Day 9

Day's start: Silver Pass Lake
Day's end: VVR! (cheeseburgers! beer!)
Day's miles: 5.8 miles
Total trip miles: 87.9 miles

Last night wasn't nearly as cold as the night before, so we both got a good night's sleep even though Aaron said he woke up a few times to look at the Milky Way and the other stars. Knowing that today was going to be a short, easy day we even allowed ourselves to sleep in a little, so we ended up crawling out of the tent a little before 6:30, and took our time getting our gear packed up and ready to go.

Before getting back on the trail, we stopped by to say good morning to Rob and talked about our plans for the day. Both of us were planning on getting to Thomas Edison Lake before 4pm, as that was the last time the Vermilion Valley Resort (VVR) ferry would bus people across the lake and over to cheeseburger/beer paradise for the day.

Good morning!

 Some wildflowers along the way.

We were able to really take our time today, so I took the opportunity to take extra pictures... of trees... what can I say, I like trees a lot.

The hike today was mostly downhill the entire way, and rocky for most of it. We took our time working our way down to the lake, and made it there a little before 2pm. While we waited for the ferry, we ran into 3 llamas that were tied up and grazing, and we tried to take our picture with them (they belonged to a father/son team hiking the PCT southbound and were using the llamas as pack animals... sometimes, I feel like I could use a llama...). Waiting for the ferry for a few hours was more fun than expected. Besides our stop at Tuolumne Meadows where we hung out by a river for a large portion of the afternoon, we hadn't really had another opportunity to just hang out in one spot for an extended period of time. While Aaron, Rob, and I waited for the ferry to arrive, Robin, John, and Nilla, and Ian and John showed up too. It was great to see everybody else, and we all boarded the ferry and made our way to hiker heaven.
 

The side trail to the Lake Thomas A. Edison ferry.

...I was a little worried about that far llama...

 Waiting for the ferry to take us all to VVR hiker heaven.

Lake Thomas A. Edison and the ferry dock

After arriving at VVR, the owner, Jim, showed us around and let us know what was available (showers, beer, laundry, beer, food, beds, beer). First things first, we got ourselves our free first beer (and another large Arrogant Bastard each - yes, they serve Stone beer here. Heaven.), and made our way to our tent cabin. After unloading all our stuff and changing into the cleanest clothes we could find, we made our way to the laundry machines and the showers. After we cleaned ourselves up a bit and got a nice little beer buzz going we made our way to the restaurant.
Oh my God.
The food here was just great (I had smoked tri-tip, mashed potatoes, apple pie, and more beer). It was made even better because we were able to eat, drink, and hang out with all of the people we had been hiking with so far, which made for one of my most enjoyable evenings yet.

View from the porch (yes, a porch!) of our tent cabin.

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Day 8

Day's start: Duck Pass Trail
Day's end: Silver Pass Lake
Day's miles: 11.1 miles
Total trip miles: 82.1 miles

Brrr!
Overnight the water bottles we had brought inside the tent have froze, and when I poked my head out of my sleeping bag I can see frost on the outside of the tent. Crawling out of the tent, the entire meadow, along with our bear canisters, are covered in a fine layer of frost. This morning we learned to press on for higher ground even when tired and to not camp in a low part of a valley, as the cold air just settles here.

 
We tried to get moving quickly to help our bodies warm up, and we passed the tents of our other friends who had wisely decided to stay inside their sleeping bags for a little while longer. As we get going up our first short climb toward Purple Lake, Aaron and I discussed how it's funny we haven't seen any bears yet on this trip. Just then, Rob says a quick hello (he had camped further uphill - smart), which made us both jump because we thought he was a (talking?) bear. We visited for a little while, talked about our plans for the day, and then continued on towards Purple Lake.

Purple Lake

We came to Purple Lake just after the sun came up and while we take our mid-morning break Rob caught up to us and offered to take our picture near the lake.

The climb between Purple Lake and Virginia Lake was a little harder than our earlier climb but the view, I thought, was well worth the effort. While we take a quick break near Virginia Lake, two of the guys from the group of 6 we had first seen in Lyell Canyon make their way toward the lake. They had daypacks on, so clearly their JMT plans had changed...
"...and then there were two..."
We stopped to chat for a little while and learned that 4 of their group of 6 don't have much backpacking experience, and perhaps did not take into consideration the harshness of these miles compared to regular hiking one can find close to a city. Both Aaron and I have also learned the hard way how hard these miles are. We trained and hiked as much as we could (in all reality, I could have, and should have hiked more), but never did we think that these miles would be as hard as they are. Back in San Diego when we hike near the Laguna Mountains, or anywhere on the PCT we could pull out 15 miles easily and 20 miles if we worked a little harder - and look! Here we are pulling out 10-13 miles per day and feeling very worn out at the end of every day! These miles are hard! I can understand why someone would want to quit, especially if they haven't really backpacked a lot before, and on top of that, had a bear steal their Bourbon in the middle of the night.

