Day 7 Aug 7,1982<br>Since the trail we came up on
didn't fit my map I looked around and found a trace of
it on the south side of the creek, or I could just
be lost again. The sky was still overcast so we
waited a while to see what was going to happen. We
considered taking a rain day and staying put. By 11:15 we
had decided and were on the trail. It was a ho-hum
day walking thru the loose pumice, missing Gary,
overcast, ordinary country. At Deer Ck. we took lunch and
then moved on. Suddenly we came to the rim of Cascade
Valley. The ho-hum day immediately changed. The clouds
swirled around the snow covered peaks across the canyon.
It would be raining in one spot and the sun beaming
throught the clouds in another. The scene before us was
constantly and quickly shifting. It is one of the most
spectacular sights I have ever seen. I havn't seen it at all
like it since. Owen and I would hold up under a tree
when it sprinkled and once a cloud moved up the hill
until we were enveloped in the fog. By the time we
arrived at Duck Ck. the sky had cleared off and we made
camp. There were two women who had arrived at the same
time camping nearby. While I was trying to get the
fire started with the damp wood, one of them came over
and asked "don't you have a candle", well, nope. A
little later when we had a roaring fire going she came
back and told me they had a difficult time getting
theirs going. I bit my lip but chuckled inside. One of
Owen's pack straps was starting to come undone so I
whipped out the sewing kit and made repairs. Our sleeping
spot was a small depression that fit us just right. It
was so good we used the same place the next time we
were there. 8.1 miles today.
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Day 6 Aug 6, 1982<br>Made our usual early start
but Gary's knees kept down the pace. We arrived at
the Postpile and Gary waited while Owen and I went up
to the top. Afterward we crawled up the the store
and bailed out our food. Once again we fortified
ourselves with ice cream, Twinkies, and candy bars. We were
made aware of the hot spring bathhouse and soon we had
all cleaned our hides. Gary called his wife to meet
him at Mammoth and we spun our yarns and showed off
our bear eaten pack to the tourists. We loaded our
packs with two weeks worth of food. Gary intended to
rest his knee and catch up with us at Vidette Mdw. on
the second Friday and finish out to Whitney. At the
least, he would resupply us there, either personally or
through somebody else. I gave him the bus ticket they had
neglected to take from me when I stored the food and he
caught the last bus out at 6:15 PM. Someone had told us
that there was a fine campsite at Red Cones but I told
him we wern't going that far. With heavy hearts and
packs we took off to make camp. We took the PCT from
the store, later Owen and I would take the short
piece of JMT that we missed. PCT is the easier of the
two. We had intended to camp after crossing Boundary
Ck. According to our map that was the second creek
from the store and the trail started switchbacking up
from there. However, before we crossed that second
creek the trail started up. It was getting dark and the
clouds were building. When I reached the fine campsite
at Red Cones. I built a quick fire and went back to
help Owen who was about a quarter mile behind. It was
a spectacular view from the west side of the ridge,
last light, the San Joaquin far below, and it looked
like it was raining heavily up north. I was later told
that it poured at Shadow Lk. By the time we got back
to camp it was starting tosprinkle and the fire had
gone out. Gary had left his tent at the store and only
carried the fly from Yosemite. We had only taken the fly
when we went on. We tied out the corners using a large
log for one side, put my hat on a stick and propped
up the middle. I thought we would forgo dinner due
to the binge earlier but Owen reminded me we had
some Mug-O-Lunch. So under the tarp we heated some
water on the stove and started eating our pack lighter.
We then quickly went to sleep. 10 miles today.
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When we did the trail we stashed food at the
Red's Mdw. store. We had 19 days left until we exited
at Whitney Portal. After my friend dorpped out my
son and I carried exactly 2 weeks worth of food and
Gary resupplied us at Vidette. From there we had 5
days left. Two weeks of food did not seem too much to
carry. If it had been all three of us we would not need
to have been resupplied. This was before Nutrasweet
so our drink mix was much heavier and bulky than it
wwould be now. It depends on how long you are taking to
hike it. We were out for 25 days Yosemite Valley to
Whitney so we needed 24 days worth of food. By storing at
Red's Mdw we were able to come out of the Valley light
(5 days). If you are taking less time you need less
food. i figure about a pound a day a person. When my
wife and I started we carried the whole trip and our
packs totaled 110 popunds. of course we moved very
slowly the first few days.
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If I had someone crazy enough to pack my food in
over Taboose Pass I would love it. It's about half way
between Florence and Whitney. It is a tougher hike in or
out than Kearsarge, and the trailhead is further from
civilization but much more central if they can arrange the
drop. I think it's easier than Shepard or
Sawmill.<br><br>If they are going to try to bum a ride at the
trailhead Onion Vally is probably easiest as it's close to
Independence and heavily used. So it all depends on how much
help they can recruit.
