JMT3: a backpack trip with VRs showing the milestones

This was the finale of three lengthy backpack trips spanning segments of the John Muir Trail. Whereas on previous JMT trips the group was me, David & Susan plus optionally Zach, unfortunately neither Susan nor Zach were able to accompany us on this trip, so I invited Len, a friend of mine. David did almost all the pre-trip planning, which made everything go a lot easier. We went in at Kearsarge Pass, hiked 53 miles along the trail in nuclear winter conditions of extreme smoke from various fires, ascended Mt. Whitney, and then came out at Whitney Portal.

I got to the Bishop area a couple days early to acclimate to the altitude. I did a short little hike above Bishop one day to the Lamarck Lakes, which turned out to be some of the more spectacular settings I've seen on the Eastern Sierra Nevada:

Load QuickTime VR panorama of this scene in a new window

Lower Lamarck Lake

Upper Lamarck Lake

and then the next day had a very enjoyable hike to the seven lakes under Temple Crag. I shot quite a few panos along all the seven lakes but this is the only one available so far:

Second Lake with Temple Crag in background

I didn't recall for sure while hiking, but I had been to the seven lakes many years ago with some friends.

Len and I met up in Bishop and spent some time acclimating at South Lake. He hiked out around the lake while I repacked my backpack. I would have rather been hiking but it took hours to totally unpack and then repack my backpack. Then we drove back to Lone Pine where we picked up some food from the pizza place and studied the ominous clouds of dark smoke that appeared out of nowhere over the southern Sierra. We heard some reports of big fires and headed up to Onion Valley where we were to camp that night to acclimate at 9300 feet. We had a joyous reunion with David and Susan who were already at the campground. We set up our gear and then the three of them began a complicated shuttle for dinner. Susan and Len went back into Lone Pine to get food for David and Susan. Meanwhile I ate my calzone while fending off an aggressive deer. I was quite relieved to have the smelly food gone.

There was a lot of activity in the campground, as an ultra-long-distance running event from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney was going to start soon, and a number of runners were training at altitude. I met one of them and his dad. Later a woman came around looking for backpackers heading up-trail and told us to keep a lookout for her friend who was coming off the JMT here because of an accident.

The next day Len got his early start as he had predicted and while eating breakfast I watched him slowly disappear up the mountain. We gradually got our gear together for the long first uphill of our trip. Susan said goodbye and drove home, and David and I headed up the steep trail. Somewhere on that first section I bolted off the trail and shot a quick panorama:

Not too much further where the trail crossed a large rockfield the view expanded, and this was probably the last place we had a view of Owens Valley until the pass:

It seemed like a long time before we got to a pretty little lake where I shot another panorama. I was feeling a bit sluggish or lazy (as evidenced by leaving my pack in the picture) but determined I would catch up to everyone at the pass.

Along the way up to the pass, we ran into the woman who had an accident while travelling down the length of the JMT. I greeted her by name, which surely must have surprised her. We told her about her friend waiting for her at Onion Valley, and talked for about ten minutes as she had a lot of stories from travelling alone. She had injured her foot when opening one of the anti-bear metal food lockers, and the big metal door slammed down on her foot. She had started out intending to do the entire JMT with a friend, but the friend had a change of plans.

Len was still ahead of us, but not long afterwards we all made it to 11,823 foot high Kearsarge Pass and met a young guy with a bayonet strapped across his chest who was travelling up the PCT accompanied by his dog. We rested and talked to the guy, who said he had incredible difficulties all night long fighting off a pack of bears in the area we were headed to. It's been a decade or more since I last visited Kearsarge Pass, and it hadn't changed much. We discovered someone's lost Nalgene bottle, and I shot another panorama here:

The wildfire smoke was not awful for breathing--yet. We then descended a couple miles and the smoke became dense as fog. I paused at one lake and shot a panorama with difficulty, as there was not enough light for the 100ASA speed film still in my camera from the pass. The descent to Bubbs Creek was nothing like last year.