Virginia Lake

The 2 guys kindly offered to take our picture at Virginia Lake.

A fun tree near the lake.

After Virginia Lake, we descended to Fish Creek and then began the climb towards Silver Pass. A few hours later on our way towards the top, we passed the 2 guys again who were making their way back to their camp spot at Duck Pass Trail where their other friends had spent the day. Silver Pass is as far as they will make it on the JMT this year, and I hope they try to finish it another year. So far the scenery has been phenomenal and we haven't even made it to the high Sierras section of the trail, which we have heard is the best part.

Heading down toward Fish Creek.

 Crossing Fish Creek before beginning the climb over Silver Pass.

Some wildflowers we saw down in the Fish Creek valley.

Climbing up Silver Pass in the afternoon (and late afternoon) was difficult. It wasn't especially steep, we were just both very tired from all the hiking we had done this morning. Lesson learned: mountain passes are meant to be done in the morning, not in the afternoon when you're too tired to move. Towards the top we got to hike over a section of snow and I even stopped to make a snow angel and throw a few snowballs on the top of the pass. Rob met up with us on the top of the pass, and we all made our way about a mile more to Silver Pass Lake where we found camp spots right before the sun went down.

A nice meadow and creek before the real climbing began for Silver Pass.

Looking north about halfway up Silver Pass we can see the valley we have climbed out of.

Hiking on some snow near the pass.

We've made it to the top!

Looking south from Silver Pass. The valley to the left is where we made it to this night.

Some evening entertainment along the way...

This night's camp came with one of the prettiest evening views so far.

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Day 7

Day's start: Red's Meadow
Day's end: Duck Pass Trail
Day's miles: 11.4 miles
Total trip miles: 71.0 miles

Today we woke up early to do some laundry and sort through our resupply box before going to the cafe for a big, delicious breakfast. We both ordered lots of pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, watermelon and coffee, and it was way better than the powdered milk and granola we had been having on the trail. While at the cafe for breakfast we ran into Rob, Mike, and his hiking friend, Chris, again. We also met two new guys who were section hiking the JMT, Robin and John, and Robin's dog, Nilla. Over breakfast, we discussed our next trail resupply/stop locations, and make the decision to add in a stop to Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR). Originally we planned to take a zero day at Muir Trail Ranch (MTR), but we had been hearing from lots of hikers that VVR was a lot more "hiker-friendly" than MTR and that as a thru-hiker at VVR, your first beer and your first night's stay are free. The free beer coupled with the rave reviews convinced us to alter our plans and take our last remaining zero day at VVR.

After breakfast, everybody left to get back on the trail while we putzed around Red's Meadow making sure that we had everything we needed until we made it to our next resupply. The last one left was Mike, whose friend Chris was only hiking with him as far as Red's Meadow. Mike had 2 or 3 more people joining him to finish the trail, but they would not be here for 2 more days. It was sad to leave Mike by himself, especially knowing how much fun it had been hiking with him and the others this far. He was the first of our new trail friends that we left, and I was awful sad leaving him and not knowing if we'd ever see him again.

At our first water break of the day we ran into Rob again and met two new guys who were hiking the JMT, Ian and John, who were also planning on stopping at VVR. The rest of the hike today can be described as only a slog. It was uphill, sandy, and made even more difficult by the extra food weight that we had packed into our bear cans. A few times the trees opened up and we saw some spectacular views of Fish Creek below. We had planned on hiking a few more miles to Purple Lake, but when we got to the Duck Pass Trail about 11 miles later we were so worn out that we decided to call it a day. Apparently, the rest of the people we had met on the trail felt the same way, and we all found camping spots in a large meadow. We felt extra safe knowing that Nilla the dog was close... perhaps she will protect everybody from any bears nearby... probably not.

Looking down to Fish Creek

Cleaning up before bed

Day 7 camp

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Day 6

Day's start: Garnet Lake
Day's end: Red's Meadow!
Day's miles: 13.3 miles
Total trip miles: 59.6 miles

Today we woke up to the sun lighting the tops of the mountains surrounding Garnet Lake. We stretched, ate our breakfast, packed our stuff, and took off. We have been getting fairly early starts so far on this trip. Most often we are waking at 5:30, and leaving our campsite around 6:30. When we got started we passed by the group of 6 guys and Rob who were all getting some last minute things put together before they started hiking as well.

