Backpacking – Page 5 – Bone of Contention

The Last Day – JMT Day 26 – June 26, 2012

November 11, 2012 by Nick

Guitar Lake – Summit Mt Whitney (14,505 ft!) – Whitney Portal – Casa De Luna!!!

11,480 – 8,330 (+ 3,455 / – 6,175) – 15.1 miles * Mt. Whitney!!

Free Maps Online – Day 26 – Map 2 and 1

I did wake up very early, but went back to bed until about 5 AM. I was moving about and making preparations before 6 AM. It was a beautiful morning, though quite cold. Jake got up soon after and actually hiked out of camp before me. The ascent to Trail Crest gave us our first real views of Guitar Lake, and while misshapen, it does strongly resemble a guitar when viewed from above.

The final ascent from Trail Crest to the summit of Mt Whitney was breathtaking in two ways – more astonishing views, and some scary bits of trail. There were a few tight corners, a few short, but thin ridge walks with nothing on either side but a long way down, and a beautiful, but sketchy snow field.

But we made it to the summit and spent about an hour and a half taking in the different views, getting some pictures, and making phone calls.

Back at our parting at Onion Valley, Joe told us, “when you get to the top of Whitney call me. It is about 4 hours from my house, but I will still beat you to Whitney Portal trailhead.” We did not know for sure if that was something Joe said in the emotional moment of our parting and that a few days back in civilization might change his perspective. We had the number of another great guy we met at VVR who said we could call him from Whitney and he should still be in the area and would drive us back to our car in Yosemite. It is also not usually difficult to get a hitch from Whitney to the nearby town of Lone Pine, and I had researched the bus routes back to Yosemite from there. But we hoped Joe would be able to come get us, so after lounging a bit, we called Joe.

He told us that we would probably not get down to Whitney Portal until 8 PM, and he would be there waiting for us, probably by 7:30. Now that we knew that we would not have to camp on Whitney, or hitch to Lone Pine, and we would get to see Joe and celebrate the conclusion of our journey with him, we were in high spirits and ready to tackle the final leg of the journey – a 10.4 mile, 6,130 ft, descent.

Aside from a few snowy patches in the shadow of the mountain, the trip down was relatively smooth and easy – it just seemed never-ending. I did not stop one time from Trail Crest until a little past Outpost camp, about half of the distance and elevation. Jake caught up with me there and we rested together for a bit, but I moved on sooner than Jake. Not to long after, I met a guy asking for distances. I told him where we were and asked him why he wanted to know. He said that the last food and drink orders at the grill at Whitney Portal must be in be by 7:45, and he took off.

I am slower on the descent than the ascent, my legs were beginning to feel the burn, and I was getting tired. The only way I had stayed ahead of Jake on such a long downhill stretch so far was that I had not stopped at all. Jake soon caught me and I told him what the guy said about the grill. Jake decided to kick it into that weird other gear he has and make it down to the food. I yelled after him, “order me one of anything veggie and a beer! Whoop Whooop!”

I got down not too long before I would have needed to use my headlamp – just about 8 PM. I found Jake and Joe and it was a glorious reunion. We ate our veggie burgers and fries and drank a beer and some fresh gatorade. In true Papa Joe fashion, he not only ran into someone else he knew there at the grill, it was his neighbor! We were so excited that Joe wanted to come and see us and that he was able to and that Terry let him go. That’s when Joe told us “the catch”. “Terry said that I could only come and get you guys if I brought you back to Casa de Luna – tonight.”

So after walking about 240 miles, from Yosemite to Mt Whintey, we got in the car with Joe and headed further south to Casa de Luna, not but 45 minutes from LA.

“It’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might be swept off to.”

JMT Day 25 – June 25, 2012

November 10, 2012 by Nick

just short of Lake South America Trail Junction – Guitar Lake

11,050 – 11,480 (+ 1,075 / – 1,010) – 13.4 miles

Free Maps Online – Day 25 – Map 2 and 1

Photos Open to the Public on Facebook

Another day in which we rocked out some trail. I awoke early as usual and got Jake going sooner than usual – it was too cold to mess about and let him sleep, and I was eager to see what we would see!

