Last night was warmer since we were only camped at 8300' elevation, I used my sleeping bag as a quilt. After hiking this morning for 1 1/2 miles we reached Mono Creek and noted the trail intersection with Vermillion Valley Resort which we'd decided not to visit. Instead we plan to resupply tomorrow at Muir Trail Ranch. Climbing up a hillside of switchbacks I could gauge our progress by watching the Vermillion Cliffs across from us. They towered over us as we began our ascent, but gradually we could say we were almost looking across at the tops! We gained 2,000 feet in 3 miles, going from 8-10,000'. The forest was cool and shady in the morning hours. Once we gained the almost flat top I'm reminded of the walk around Crater Lake, sparse undergrowth and tall trees.
We stopped 3 times to snack & drink water finally starting downhill for 1 1/2 miles descent to 9,000'. It became hot & sunny, the forest changing to include aspen & grasses as well as bristlecone, sequoia, limber & some huge ponderosa pines. Refilling water and rinsing out socks for tomorrow we started an uphill section in an effort to get closer to the approach to Selden Pass which we plan on doing tomorrow morning.
We kept a good pace going for about an hour as we began following beautiful Bear Creek which sheeted over slabs of granite from pool to pool. One mile before our campsite we had to ford the creek walking over in our shoes & socks. We met a father and his 2 sons (20s-30s) trying to ford it too. Dad had duct tape on his toes as protection for his blisters. It ends up we'll be seeing them off & on most of our trip. One more 500' climb to camp where a Meadow emptied past the tent sites we found a place to camp just out of sight. Mosquitoe headnets on, we filtered water, dried laundry and began dinner. It's possible it may be a cool night here at 10,000' elevation. Tomorrow, Muir Trail Ranch resupply, 1 1-2 miles off the trail.
7/26/15 Sunday 12 miles (+1.5 to the ranch)
This is day 5 of our hike. Not a great sleep last night, it didn't get cold until about 2am, then I snuggled into my bag & was warm. My hip hurt all night, I probably should have taken Alieve but couldn't get myself to get up & find it.
We had about a 2 1/2 mile hike up to the pass, Peggy (smart girl) kept me engaged in a good conversation so time went by without as much "body talk"... ie: Boy my legs hurt, I can't get my breath, why am I doing this? I need to get all my parts together & tell them to SHUT UP! They are no help!!
Reaching a bunch of alpine lakes just prior to the pass we stopped to take in the view.
The pass is just out of sight in the 'V' behind my head.
The blue sky & very blue lakes were lovely to rest by but getting to the top required our commitment so we packed up our snacks and headed for the top.
Looking down the other side we could see Heart Lake filled by a small stream draining a higher hidden lake.
Columbine, shooting stars & mariposa lily among other pretty flowers were blooming beside the trail as we descended. Down the trail a tiny chipmunk skittered onto the trail in front of me and disappeared into his trail side hole. We stopped and waited for him...sure enough, he popped his head out to see if we were still there...then he came all the way out to check us out!
We passed Sallie Keyes Lakes, deep and multi colored blue. The sun began to get hot as we passed through what reminded me of pumice desert, ponderosa trees emitting their signature vanilla scent in hot weather. We stopped for a water break before descending 5 miles into the next basin watching for the Muir Trail Ranch cutoff. The next basin was filling up with smoke from a forest fire, it was hot on the exposed trail.
Sequoias and aspen trees, an odd combination, appeared together with grasses on this mountainside as we switch backed down to the trail junction. Then we plunged downhill on a controlled slide to Muir Trail Ranch.
The Ranch was a guest only place but they resupplyed hikers for a fee.
It was like Christmas, who could remember what we mailed to ourselves? Then, did we still want it? There were buckets full of food that wasn't wanted or didn't fit in the bear canister hikers were required to carry. So one could paw through goods in buckets and swap for something better. Like I said, Christmas!
Peggy & I finished resupplying in an hour, met again the Dad & 2 sons who came in just after us. We left pretty quickly, there were just more people there than we wanted to experience. We left so soon neither one of us remembered to recharge our phones or power battery. Not good.
We opted not to hike back up the terrible trail to the PCT/JMT. Rather we took an alternate that met up with the trail near the San Joaquin River. It was a beautiful river running over polished round boulders, we rested ourselves in the shade, read books & soaked our feet, shirts & legs in the cool water for an hour.
At 5pm we hiked 2.5 miles to Piute Creek and a lovely camp site under some big sequoias tucked in the boulders and brush. I felt hungry and tired, my pack full of 7 days of food weighed 30# and I could feel the extra weight in my feet and legs with every step. It's warm here, 8,000' elevation, listening to Piute Creek rush to join the SanJoaquin River. I made Amy's white mac & cheese for dinner and it was really tasty.
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