We continued on a long downhill section of trail, part of which was quite rocky (little do I know that this is just a tiny taste of what's to come). After passing a few day hikers with fishing poles and one very happy looking dog, we come to the first lake of the day; Shadow Lake, and we take a midmorning break here and are passed by the group of 6 guys... it could have just been me, but I only counted 4 of them when they passed... 2 were talking like they wanted to leave the trail, I wonder if they did.

Hiking down to Shadow Lake

Shadow Lake

Somebody fishing on the lake

After our break at Shadow Lake, we start our only climb of the day (about 1,000 feet) to Rosalie Lake (what a lovely name for a lake) and tiny Gladys Lake, and then we begin the long descent to Red's Meadow. The hike from Rosalie Lake to Red's Meadow is well under 10,000 feet and within the treeline (from about 9,352 feet to 7,725 feet), so for most of the day we hiked through Redwood forests. While hiking through the forest the mosquitoes became a little annoying, which allowed me to learn the joys of a headnet (keeps the bugs from actually landing on your face), and an iPod (keeps the buzzing noise from driving you mental). I also learned that music helps me to hike a bit faster, which will certainly be helpful when we are climbing one mountain pass per day later in the trip.

Rosalie Lake

Gladys Lake

Hiking through Redwood forests

Close to the end of the day, we pass from Inyo National Forest Ansel Adams Wilderness into tiny Devil's Postpile National Monument. I have only seen the Devil's Postpile in pictures, so we decide to take a tiny side trip and hike to see it before heading to Red's Meadow (cheeseburgers!). The Devil's Postpile map that was provided on the side of the trail was one of the more confusing ones I'd seen yet. It also happened to be drawn in very light colors which didn't really do us any favors as we tried to decide which way we were supposed to go.

We've hiked into yet another park - I'm impressed with ourselves!

See - isn't this a confusing map with poor color choices? I'm glad I took a picture of it to use so we wouldn't get lost in this little park.

After figuring the map out, we land ourselves at the Devil's Postpile amid other day hikers who give us a few looks and appear to be keeping their distance (Do we smell? Do we look a little dirty? What?). The Devil's Postpile itself was a little bit of a let-down for me. It seemed smaller and less impressive than what I had imagined. Perhaps this is similar to meeting a celebrity... don't they always seem shorter in person than what you thought they would be?

The Devil's Postpile

After visiting the Devil's Postpile, we found our way to Red's Meadow and the general store where we had shipped ourselves a resupply package. BUT, first things first, we had to buy ourselves a much-deserved beer and inquire about the natural hot spring showers. Recently, the National Forest came around for an inspection of the showers and closed them down because there was mold growing in the corners (duh. It's a natural hot spring - shouldn't there be algae or fungus??). With our natural hot spring shower dreams crushed, we asked if there was any other place to take showers. The lady at the general store let us know that we could take a half hour bus ride to the end of the line at Mammoth Mountain Inn (a ski and mountain resort and spa), and then buy our showers there. We decided that sorting our resupply could wait, and went first to order delicious cheeseburgers (and potato chips, and a chocolate milkshake and an IPA), and then raced to catch the next bus that would take us to the showers.

The bus ride was fun, and fast - it was kind of neat to see the scenery move past us so quickly. When the bus pulled up to the Mammoth Mountain Inn, we knew we were a little out of place - the place was pretty swanky! We found our way to the lobby area and asked the lady behind the counter if we could buy some showers. She took our money and then presented us with a paper map of the resort and asked us if we will be walking to where the showers are located.... (said while we have backpacks on our backs, trekking poles in our hands, and have 6 days worth of dirt on us). I looked her square in the face and said, "No, we will be taking our jet."

Ahh, sarcasm.

We found our way to the spa part of the resort where there should have been music playing like you had just reached the gates of Heaven. There was a huge stack of fluffy towels (and we could use as many as we wanted - how fancy!), and there was not a sole in the shower area. For $5 each, we could take as long a shower as we wanted (with hot water and good water pressure, no less!), so we both took about 30 minute showers. Aaron even got to sit in a hot tub for a little bit too. It was glorious.

Exiting the spa area and feeling rejuvenated, we went to lounge on some plastic chairs (chairs - what a luxury) and waited for the bus to arrive to take us back to Red's Meadow. While we waited, we were able to call our families and let them know we were alive (and clean!!) and still having a good time.

Never before in my life have I been so happy to use generic shampoo and conditioner that was just left in a public shower. I even happily used body wash as face wash! It's amazing what being outside for a few days in a row will do to you.

Back at Red's, we bought some mac 'n' cheese and more IPA, and went to set up camp for the night. I barely made it through one and a half beers that night - I fear this trip may be turning me into a very, very cheap date. Oh well.

You can enlarge any of these pictures by clicking on them.