The views on this day were very much worth the effort. After all the time hiking in the trees, on high mountain ridges, and looking around at the Morgul Valley searching for Mount Doom, we saw stuff I would not have imagined. When you get into the Bighorn Plateau area – it is a bit surreal. It really does look like sheep or bison should be calmly feasting on the grasses in this wide open flat plain between 10,000 and 11,000 ft high. There is this one little perfect clear lake by itself in the middle of the field. When you look behind you (north), you can see Forester Pass. When you look ahead and to the left (south east), you can see Mt Whitney! It kinda looks like an anvil from this angle. Even though I know we won’t reach Whitney for another day, it feels so good to stand near that perfect little lake on the most stunning and unexpected plain and know exactly where you are on the map and be able to identify so many landmarks. I know there are folks who know the area better, or studied more, who were surrounded by landmarks on most of their journey. I could only pick out a few points by name along the way, and rarely could I do that without the map, so for me it was a nice moment.

* Not entirely a Bone to Pick – but there is a note I want to return to after the narrative to shed some light on an issue not oft discussed in or out of hiking circles – Piton Crabtree Ranger Station. And I guess we will have to Piton “Piton” as well since I don’t think many of you know about my version of the Palace of Memory – The Conversation Desk!

The wonders and beauty were unceasing and somehow we made it to Guitar Lake and found a reasonably decent place to camp. The alpenglow that night was some of the best I had seen on the journey!

We had been debating how to do our Whitney summit. There had been two major opinion groups we encountered – go to bed early, get up about midnight and hike up to Whitney for sunrise, or rest most of the day and hike up for sunset and moonrise. We had been leaning towards option 1, sunrise, but neither of us was excited about doing any portion of that summit and/or descent in the dark. In Fox Force Fashion, we decided to see how things went. I knew I would wake up early and the cold would either make me want to move or to stay put. It was anyone’s guess if Jake would wake early or not. But we liked having reached the mutual decision that further hiking in the dark was not preferred.

After enjoying a little more of the view, and the moment, we went into our bags to try to sleep.

JMT Day 24 – June 24, 2012

November 9, 2012 by Nick

JMT and Bullfrog Lake Trail junction – just short of Lake South America Trail Junction

10,560 – 11,050 (+ 2,540/ – 2,050) – 13.4 miles * Forester Pass

Free Maps Online – Day 24 – Map 3 and 2

Photos Open to the Public on Facebook

No other way to say it – Jake and I woke up and rocked it out on Day 24. Not our greatest distance day. Not our most elevation change day – though definitely in the running. The 26^th was our permit deadline and the rules are a little bit unclear on what legal rights the hiker has on the day/night after expiration, and we were not really eager to have to find out. Yes we did just resupply, but I believe we both packed out for 3 nights/4 days + a small emergency supply.

We did not run, hurry, or feel pressure. It simply felt good to be walking. Some of the time it was also cold up high in the wind, and that will get you moving as well. Most of the day was well above tree-line with seemingly unlimited views of gorgeous peaks in every direction. There was a nice supply of the now familiar tarns – though no less beautiful for their prevalence. Click on the pic for a larger view and check out the little purple flowers! We found these at crazy elevations throughout the hike. Sometimes there would be little fields of them clinging to the rock, or sticking out of every available spot where their roots could touch dirt.

Forrester was awesome, but I did not stay up there very long. I was in my full wind suit by the time we made it up there and again we raced the mountain shadows of sunset to find a camp with any shelter from the wind. We did not find “shelter” but did get to a point on a hillside with some natural protection from the wind. This was another night where we made quick work of setting up camp, eating, cleaning and getting into our bags.

Fox Force Three! Where we've been... — Fox Force Three! Where we’ve been…

I knew I would sleep well after the long day, and drifted off wondering, “will we be able to see Whitney tomorrow?”

