JMT – Day 12 – July 24, 2008

This is the twelfth in a series of posts documenting Reuben’s John Muir Trail backpacking trip from July 13-26, 2008. Each day will have its own post–reposted from a handwritten journal kept on the trail and paired with photos from each day.

The John Muir Trail (JMT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, running 211 miles (340 km) from the Happy Isles trailhead in Yosemite Valley south to the summit of Mount Whitney on the border of Sequoia National Park and Inyo National Forest. It is named for naturalist John Muir. The elevation of the John Muir Trail seldom dips below 8,000 feet (2,400 m), it crosses six passes in excess of 11,000 feet (3,400 m) with a total cumulative elevation gain of just over 46,000 feet (14,000 m) and descends just over 38,000 feet (12,000 m).

Deciding to sleep in this morning was a really bad idea. We didn’t set the alarm, and were quite tired the night before, so we didn’t wake up until the sun was hitting our tent full out (about 8:30am). Eating breakfast in the sun was warm and we knew it was going to be hot as soon as we started moving. It wasn’t until this morning that we really appreciated our normal early morning starts.

Nicks feet felt a lot better this morning, and they looked better too. I guess the extra sleep and the ointment helped. So, we decided to continue as planned, at least over the next pass where we would evaluate the situation again. There were only two more realistic opportunities to leave the trail before completing the entire JMT would become just as difficult as ditching early.

We finally got on the trail around 9:45am, and right away it felt like it was the end of a long day — we were dragging our feet and moving very slow. The sun made the 1,500 foot climb up to our next break point very difficult. A couple years ago Nick and Jess had hiked this section of trail together. There was a nearby trailhead that you could form a hiking loop from, making a really nice long weekend trip. They had really enjoyed swimming at the Rae Lakes, so we had planned to make an extended stop there for the afternoon. Today would actually be a planned shorter day for us, so we had time for a longer break. We had not really been sticking to our slower schedule that we planned out at VVR–we were hiking way more miles each day than we intended! Most of the reason for this was that we had incentive to exit the trail early to carpool with Clockwork Orange back to the Reno Airport, but we were also just in the groove and able to hike more miles than we expected.

The Rae Lakes were beautiful and we lay in the shade for quite some time before we made lunch: a vegetable omelet that I made with dehydrated eggs. It tasted alright, but the texture was way off–definitely a learning experience for on-the-trail omelets. Then we attempted to go for a swim. The water was probably the coldest I have ever been in. After sitting on rocks in the sun for a while, daring each other to jump in, Nick slipped and fell in (but made it sound intentional!), and then we all took turns, but only stayed in the water for 30 seconds or so. The water took your breath away. Afterwards we were all very refreshed and rejuvenated.

My feet during lunch. Duct tape worked quite well to keep the blisters in line

We got out of the water and dried off in the sun, really eating up every minute of our break. Afterwards, we shot up the rest of the climb to Glen Pass (11,978′) without much effort. We were all feeling so much better than earlier in the morning! When we got to the top of the pass Nick suddenly did not feel very well at all. We thought maybe it was the iffy omelet we had for lunch, or quite possibly he had giardia (an intestinal infection caused by drinking contaminated water). Giardia was a big possibility out here, even with the purification drops we were using, and it was something that would take you off the trail and basically immobilize you for a number of days/weeks. Whatever was wrong with Nick, the top of a pass is probably the worst place to be with the onset of diarrhea–the only option you have is to hike down, as there is no water and no shelter (and no where to dig a hole) on the pass. A few switchbacks down the trail, Nick left his mark on the rocks. He had no other option!

Nick on Glen Pass, not really enjoying himself

The view over Glen

Afterwards, we continued our discussion of exit strategies from the night before. If Nick had giardia, there was no way he would be able to continue, and hiking out would even be a challenge. We again decided to delay the decision to exit early until the next day with the hope that Nick would feel better in the morning. We finished our descent and found a campsite near the trail junction for Forester Pass and Roads End Trailhead. In the morning, we could decide which way to go. If Nick feels better and we continued, the only option to exit early if his symptoms returned would be turning around and retracing our steps back to this point.

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Daily Stats
Mileage: 13.5 (22km)
Estimated Ascent: 2,700 Feet
Estimated pack weight: 33 pounds
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