it is even more stunning! This lake is larger, prettier, and closer to the high peaks.
I pass by a ranger station, without really seeing it (its on the map), then pass by a trail leading to a bear box. I walk out onto a piece of land that separates the middle Rae Lake from the upper Rae Lake and find a nice campsite off the trail and out of sight. I drop my pack to look around. This is a great spot and very scenic, but it is windy! I have a change of heart and decide to backtrack ¼ mile and look for a campsite around the middle lake, to hopefully find a less windy spot, but also for the convenience of a nearby bear box.
Back at the bear box, there were many, many sites to choose from, but this is a popular area and there are a few other people here. I meet Louis, a big, young guy who came over Glen Pass this morning and beat his two buddies here by an hour. He and his group are also from Phoenix. It seems like there are more hikers from Phoenix than anywhere else!
Its windy here too, and after looking around for a long while and not finding the perfect campsite, I give up and head back to the first campsite that I stopped at, between the middle and upper lakes. If I have to endure the wind either way, then I would rather pick the more scenic, secluded spot; besides, that first campsite is also closer to the junction with the Sixty Lakes basin trail, which I will take later today. Yes, this site is prettier and I like it better.
I eat lots of trail mix and granola bars, then hang my food, change into my camp shoes, and head for SixtyL basin. An hour ago, the weather was clear, bright and sunny, but now it is completely cloudy and looks as though it could rain. I'm not really in the mood for this side trip because of the dismal sky, but I might as well go anyway since it wouldn't be any fun just sitting in the wind and clouds for the entire afternoon. I have some temptation to pack back up and shoot on over Glen Pass, but no, the side trip to Sixty Lakes Basin is on my itinerary and is highly recommended. I would probably be sorry later if I skipped it.
The trail to Sixty Lakes Basin is a steep, tiring climb up and out of the Rae Lakes basin on its west side. I feel tired, even without the heavy pack that I've been carrying all along on this trip. I think my legs are just shot from this morning's climb. Within 20 minutes, I reach a high ridge and start down the other side into the Sixty Lakes basin. The sky is gray and threatening and my legs are tired, so I don't descend all the way to the floor of the basin, which is an additional 300-400' drop, but just go to a high vantage point for a good view.
This basin is pretty, but I think that the Rae Lakes basin is even nicer; however, I might be more impressed on a clear day. Of course, if I were to descend to the basin floor and walk to its northern end, I might find something really wonderful. I'm tired and don't want to work that hard, so after a few pictures I simply head back toward camp. I take my time on the return trip. There are lots of photo possibilities from high above Rae Lakes. I just dawdle along, waiting for a break in the weather and improved lighting for photos, but it doesn't come. It looks likely that it will rain. Again, I sort of wish I had gone on over Glen Pass today instead of just killing time in this dreary weather.
At 3:45pm, I'm back at camp. The sky is still dismal and now its starting to sleet. I'm depressed and almost wish the trip was over, but the high expectations of Forester Pass ahead remind me that the best may be yet to come. I keep telling myself that. The best lies ahead! It would be heavenly, wandering around in these mountains if good weather was here. And it will come! I want to believe that sunny skies are the norm in the Sierras, but that hasn't always been true so far on this trip.
The sleet stops, the wind dies down to an acceptable level, and a tiny bit of blue sky and sun appears, raising my spirits. But its still not really very nice. I sit for awhile, then filter water and sit some more. I've got lots of time, but its too crummy to enjoy it. If the wind would calm down and the sun would come out, I could have a really nice bath! As it is right now, I'm not sure that I want a bath at all and may go to bed dirty Also, I've been wearing the same clothes for 2 days and need to do laundry, but there's no good place here to hang it and I need sunshine or it will take too long to dry. Whine, whine, whine.
Today is Monday and I'm exactly 2 days ahead of schedule and am now camped on my eighth night where I had planned to camp on my tenth night Good! I'm not sure why, but I relish the idea of finishing 2 days early! I'll try to do Glen Pass and Forester Pass tomorrow (Tuesday), but that will be a total of 5000+' elevation gain and more than 16 miles and I'm not sure that my legs are up to it. I wouldn't be able to climb that much today. Plus, Forester is over 13,000' high, which will add to the difficulty. If I feel rested tomorrow, then I'll be able to do it with no problem. Oh, it will be hard, but definitely doable.
If I push a little and get close to Whitney on Wednesday, then on Thursday I may be able to climb to the Whitney trail junction, drop my pack, dash to the summit for a quick visit, and get on down to the Portal the same day, ending the trip on Thursday, three days ahead of schedule! That would be nice, but I would have to skip my planned night on Whitney's summit to do that. If the weather stays like this I won't mind, because this wind and the gray sky definitely make the trip less fun.
I cook dinner and sit some more. Just before the sun drops behind the western mountains, it peeks out from behind the clouds long enough for me to take a quick bath, thankfully. At 7:30pm, there is still plenty of daylight, but I go into my tent and get in bed already, just to escape the weather. There has actually been a clearing trend in the last half hour, but the wind still gusts wildly, shaking the tent. Its strange! The air is fairly calm for few minutes and then the wind builds in the trees until a 30 MPH gust hits and lasts for about 10 seconds, before tapering back of to calmness.
Anyway, its more comfortable in the tent. Rae Lakes is a well-used area and I worry about bears tonight and hope that my food bags are hung well enough. A bear box is about ¼ mile away and I didn't want to have to walk over there tonight and tomorrow morning too, so I opted to hang my food in a tree, even though the tree is somewhat questionable. I should probably know better.
As I lay here listening to the wind buffet the tent, I suddenly remember that the tent is strongest when its foot is pointed into the wind. I wonder if these powerful gusts could bend a tent pole. Just to be safe, I quickly get up, unstake the tent, and re-orient it so that the wind is not hitting it directly from the side. Feeling safer, I'm back in bed at 8:15pm. As I doze off, the wind is still gusting and the temperature is 54°, although it feels more like 40°. My last thoughts before drifting off are of..... pizza.
Day 7
Day 9