* Before we left the trees, we lounged by a creek and enjoyed the sounds and the feel of cold on our feet. The green plants lining the bank of the creek – Wild Onions! We found tons of them on the JMT and while i don’t think we cooked them, i ate them raw for hours at a time as we walked…

JMT Day 22/23 – June 22/23, 2012: Town

November 8, 2012 by Nick

Onion Valley Trailhead – Independence, CA – Bishop, CA – JMT/Bullfrog Lake Trail Junction

9,200 – 10,560 – (+ 2,645/ – 1,285 ) – 7.1 miles * Kearsarge Pass

Free Maps Online – Day 22/23 – Map 3

Photos Open to the Public on Facebook

UB dropped us at the hotel Joe usually uses when he is in Independence. They were fully booked, but let us keep our stuff there and hang out in the shade. We saw THE Chevron where the Werewolf of same did his resupply, which is not quite as goofy as it sounds. The owners try to accommodate hikers and have fuel, aspirin, advil, cold/allergy stuff all available in small quantities. They have a limited range of freeze-dried foods and lots of cheaper stuff like ramen and oatmeal. They also have a washer and dryer and $5.00 gets you one load, detergent and dryer sheet included, which is not too shabby for a gas station in the middle of nowhere.

We met another hiker Joe knew well, Lil’ Steps. She has stayed at Casa de Luna during hiker season before and helped out doing shuttles and whatever else needed doing. She took us back to her hotel in a van that had recently survived an odd bear incident – bear got trapped inside and thrashed it. We were able to get a room for me and Jake and of course offered for Joe to stay with us if he wanted/needed – but that seemed unlikely as Terry was on her way!

It was a nice afternoon lounging and talking with Lil Steps and Tall Paul. We took turns with the showers and soon enough we met Terry! We went to a Chinese Restaurant for dinner that was just what we wanted – not fancy, but very good food. And it was right next to a pizza joint. Jake ordered us two large cheese pies to go from the pizza joint and we picked them up after Chinese dinner.

We knocked out our resupply in the much larger town of Bishop about 40 miles away. One can do a pretty good resupply even from a standard grocery store, and I was grateful that we had a nice store to work from instead of just the Chevron. But, it was gonna be instant potatoes and litpon sides for the duration 🙁 No big worries. I can survive a few days of simply fueling my body and denying myself my more standard backwoods gourmet dishes.

Terry saw folks she knew everywhere, on the street, in other cars, at every store, etc. We went to a Bishop hotel and hung with a crew there for a bit before returning to Independence and our own room. We said goodbye to Joe and Terry with mixed emotions. I was sad to part from Joe, and from Terry even though I had only known her for a few hours, but I was pleased to have had the time together and confident that I had made some true friends for life.

Jake and I had discussed our plans for the next day and were in full agreement. Get up no later than 8, combine all our clothes and whatnot into a single load and hang out in our rain-suits while we get a load of wash done at the Chevron. Repackage the food from our resupply and get the packs loaded, and hit the street to wait for UB or anyone else headed up to Onion Valley and get back up over Kearsarge. We weren’t going to try for big miles, the goal was simply to get out of Town and back into the woods.

I woke up early as usual and got a call from Joe. He and Terry had stopped at a hotel not long after leaving us the night before and were headed back to Independence to take us to breakfast and help us get our chores done and see us safely back to Onion Valley. How awesome. I am not talking about the convenience of having even better access to a car to get things done more quickly, though as the kids say, that didn’t suck. I think Joe was in a similar place to me and Jake. I don’t think he was ready for the separation, and it touched me.

So breakfast was cheerier, chores got done quicker, and we got a ride to Onion Valley with our Number One Trail Dog – Whoooop Whooooop!! Jake and I had also found a private moment together during the preparations to see if we were on the same page about the new events, and we were. When we got to Onion Valley, we had to just hug it out and go – neither of us could handle an extended goodbye scene and we did not think Joe wanted that either. If we were really going on, we had to just go.

We saw a few of the same folks from the day before, Knees was my favorite, and we thanked UB again and each gave her some money. Jake and I both tried to give Joe some money and he wouldn’t take it. This was the real heart string puller for me. Joe helps tons of hikers, and he had just gone far out of his way and spent more money staying around and helping us some more. Of course we offered some compensation. I think he did not take it to underline a point. We really had become true friends. We were family.

