Editor's Note: The following is pulled from the journal that I kept while hiking the John Muir Trail this past month. I'll post each entry for the next few weeks. If you are just tuning in, you can go to the first day of the journal here.
Wednesday, August 4th, Day 17. Long day. Got started hiking at 5:50am, after oatmeal, instant coffee for me, packing up, and saying goodbye to the Russians, Evgeny and Ilena, who we probably won't see on trail again, after we shoot ahead the next few days.
Did a mile+ to get to the base of the Golden Staircase, a steep 1500ft climb up switchbacks thru giant talus. I think our guidebook said it was the last portion of the trail to be completed, and it certainly was an engineering feat, on a very well-built and maintained trail. Scooted up it without too much trouble, save the initial wave of mosquitoes that added insult to injury. Deeted up as I shed layers, first beanie, then fleece, then thermal top and pant legs.
Kept looking back to the valley we had come up, watching as the sun first hit the peaks across the way, then crept slowly down into the valley itself and across it towards us. Our climb was in the eastern direction, the mountain-side faced west, so we hid in it's own shadow as we climbed, always checking the sun's progress thru the valley, always staying ahead of it, until finally we topped out of Staircase and into the sun, full on, in the Palisade Lakes valley area. Our timing had been perfect, and we felt good (if ravenous, even eating snickers and clif bars on the way up), and though the grade lessened as we traversed past the Palisade Lakes, the true apex of our climb, Mather Pass, was still 3 miles up.
Stopped for water and a shit, then pressed on past smaller lakes and giant granite walls and peaks, thru talus and boulders and wild flowers aplenty. I'd say it was a typical alpine pass landscape, but each is so different that nothing is all that typical! Soon the grade steepened again and as usual, Bri pulled ahead, further and further, as I slowed down, both to take pictures and because I'm just generally slow (13 lbs of camera gear over here). Switchbacks and steepness, snow banks and massive rock steps (placed there by the Titans, apparently), and to top it all off, I was feeling a bit affected by the altitude on this particular climb, both light-headed and top-heavy at the same time.
Eventually, at around 10 past 11, we topped it out on Mather Pass (12,100 ft), the giant alpine valley behind us, and another landscape sweeping out below and before us. Had some GORP, then a crew of really annoying weekend warriors showed up. One guy had so much zinc oxide on his face that he looked like a porcelain albino circus clown. All were wearing one of the two styles of hats we had begun to see on all weekenders; either they were in the French Foreign Legion or the Dumbass Hat Brigade (the DHB). Sometimes we get easily annoyed with certain types of people, mainly the overly-informed, loose-tongue variety, so we split the scene. Steep switchbacks down the side of the pass brought us to a gently rolling hill-valley, and we cruised 6.4 miles down into the deeper valley without a break, taking a long rest with swim and dinner at the south fork of the King River. That was the low elevation of the day, so we started back up a dry, steep climb for a mile, then lesser grades thru lakes and gorgeous rocky meadows and highlands. At 5:50, 12 hours after we began hiking that day, we found camp on the shore of Lake Marjorie (11132 ft), where we jumped in naked, and got out quick. Coldest, bluest water I got into, so far today ;)
-llg