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I was helping some folks plan an upcoming trip
and we were discussing food drop opportunities south
of Florence Lake. <br><br>I mentioned, packer or
hiker assisted drops at Bishop Pass Jct or the other
passes farther south including Kearsarge. I am curious
to know what others have done who have thru-hiked or
done a drop along the southern section.
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Day 5 Aug 5, 1982<br>It felt warmer last night
but we still had frosty sleeping bags this morning.
No bears. On the trail by 9:30, another early start.
In two hours we had crossed Island Pass,one of the
few that did not have snow on it, and arrived at 1000
Island Lk. We continued on and in another hour and a
half we stopped at a small creek just south of the
outlet of Garnet Lk. We ate Garys meatstick since the
bear had eaten mine. The mustard he has brought went
very well with it. Two more hours had us at the old
bridge crossing Shadow Lk. inlet. Two years later when I
returned they had rerouted the train and built another
bridge a little ways upstream. Shadow Ck. looked like a
good fishing creek but we didn't have time to try it
this time. The descent of Shadow Ck. was steep and was
hard on Gary's knee. The trail soon turned up again
and Owen and I went on ahead. We soon topped the
ridge and were greeted by the beautiful view of Rosalie
Lk. In a few minutes I arrived at a nice campsite
just before the outlet of the lake. In a few minutes
more Owen arrived. He had been moving well all day
long. Gary arrived about 10 minutes later. He said,
short of a miracle cure, he would be leaving at Devils
Postpile. Hate to see him go, especially since the trip was
his idea. My wife and I had started the trail in 1969
but also left at Devils Postpile after she fractured
her foot. Owen and I will continue on. Dinner tonight
chicken almondine. 10.4 miles today.
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We slept well and rose at 7 AM to find everything
covered with frost, including our sleeping bags. We got
with it and were out of camp at 9:45. Early starts are
not our way. We ran into a couple of guys coming from
Devils Postpile who wanted to see bears. They said they
had even put out bacon with no luck. We directed them
to Cathedral Lks. Caught up with Gary at the bridge
over Lyell Ck. We soon came to the last little lake at
the base of Donahue Pass. It was solid snow to the
pass. Northbound travelers were just coming straight
down thru the snow to the lake. We stopped and had
sno-cones befoe starting up. We were on the trail so we
stuck with it until we found ourselves standing in a
washed out rut. Nearby was a woman standing in a similar
rut but we thought she was on the trail so we went
over. Giving up on the trail all of us just climbed
straight up the mountain over the rocks. Fortunately it
was easy going and in 45 minutes we were on the crest
just east of the pass. We regained the trail and went
on down. On the way we had to cross several creeks.
I went across first and Gary was going to help Owen
across. Owen leaped, but not hard enough. Both Gary and I
had him midway. Gary was waiting for me to let go and
I for him. The result was I got dragged into the
creek. it was only thigh deep but very very cold. Garys
knee had started giving him problems coming down from
the pass and he stopped to put on a brace. He said
without the brace he would not be able to even walk. We
continued on to camp at Rush Ck. We turned left at the
trail junction, crossed the creek and turned right into
a large level campsite on the island. The creek
split in two at the southwest corner of the island and
flowed around both sides. My wife and I had camped there
in 1969 and in the camp next to us were 3 girls on
an Outward Bound trip. We seemed to be pretty much
by ourselves this time. Gary broke out his fishing
pole and made a few casts then gave it to Owen. No
luck, so we fixed dinner we brought. We left the dishes
to wash in the morning, however, we placed them far
from camp. There was a fine sitting and leaning log
there. I slept between it and the fire, something I
rarely do anymore. Years later Gary and I intended to go
to the same site. We made all the turns and the
campsite had disappeared. We finally found it and
determined that the trail junction had been relocated. Good
thing we found it or we would probably still be there
wondering where it went. We left the packs on the ground
feeling that once we were outside Yosemite we would not
have bear problems. We were right ut things have
changed since then. 10 miles today.