We hit the trail and kept some distance between us as usual, but for different reasons on that ascent, each taking some time not to process, but to simply feel the feelings of the moment and let the many transitions that had just occurred sink in – we have left Town, we are back on trail, and we are without Joe for the first time in about 12 days that feel like a year.

We let out a few Whooop Whoops as we climbed. We stopped at Kearsarge Pass to rest and to continue with the transitions. We met two hikers up there and Knees came up behind us. In true Jake fashion, Trail Sacrifice was shared by all. We had barely made a dent in those pizzas and Jake packed them out. Eating Pizza on top of a mountain is a rare and awesome pleasure – it was nice to be able to share it.

We went down to Bullfrog Lake and hiked on the use trail until we reached the junction with the JMT. We made a simple camp there and slept well.

JMT Day 22 – June 22, 2012

November 7, 2012 by Nick

1 mile past Glen Pass – Onion Valley/Town of Independence

11,000 – 9,200 (+ 845/ – 2,645) – 8.5 miles * Kearsarge Pass

Free Maps Online – Day 22 – Map 4 and 3 (near the top of Map 3, we head East towards Kearsarge Pass)

Photos Open to the Public on Facebook

Another cold morning. As usual, it warmed up once the shadows passed our position as the sun rose. Part of my routine on the colder mornings, I made some tea (BIG thanks to my friend Maria who turned me on to this lovely non caffeinated beverage) and watched the light hit the valley.

Despite the pending conclusion of our hiking time together, we were all still in pretty good spirits, enjoying the day, the scenery, and admittedly many thoughts of what we would do once we got to TOWN: pizza, beer, salad, showers, hot and cold running electricity to charge up our chargeables, oh the possibilities!

Roads! We can see signs of Onion Valley Campground!

A few miles from camp we left the JMT and hiked over Kearsarge Pass and down into Onion Valley where we planned to hitch into Independence CA and would likely meet Joe’s wife Terry and have access to a car for some re-supply action! But we had been hearing about some good “Trail Magic”.

a brief aside, it is called “Bone of Contention” after all. I do not care for the term, “Trail Magic”. I do respect and appreciate “Trail Angels” and find that term apt. Trail “Magic” makes it easy for people to take the efforts involved for granted. “It just appeared, as if by Magic!” No. Someone had to buy/make/find that stuff then drive, hike, and carry it to wherever you encountered it and I feel that referring to it as “Magic” is insufficient. Perhaps “Trail Sacrifice” since that holds more logical and epistemic consistency. “Whoever left this Trail Sacrifice MUST be a Trail Angel!” On with your program, maybe…

A lady Joe knows named…

I also generally dislike “Trail Names”. I don’t understand the point and find them at minimum confusing, and often intentionally confrontational. Take my hiking partner Jake. We’ve been buds since 1996. He has been Jason or Jake to me since 1996. Now I gotta remember to call him “Floyd” to not confuse all the folks he is introducing himself to as “Floyd”. This would be the mildly inconvenient/confusing end of the scale. At the other end of the scale one finds names like “Überbitch”. UB is a very kind person. A former hiker spending her summer as a mobile support station for PCT hikers, she moves from spot to spot providing rides to and from town to trail as well as cold drinks (even BEER), food, and other random aid where needed. Why would you want to be called UB? When I asked her this she did not have some funny story about a thing that happened once and well it just stuck ha ha ha. No. She looks me right in the eye and says, “you haven’t seen me angry” and not in a spoofy Bruce Banner imitation kinda way either. She is serious, or thinks she is, and this puts me off in a very big way. I am not in the least frightened, but i do instantly think much less of someone who behaves in this fashion. This causes huge cognitive dissonance in my head because i like UB. She is nice. She is being nice to me at that exact moment, but the thing with choosing, using, and fully accepting such a name, and thrusting it at people – weird. Norma, from Day 17 and 18, hates her trail name. The name does come from a very memorable and amusing story, but she hates the name. So what does she do, she tells me HER FREAKING NAME and that is how i refer to her, Norma.

