Day's end: Medium Lake
Day's miles: 14.0 miles
Total trip miles: 131.8 miles
I felt good about hiking this morning until I stood up. Walking on my new matching blisters yesterday had apparently only aggravated them, and now they were officially the size of those Sacagawea one dollar coins and filled with fluid. After stuffing my feet into my shoes I tried to walk the few feet from the tent to a nearby tree, and I couldn't help by cry. I felt like such a girl; crying because of blisters. I sat down and tried to fix them using all the blister supplies I had, but nothing was working - it was still really painful to walk.
I procrastinated a lot getting started this morning. I guess I figured that if I took long enough the pain would eventually go away, or we would just decide to stay here for the day and I could just sit around and nurse my blisters all day. However, the reality was that we did not have any zero days left if we wanted to finish the JMT on our planned day, and that meant that we had to pull a lot of miles today. And to add insult to injury, today looked like it would be a constant uphill grind.
When we set out today I tried to keep up with Aaron, but I just kept falling behind because my feet hurt so badly. I just stared at the ground and leaned heavily on my trekking poles and tried my best to will the clock to go faster - couldn't it be evening already?!
Climbing up to the Evolution Basin towards Muir Pass
We crossed a few creeks as we worked our way uphill toward Evolution Valley and Muir Pass, and after awhile I found tears rolling down my cheeks for the second time this morning. My feet were killing me and I couldn't help but stare at the ground so I could concentrate on where to put my feet which meant I was missing some of the most beautiful parts of Evolution Valley. Also, I kept thinking about leaving this trail and going home. I wanted so badly to go to one of two places: 1) At home with my family in Ohio during Thanksgiving; I'm wearing flannel PJs and fluffy socks and I'm all snugged up under blankets with my family watching a Bond movie marathon while there is a delicious smelling turkey roasting in the oven. Or 2) I was at home with Aaron in San Diego, wearing comfy sweat pants and (again) fluffy socks and snugged up under a blanket on the couch watching Amazing Race while a herb-crusted pork tenderloin roasted in the oven.
So far, this day was not shaping up so well.
When we finally made it up near Evolution Lake, we were passed by a couple moving much faster than us. We stopped and chatted for awhile and learned that they were finishing this last 100 mile section of the JMT which they had started last year. Apparently, the lady had something wrong with her feet that made it too painful for her to continue the trail last year, so they bailed out and were back this year to try to complete the JMT. I also learned that they had attempted the Appalachian Trail a few years back and had to stop short because both of them had bad blisters... I could relate. Being that they were a doctor and a nurse, I asked them if they had any advice or special tape for my blisters so that I could continue the trail and not feel like quitting every step of the way.
They offered duck tape.
Really?!
Duck tape?
After all the foot problems they have had, and especially being a doctor and a nurse, the best they can offer is duck tape?! Even I'm better set up for caring for my blisters!
Hiking past Evolution Lake
We carried on past Evolution Lake (which was really quite beautiful), and Aaron agreed to stop for a longer break than usual near the water of Sapphire Lake. I especially enjoyed the breaks today because I could focus on the magnificent scenery all around us instead of my feet. This break was made even better due to the snacks we had crammed into our incredibly full bear canisters. Today our lunch would be an entire tub of spreadable smoked gouda cheese and a sleeve of fancy table crackers (thanks Mom and Dad!). After the most glorious trail lunch yet, I set about trying to fashion some cushioned donuts out of Aaron's thin sleeping pad for my blisters, which turned out to be the best remedy for my hurting feet I'd tried yet.
My poor feet...
Pretty Sapphire Lake
We continued uphill through Evolution Valley, until the trail turned and began skimming the sides of Wanda Lake. Before setting out for Yosemite Valley and the start of our JMT adventure we had checked the mosquito reports on a pretty regular basis and so far on this trip we had been pretty lucky, even though we had read reports of the mosquito population being "biblical" in some places. Wanda Lake was one of those places. I've never seen mosquitoes in swarms this bad before, and it seemed like they just floated along beside me as we ran/walked the length of Wanda Lake. Escaping the mosquitoes, we could finally see the Muir Hut on the top of Muir Pass! It was a little farther away, but at least we could see it! Aaron let me lead the way, and I continued trudging uphill for what seemed like forever. After awhile my body screamed for another break. I unclipped my sternum strap and hip belt and I let my pack fall off my back... and again I started to cry.
My feet (although marginally better with my jerry-rigged blister bandages) were still killing me every step of the way, my upper thigh had begun to hurt again with every step, the mosquitoes were gross, and I was just plain exhausted. Isn't 130 miles enough for one hike? Can I take a break now? I just want to GO HOME! I don't think I've ever felt this tired before. Literally it felt like it was everything I could do to move my aching body one more tiny step at a time. I cried a bit more, collected myself (after a small pity party), and Aaron stuffed some beef jerky and jelly beans in my mouth. I think because I was trying so hard to not focus on the pain my feet and leg were causing me, I had forgotten to snack during the day and my energy level was paying the price. We picked up our things and began hiking towards the top again, me trying to stop my tears, and Aaron behind me telling me how close I was to the top and that I was doing a good job.
Right before we ran past Wanda Lake... if you look real close, you can see Muir Hut on the mountain pass.
When we finally made it to the top of Muir Pass, we walked inside the empty Muir Hut aiming for another quick break. Just as we were sitting down, this guy literally skipped into Muir Hut.
"Isn't this amazing?! It's just been so beautiful today! And to think - this was the easy one! The passes only get harder after this!"
"Great timing, man." Aaron muttered under his breath.
If I hadn't been so tired and hurting, and not throwing myself one of the biggest pity parties in quite some time, I would have said something to him. But instead I just sat there and stared at my shoes. In that moment, if there had been a helicopter at the top of Muir Pass I would have begged for a ride home and quit the trail right then and there.
As there was no helicopter in sight (damn it), I swallowed some more jelly beans, put on a happier looking face, said hello to the other groups that just arrived and had our picture taken near the hut. After gathering up our packs, we walked toward the other side of Muir Pass and looked down into the most intimidating, boulder and snow filled valley. Judging by this view, I was sure that the more difficult sections of trail were yet to come, just as the up-beat guy at Muir Hut had said. Oh boy.
Muir Hut
Don't I look happy today? (sense the sarcasm...)
The intimidating view down the other side of Muir Pass.
There were only about three miles left to our day and storm clouds were fast approaching, so we carried on as carefully as we could. And "careful" was certainly the word to use. The trail was practically all on top of big boulders and large snow fields. The few times that we hiked on anything that resembled an actual trail, it was flooded with rushing water that quickly soaked our shoes. This section of trail was the most difficult I had ever hiked on before - ever. Climbing down through some larger boulders, I leaned too heavily on my trekking poles and felt one of them telescope back down. It was almost laughable. Out of all the times on this multi-week hike, now was the time this trekking pole decided to break, right when I needed it most. On the plus side, I was concentrating so hard on where to place my feet and not sliding a far way down a mountain side that the condition of my feet was barely something that registered in my brain.
See... this section of the trail was hard - I wasn't kidding. See where that water was flowing? That's the trail!
If you can believe it, Aaron is hiking on a less tricky section of trail.
The storm clouds were getting grayer and the rain more heavy, and farther down the trail we saw a lady come running towards us out of a small grove of trees.
"There's room to camp near us! The storm looks like it's only getting worse, and the camping doesn't look good for the next couple miles!"
Thank goodness. I was beat, and this lady offering for us to camp so close to her to get out of the storm was some of the best news I'd heard all day.
Hopefully tomorrow will be easier.
You can enlarge any of these pictures by clicking on them.