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Day 3 Aug 3, 1982<br>Having lived through the
bear visit we awoke the next morning a little groggy
but glad to see the sun. We were soon on our way to
Tuolumne Mdws on an appreciated downhill. Lembert Dome
soon came into view and we came to the road. We
decided to save the Soda Springs part for another time
and walked down the road to the store. I had intended
to get a piece of cardboard to cover the hole in my
pack but that idea was lost in the blur of Ding Dongs,
ice cream and candy bars. After all, we had been out
over 50 hours. Fortunately, a little ways up the trail
a lady gave me a piece of nylon patch. We also came
across our first speed fanatic. A couple of guys came
jogging up the trail and announced; so and so, president
of Ultralite Corp. running the trail 5 days out of
Whitney. We still had 22 days left to get there. We no
doubt would be moving a lot slower. <br>Our intention
had been to stop near Kuna Ck for the day. However, I
caught up to Gary at the Vogelsang Pass turnoff. Thgere
was a bear cable there so it seemed like a good place
to camp after last night. Owen soon came along,
checked the trail junction for our tracks and started on
until I called to him. The entertainment that afternoon
was provided by a high school group from Carmel. They
looked over the cable arrangement, even climbing a tree
on one end several times. Having never
counter-balanced we carefully observed what they did. When it was
time to hang our food we threw a rope over the cable,
hoisted one bag to the top and marked the highest point
we could reach. Lowering the bag down we tied a
small loop in the rope at that point hoisted the first
bag back up tied the second bag on and evened them
out. It probably took us 2 minutes and our bags were 2
to 3 feet higher that any others, The leader of the
Carmel group was right over to ask us how we got them so
high and then played with theirs again. I put our
packs at the top of a smaller tree because I though all
the Kool-Aid, bacon grease etc spilled in it would
have the bear chewing the fabric. Soon after dark a
bear was spotted in a nearby camp. We slept soundly
knowing that about a dozen high school kids were on the
alert.
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Day 2 Aug 2,1982<br>We spent a fine night at our
first camp. We woke rested and ready to go. Only one
problem. When I went to take the packs down from the bear
cable, I found that when I unhooked the second hook
holding the end of the cable I was suddenly standing on
my tiptoes as the weight of the packs stretched me
up the tree. A call for assistance was finally
answered. With the packs and me both safely on the ground,
breakfast was quickly prepared and we started out. We
continued along and after a while arrived at Sunrise. We
stopped for a snack and soon became the snacks for the
mosquitos, especially Gary. Owen just chased the fish up and
down the small stream in the meadow. <br>After lunch
we went past the High Sierra Camp and worked our way
up and down to Cathedral Pass enjoying a hazy view
of the Clark Range. Because of the way the drainage
breaks and the path the trail takes you climb higher
than the pass then descend to it. We admired Cathedral
Peak, easily one of the finest formations in the
Sierra, for a while then went on. We made camp a little
ways below the lake in about the same location my wife
and I had used in 1969. We had no bear problems back
then and expected none this time so we left the packs
on the ground. Neverless, we set our alarm of pots
and placed a rock next to our beds and turned in
about 9:30. Sure enough about 11 I was awakened by the
clang of metal and Gary shouting. I wildly threw my
rock then started getting out of my sleeping bag.
While struggling to get free Gary hollered that the
bear had one of the packs. I asked whose and he said
mine, I was relieved. Gary had borrowed a pack so I was
glad it wasn't his. Just then I heard a long tearing
sound, which I thought was end to end of the pack. I
headed for the bear when Gary asked if I wanted the
flashlight. I said yes and went back to get it. I went to the
pack with the biggest bear I have seen sitting 10 feet
away eating my food. I grabbed up the pack, relieved
that I wasn't going to have to fight for it. The bear
leisurly walked away. He had just bitten a small hole
through the back and pulled out my Hickory Farms
meatstick and a few crumbs of cheese. Owen hadn't seen the
bear since he slid down into the bottom of his
sleeping bag. We decided to hang the packs then and found
a poor limb with another limb just above it. We
reset the alarm and settled back to bed. Almost
immediately the clang of metal again. We found a cub, eartag
#5 black on yellow, on the upper limb reaching for
our packs. We threw rocks and the cub climbed higher
only tof come back down. Gary said no use both of us
being up so he went back to bed. I kept chasing it up
the tree finally making a solid hit with a rock. It
went up the tree and cried ma, ma, ma for a while. The
next time he came down he took off as soon as the
flashlight came on for a change. The next time he cam down
to the ground and loped off into the night. Not
expecting any more trouble I finally went to bed at 3 AM.
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I happened to notice that the calendar this year
is exactly the same as it was in 1982 when I did
JMT. Since I'm notout hiking it right now I thought
I'd post a trip report day by day.<br><br>On Friday
night my friend Gary picked up myself and my oldest son
Owen (10 years old) in Bakersfield. He also loaded
cargo of all the meals we would have. On Saturday we
took off from Garys house in Bodfish, went over Walker
Pass and up the east side of the Sierra. We had
planned on driving down to the store at Reds Mdw but I
had just learned about the shuttle bus. We stopped in
Mammoth and called the store at Reds Mdw. After getting
the details we took out about a weeks worth of food
to get us from Yosemite Valley to Reds Mdw. I took
the rest, about 3-4 cubic feet, on the shuttle bus
down to the store. Returning to Mammoth we continued
over Tioga Pass to Yosemite Valley, fixed dinner, and
found a place to spend the night. <br><br>Day 1 Aug
1,1982<br>After a quick breakfast we went to pick up the permit.