…UB. She is parked and camped in Onion Valley with food, cold drinks, and is going up and down the mountain into town about once an hour. As we descended from Kearsarge, we got confirmation that she was still in Onion Valley and that was quite a boon to us. None of us are averse to hitchhiking especially in areas and at times known for hikers, like the area around Onion Valley and Independence. But it can be a long wait and not easy to find one ride for three stinky folks and their packs. We are, obviously, not averse to a bit of a walk either, but do bear in mind: Kearsarge – 11,845 ft, Onion Valley – 5 miles away – 9,185 ft, the town of Independence – 13 miles from Onion Valley – 3,925 ft – it is a bit a walk down the hill to town from the trailhead at Onion Valley.

We had lovely refreshment at UB’s camp and met many other hikers. Joe called Terry and she was on her way to meet us in Independence. We took the next shuttle down with UB and on the way she told me that Independence and the area surrounding it and the real life battles over water rights, that’s what the movie Chinatown is all about. I have seen Chinatown but when I watch it again it will be much more meaningful. This is one of the beautiful elements of travel – local knowledge. The difference between reading about a subject, a place, a people, and actually interacting with the people and visiting the location, getting to observe and participate in the lives of others cannot be over stated. Not to put down the book learnin’. If you can’t go “there” or meet “them”, definitely read about it.

* This post is already a bit longer than my regular readers prefer, and i think i have had some after effects of discussing cognitive dissonance, so i am going to stop here and break the one entry per day format. The next entry will cover Town: the evening and the next morning, then we should be able to return to one entry per day for the remainder.

JMT Day 21 – June 21, 2012

November 6, 2012 by Nick

Woods Creek Junction – 1 mile past Glen Pass

8,492 – 11,000 (+ 3,448/ – 960) – 9.7 miles * Glen Pass

Free Maps Online – Day 21 – Map 4 and 3

Photos Open to the Public on Facebook

Naked Hiker Day! Or Another Day in Paradise!

We did not get a very early start, but had a pleasant and relaxed morning breaking camp and gearing up. Before hiking out, one of the many budding journalists out on trail wanted to get some tape of Papa Joe talking about hiking and his experience as one of the most well known PCT trail Angels. It was nice to see Papa Joe get that kind of recognition. Joe is a humble man, but there is difference between seeking notoriety and accepting gratitude and acknowledgment.

What a gorgeous day! We talked about this almost every day – that we were running out of words to describe the loveliness we were living in and passing through, but that a failure of human vocabulary did nothing to lessen the impact of being there and soaking it in. Another day of varied terrain, beginning in forest, climbing to meadows dotted with clear blue lakes, and rugged alpine peaks.

We told stories as we walked and enjoyed being together. Knowing that this time in our lives was coming to an end did not yet sully our moods or darken our spirits. This is the day we found a place that Joe had seen as a youngster on a camping trip. Near the Rae Lakes, a boulder stands alone in the middle of the creek. And on this camping trip many years ago, young Joe and his buddies saw naked hippies lounging on the rock and playing in the water. We were not that lucky, but how cool is that to come back to the same spot some length of years later and you can still recognize it! That said, it was naked hiker day and Joe still got a little show.

Papa Joe's grin after capturing a surreptitious Casa de Luna Salute! — Beautiful lakes!

Who Me?!

(Papa Joe Pic Credit for both above.)

Not long after I finished the coldest swim of my life, we rested, snacked, and enjoyed a lounge in the sun. Then we ran into Hee-Haw! Hee-Haw was an awesome guy and one of the more appreciative of Joe’s hospitality at Casa de Luna. Of course, a guy named Hee-Haw doesn’t go wandering the woods without a travel guitar and he busted it out and played us a tune.

I think Jake got it all recorded on his phone. It took me longer to turn my phone on and get set to record, so I only captured the end, but Hee-Haw was raring to go and it seemed inappropriate, bad feng shui if you will, to ask him to stop and wait for my recording device to be ready.

