Lyell Canyon – Ruby Lake
8900 – 9680 (+ 2,160 / – 1,380 ft) – 15.8 miles *Donahue Pass and Island Pass
Free Maps Online – Day 6 – Map 14 and 13
Photos Open to the Public on Facebook
I was not cold last night! Joy! Joy!
The rest of the hike along Lyell Canyon and up to Donohue Pass was really fantastic. (You will find in short order that I shall run out of adjectives – and none of them are good enough. Check out the pics.) We did run into patches of snow, some of which obscured the trail. But I can’t think of better place to have to stand around and look at the scenery in order to do a little trail-finding. The pass itself was probably the worst, route finding wise, but we got it sorted out. I should stress that this was very easy snow to walk on, the difficulty was simply with locating the trail.
Up on top we got our first taste of altitude hitting 9,680 feet. Our first 360 degree views. Our first clear look at some of the path ahead. Standing there and being able to see Mammoth was fun. We were not actually going to Mammoth, but I knew that Red’s Meadow and Devil’s Postpile were close to Mammoth. As a map guy {“Get your maps out Renfro(e)”} it was awesome to be able to look out into the wild and see where we would descend and turn and climb!
By the time we got down to Thousand Island Lakes, we were both ready to stop, but we could not figure out where to camp, so we moved on. (I imagine that we would have no trouble with this now, but we were still Sierra Newbies.) The first place we found was also our first “no camping area under restoration” site. I was tempted to camp there anyway, but after a small search, Jake found nice, legal camping and we were soon in our tents.
Looking at the maps before bed I realized we did TWO passes in one day! I had to look at the maps to find that out because one was the second JMT pass that it is difficult to even notice, Island Pass.
I am feeling good, grateful for my new-found warmth – but getting a little concerned about my feet and hoping that I can turn this whole “blistered heels” thing around.
Stay tuned for Day 7…