This was the first time I had heard about giardia.
Garys wife let me know they had put a note in his pack
and if he didn't find it soon I should help him find
it. We then headed out to Happy Isles and the start
of our journey. Being such fine specimens of
physical conditioning we struggled up the long trail to
Nevada Falls where we stopped for lunch. Mindful of the
giardia concerns we were careful to get our water from a
nearby spring. The previous winter had been a heavy snow
year so the mist from Nevada Falls wafted back up on
us as we ate. We continued on to Little Yosemite
Valley taking the cutoff trail. Not exactly sure we were
on the correct trail we checked in at the rangers
station and found out we were going the right direction.
She reccomended a campsite at the turn off for Clouds
Rest. We arrived there in due time. There was a bear
cable there and we hung all 3 of our packs from it. It
took 2 of us to hoist them up tho. We ate and enjoyed
our first campfire of the trip before turning in. We
drifted off watching the stars as we usually do.
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Does anyone have a map of the old JMT route down
the King's Middle Fork and past Marion Lake? I have
the modern maps but wondered if the old route map is
viewable somewhere, just for the historical interest. Also
has anyone done any of the three routes to the lake
(or others?) in the past few years and how are trail
conditions?<br><br>Thanks for any info!
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Slow times here at the JMT board. Hopefully y'all
are out hiking the trail. Anyone had any hikes they
care to talk about? Any future walks
planned?<br><br>Conditions are great right now in the mountains. Runoff is
waning, flowers are blooming, and the weather is good.
The next few weeks should be prime time in the
Sierra. I am going out this weekend but not on the JMT. I
will report back after the trip.
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I think this small tarn is also called "Glen Pass
Lake".<br>I've camped there, just below the pass and caught some
pretty nice brookies.<br>There are two or three very
small campsites and it's a good spot to camp in the
evening if you want to make an easy and fast trip over to
Rae Lakes the next day.
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That's the one! Man, did I love sitting next to
that little pool! I want to say it looked bigger, but
it may not have. Thanks so much for doing that, the
picture is beautiful! You can see that the pool is the
most beautiful turquoise, other-worldly even. Someday
I'll go back, most assuredly. Maybe put in at Onion
Valley, and hike down and do Whitney, coming out at
Whitney Portal.
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It looks great on my computer! What a nice pic. Thanks for sharing it.
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Got the print back today and have posted it here
in the Default Album. Take a look and see if this is
what you need. I tried to work with the lighting and
color but couldn't get it even near the original.
Pretty grainy too. I thought maybe you could download it
and print it but this won't do it justice, but if you
do want to try this let me know and I can re-scan it
at a higher resolution (this is only 100 dpi)and let
YOU do the editing. If you prefer the original let me
know what you want. This is only a 3 1/2"x5" print.
You can e-mail me at
delmein@...<br><br>Everyone else: how does this look on your computer? I have
sometimes gotten a photo to look great here but when I view
it from another computer it looks lousy.
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OK, dropped the slides off to have some prints made but it will be about a week to get them back. Keep an eye on this club and I will post them under "Photos" here when they get back.
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Someday I'll again visit this "cirque" as you
call it again. Until then, all I have is the sweet
memory. I would love it if you could email me the scanned
picture, I don't care how bad it is. Or, email me
(christopher_randall@...) and I'll send you some money to have the slide
developed into a print so you could send it to me. I was a
total fool when I was there not to get a picture of it!
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Yes, this one is a beauty. I would post a picture
but all I have is slides of this one and my scanner
isn't that sophisticated. Anyone else have a good
one?<br><br>This "lake" is actually a tarn or cirque, which is the
"footprint" left at the head of a now disappeared glacier.
All that is left is the hole, which has filled with
water.<br><br>Another great one in this same area is near the saddle
between Rae Lakes and Sixty Lakes Basin, always worth a
side trip. The trail passes right next to it.
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I have a similar memory 'burned' into my mind,
that continues to remind me of why I love to backpack.
My friend and I set out to do a trip from Cedar
Grove to Rae Lakes in August 1993. We camped at Vidette
Meadow our first night, and headed up to Rae Lakes
through Glen Pass the second morning. Just short of Glen
Pass, there was a small valley on the near side of the
crest. I think Glen Pass is about 12,000 ft., and the
hike was (for me) rather murderous up from Vidette
Meadow. In this small valley, the snow had all melted,
and created a tiny lake, more of a pool, about 100
feet in diameter, and was the only water in the
valley. Nothing else, only stone and this amazing pool. I
had never seen anything like it...the water was the
deepest blue I had ever seen, and cold as ice. It was all
I could do not to bend over and drink for days! (I
was afraid of Giardia...) It was a magnificent spot
that I will never forget.
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