The rest of the ascent to Glen Pass was amazing. Parts were challenging and we did have a few very small snow fields to contend with, but the views were rewarding.

Nick and Jake fight the good fight in the snow field — Nick and Jake in the snow field. Papa Joe Pic Credit.

We did enjoy some time at the Pass, but it was getting on towards sundown and we wanted to get down somewhere and make camp. We found a nice spot about a mile from the pass and got setup before dark. We cooked, ate, and cleaned up quickly in the cold, and then sat together as long as we could stand it to watch the end of sunset and a beautiful moonrise. Sadly the pictures don’t do it justice, but it was a wonderful tableau for our last night on trail as Fox Force Four!

* As i did a quick bit of research and debated adding a link to naked hiker day for the curious, i noticed many sites calling June 20,2012 naked hiker day. I don’t know what the “Authentic” day was, but everyone near us on trail called it the 21st and did their bit of naked hiking on the 21st, so that is when we celebrated it. When in the Sierras…

JMT Day 20 – June 20, 2012

November 5, 2012 by Nick

South Fork of Kings River Crossing – Woods Creek Junction

10,040 – 8,492 (+ 2,090/ – 3,638) – miles 11.8 * Pinchot Pass

Free Maps Online – Day 20 – Map 5 and 4

Photos Open to the Public on Facebook

It has been almost three months since we left off with the JMT saga. If you need or want a refresher…

The Werewolf of Chevron was gone when we got up. I thought I heard him moving about, so I stayed in my tent, but it turns out that I was hearing Joe. After completing our morning routines, we began the day’s 2,000 foot ascent.

It was a nice climb, spread over about 4 miles and through a few different kinds of terrain. In the morning, we were still in the woods near the Kings River. We climbed into a grassy pocket valley, and found some lovely clear lakes near Pinchot Pass. The views from the Pass were nice. You could not see the trail ahead quite as clearly as from Mather Pass, but still some beautiful panoramic scenes of high alpine peaks.

At some point during the day, we met a father/daughter team out for a few days together. The girl was a young teenager and they had been doing hiking trips together for years. We were excited for them both to choose to spend time together and out in these glorious mountains.

Fox Force Shadow (Pappa Joe Pic Credit) — Fox Force Shadow (Papa Joe Pic Credit)

The descent was smooth and afforded some nice views. Mostly I enjoyed the walk, again passing through differing terrains, listening to the creeks the trail paralleled for much of the day, and filling my head with joyful nothing. Near sunset we came to the famous suspension bridge and our second “big crowd” of the trip. There were 6 or 7 groups setup at campsites near the bridge and more came in as night fell. We found a spot for ourselves and scouted about a bit locating a spot for the father/daughter team that we knew would be rolling in soon. They were grateful for the advance scouting and we even remembered to warn them to be prepared since tomorrow would be the infamous “Naked Hiker Day”!

We were all tired and it was starting to get cold again, so we quickly made camp, did our chores and got into our bags for the night.

Next Up: Rae Lakes and Glen Pass

To promote or not promote

October 24, 2012 by Nick

Kelly, for you i break internet silence a little bit sooner than i had planned.

My super cool friend had an interesting question come up on her SECOND blog and a proper reply required pictures, so i figured a post was more appropriate than a simple comment.

The story begins here at One Of Those Women.

I don’t generally promote my blog as i put up content far to irregularly to actively encourage followers whom will probably become disenchanted with the spotty flow of stories. But i have had business cards of one sort or another since 2001 and i L O V E them.

Initially i felt a little strange because they say stuff like “CEO”, “Senior Partner”, “Owner” and other kinds of pretentious things. But, the value of not having to use my terrible handwriting to relay info or spell my name, email address, and website data over and over – irreplaceable!

And i am Card crazy. I have a few in my wallet for those everyday needs.

I have a fancy-ish brown case i use for Suit and Tie gigs and a simpler black case that i keep in my car – along with a baggie of cards for re-fills.

On a slightly related note, i just discovered this app for turning your iPhone into a card scanner. It works great, better than my old stand alone biz card scanner, saves directly into the native Mac address book, and is super cheap when compared to the several hundred dollar stand alone models.