By the time we got to the trail junction at Lower Vidette Meadow, the wildfire seemed like it was just around the corner--large pieces of ash were falling everywhere. David and I rested on a fallen log. We paralleled Bubbs Creek, and many people we talked to were wearing bandannas over their mouths, and told us it had been so bad they could hardly breathe earlier. We went by the Vidette Meadow area, and then I sped up to get a good campsite. I got to our designated campground and there was no one there yet. I was tired and slowly unpacked my gear and made some gatorade style drink. Then I discovered my spare shoes were gone--must have fallen off my pack at the log resting spot. That and the nuclear winter seemed like lots of bad luck. The campsite had a pleasant forest around it and an overview of Bubbs Creek.

So not only did we have information from books and maps that this area was reputed to be bear country, but we had the recent story from the bayonet guy. Soon more people arrived, and then David and then Len. Len found my spare shoes, and brought them with! I was very happy.

We had a nervous evening, waiting for the fierce bears to show up. If they came around that night, I wasn't aware of it.

The next morning I got up very early and started packing up quietly. Len and I agreed to get an early start, because he prefers walking when its cooler, and I thought the early hours seemed better for photography with less smoke. We had to ascend over 2500 feet to get to Forester Pass.

We quickly left the trees behind and entered an alpine rock wonderland. There were a series of rock benches, and at a middle one, after we left Bubbs Creek for good, I shot the first panorama of the day

There were a few other people ahead and behind us. The next segment looked hard, but David had noted in the trip plans that the view ascending to Forester Pass was in some ways better than the view at the pass itself.

It wasn't all that bad, the sun was up, and not too much later a beautiful body of water appeared called Lake 12248. I refilled my water and headed up the final grade to the pass. It was hard going but the views kept on getting better. David was right -- the views were outstanding and I shot two panoramas from the side of the trail.

The good thing about the final section was you could see the pass, and it didn't look that far away. Fortunately it wasn't, and the smoke was not a terrible problem.

The moments spent at the pass were peak time; and we celebrated this fantastic milestone. It was with great reluctance that we headed down nearly vertical switchbacks into a desolate looking high plateau.

On the way down, near the two lakes visible in the last panorama, I went off the trail to get an optimum vantage point on the area. If you think the sky looks funny in the following scene ...

...it was odd looking, because of the immense smoke plumes drifting over the entire southern Sierra from a giant wildfire (or two). I then headed back to the trail, and saw a guy coming down the trail like he was aiming to intersect my path. Sure enough, he did, and it was the local ranger who lives in this backcountry heaven. He asked me a few questions, didn't ask for a permit, and then we both headed southwest. For some miles we talked, and he told me how great the fishing was in the lakes here, and how you could do some outstanding mountain climbing in the nearby ranges.

We parted ways at the trail junction for the Lake South America Trail. I went a bit further and got to the ford of Tyndall Creek, where I pulled off my boots and soaked them in the cold water. Soon David and Len arrived and did likewise. We had lunch and talked about where we would be camping that night.

We crossed the creek which was not that hard compared to what we had heard, and somehow got up out of the Tyndall Creek basin. Then we found ourselves crossing mile after sandy mile of the Bighorn Plateau, a virtual desert. No water to be seen, nor trees, but a tent or two. A terrible pall of smoke obscuring what usually is an incredible view of the Great Western Divide. We almost made it to the Wright Creek canyon when I took a small detour off the trail. We had a hard time agreeing on exactly what was Wright Creek, and then experienced more up and down. After fording Wallace Creek, David picked out a spot above the popular campsites.

I was dead tired. As the light slowly faded, we ate our freeze-dried dinners and batted mosquitoes.

I revived after dinner, and David had befriended our neighbors who had a campfire going. We had a pleasant discussion for quite some time around a campfire. We would hike with them the rest of the way to Whitney Portal.