I am not sure about finding cooler looking containers for less stuffy occasions than the suit and tie crowd, but i usually find these in the men’s section of large department stores or luggage stores.

(Notice how i am shamelessly cross-promoting both of our blogs?)

I liked your answer and approach to the question and think you are right on the money. At the same time, you write good stuff, and often. Outside of kid related affairs, i’d say promote the peanuts out of that site and your bad self.

As for me – i should be pumping out some updates this week and resume and conclude the John Muir Saga as well. I intend to briefly go over some of the post JMT events at Casa de Luna, the never ending drive back across the country, and a few events back in a little town in South East PA.

Brief Interlude

August 16, 2012 by Nick

I apologize for the delay in concluding the JMT posts.

I have returned to a little town in South East PA where my folks and my mail live and have a long list of chores to get sorted.

I still have Jun with me, probably until Saturday night.

And, back in the JMT story, we are coming up on the end of two things – hiking with Pappa Joe and the end of the JMT.

I don’t know if it is unusual or not, but it is almost as hard to write about those two endings as it was to live through them the first time around.

I won’t leave you hanging too long, and i will throw you a bone…

N: “The werewolf doesn’t get us.”

JS: “What?”

N: “We boys don’t get eaten by the werewolf.”

JS: “What’d you go and tell me that for?”

N: “Well, you looked nervous…”

– –

More soon.

JMT Day 19 – June 19, 2012

August 12, 2012 by Nick

Lower Palisade Lake – South Fork of Kings River Crossing

10,615 – 10,040 (+ 1,485/ – 2,060) – 9.3 miles * Mather Pass

Free Maps Online – Day 19 – Map 6 and 5

Photos Open to the Public on Facebook

Morning was also still a little cold up high by the mountain lakes. We lazed about as Busted Magic got ready to split for Northern territory. Sanjay was taking a zero so he was mellow and just hanging out with us as we slowly packed up camp. Suddenly a fellow came around the corner. This was beautiful to witness. He saw and started to recognize Joe, just as Jake/Floyd was recognizing him and he turned and saw Jake and there was quite a reunion. It was High Life! Jake has met High Life on the AT two or three times over the years. I have heard many High Life stories – none of which I will be sharing here. Truthfully, I don’t remember many of them. (Jake has a lot of AT stories.) And the ones I do remember are not really for this forum. But it was cool to watch the reunion and to meet High Life and get some pictures.

The rest of the ascent to Mather Pass was breathtaking, but the views from the top are indescribable. This was the first time that we could clearly see the trail going off for over a mile and could also pick out where we would walk through the next valley and up into the next series of peaks. Truly awesome.

The descent went well and quickly and soon we were back in tree cover, down in a valley, and searching for a camp. We found a great place that could have fit at least 40 tents. After we were set up and starting dinner, a fellow approached and camped with us. I won’t describe too much of our visit with him. He was a weird guy, having an odd hike, and he had a few strange habits. He had done a re-supply at the Chevron in the town of Independence – the town we would hike to for our resupply in a few days. He made the weirdest meal I have ever even heard of – Ramen and Doritos. He heated the water, put the ramen inside his Doritos bag, and then added the water and let it sit. A few minutes later, he had what looked kinda like a cross between a burrito and a loaf of bread, made entirely of Doritos and Ramen Noodles. Weird.

After he left early the next morning, we named him “The Werewolf of Chevron” and sung many a verse we made up to the tune of Werewolves of London.

“He’s a hairy handed gent, who doesn’t use a tent. Lately he’s been overheard in High Ridge.” “You better stay away from him, he’ll steal your last slim jim, and he kinda smells like pee-pee.” There were many more, but you get the idea. (Kelly, I was totally remembering “Cross-Eyed Baby” from the one day I took you to Church!)

We slept well and long. I had been planning to leave my rainfly off and enjoy the trees and sky through the mesh of my tent, but the Werewolf creeped me out enough that I put it on for some privacy. Even Joe erected the tarp that night – though that could have had more to do with protection from mosquitoes than the Werewolf…