We all headed out at different times for some reason. After a few miles of heading down the trail, I saw an open space off the trail a little ways, so I headed there and found myself at the edge of a large rock field:

A little later the JMT/PCT goes through a place called Sandy Meadow, again with a great view somewhat obscured by smoke:

We trucked along the trail and up a canyon which was steep where I passed a couple of women in a group whose luggage was being carried by horses. The clouds were building as if it was going to rain. Then I came to Timberline Lake, and could not resist capturing the sublime view:

When I got to the first point where I could really overlook the Guitar Lake area and get a nice clear view of Whitney, I stopped off the trail:

I descended a slight bit and got to Guitar Lake early where I staked out a nice area for our group and then rested. Then I walked around a bit to this spot on a small rocky hill overlooking the lake:

People who had arrived here were relaxing, doing small chores, and admiring the grand views. I shot one panorama from a grassy area next to Guitar Lake (and you can see two women resting in the meadow, looking up at Whitney):

Then Jeremy & Jen arrived, asked if they could share our area, and set up their ultralight gear. It seemed they worked for a sporting goods outfit in New England and so knew recreational equipment very well. Then the rest of our party came in. Finally the horses arrived carrying the gear for the big group. Len rested for awhile and then decided to eat up the rest of his food supplies except what he needed tomorrow.

It was a luxurious afternoon of lounging and talking. Beautiful air, mountains ringing the lake, clouds, sky. All too beautiful. I'd like to have explored a bit here and shot more panos. We had a great time swapping stories, then everyone began trying to figure out what time I would be getting up in the morning. I finally settled on 4:00AM, and everyone else adjusted accordingly: Len earlier, everyone else later (I'm not sure why I became the central time barometer, maybe because I'd been up Whitney a couple times before).

My tent was situated near Jeremy & Jen's bivvy sack, an unusal two person model. It didn't take long to realize that it's debatable whether you are better off sleeping out in the open, as everytime one person shifted positions, the other person woke up, made a comment, and tried to get back to sleep. Somehow I drifted off to sleep.

Getting up at 4AM is really a challenge, but it was amazing how many people were already awake on the other side of the lake. I ate my blueberry granola breakfast hurriedly and packed up in the dark quietly. As I headed out, it was still dark enough to need a headlamp. I felt pretty sluggish for awhile until geetting warmed up. The early start enabled me to get these shots on the steep and switchbacked trail between Guitar Lake and Trail Crest:

Along the way we discovered what happened to a meticulously dressed couple whom we had been leapfrogging most of the trip; they had camped last night in an extremely tiny flat spot just below Trail Crest. They seemed rather competitive, and so they probably made it to the summit by 7AM.

At Trail Crest we quickly dumped our packs and reconfigured for the stroll to the top. It was still very cold and my fingers were freezing. Fortunately Jeremy and Jen had extra hand warmers which they offered me and I was very grateful for. Then we headed out the trail to the summit. I was content to follow as this was my third visit. Unlike previous trips, there were few people coming off the moutain at this hour. When we finally staggered to the top, there was a huge crowd there having a giant celebration, some sort of hiking group who had hiked down the whole JMT.

Having made it up Mt. Whitney three times, this was the easiest in some ways. The actual ascent involved climbing 2000 vertical feet of switchbacks to Trail Crest, then gaining another 1000 feet to the summit. It was only 5.5 miles from Guitar Lake to the 14495' high point of the John Muir Trail, and what a unique feeling to be resting at the top by 9:00AM. My friend Len and I, and our new acquaintenaces Jeremy/Jen rested and talked for awhile. I waited until a huge group of people left and shot a couple panoramas:

All along this trip I felt some disappointment about the smoke wiping out the scenery. But the view from Whitney was still pretty interesting. We waited around until I started getting a headache from dehydration, as I had pushed really hard getting up to Trail Crest quickly while shooting panoramas, and probably didn't drink enough water along the way. So we headed back. The trail down to the portal was extremely hot, crowded with people, and hard on the knees with all the rock staircases. The hardest part of the whole trip may have been the 5,300 foot descent to the Whitney Portal.

Not far from the final mile we ran into a guy sitting against a fencepost who engaged us in some light conversation. We later figured out that he was looking for people coming out without the Whitney zone permit. Finally we could see the parking lot and our steps got lighter. There at the trailhead Susan was waiting for us with cold drinks in hand, having driven all the way back from home to help shuttle us back.

I regreted missing the post-trip dinner in Lone Pine as I had to get back to Bishop where my car was. Len had to get back to work so he drove me up 395. Fortunately the drive home was uneventful.