Day 12: Little Pete Meadow to Lower Palisades Lake

It is not long, geologically speaking, since the first raindrop fell on the present landscapes of the Sierra; and in the few tens of thousands of years of stormy cultivation they have been blest with, how beautiful they have become! The first rains fell on raw, crumbling moraines and rocks without a plant. Now scarcely a drop can fail to find a beautiful mark: on the tops of the peaks, on the smooth glacier pavements, on the curves of the domes, on moraines full of crystals

None of Nature's landscapes are ugly so long as they are wild


24 July 2010

I didn't want to get up. Yesterday's long hike had drained me, and today was no different. I found I was hiking just to keep up with Tom and the boys, when in fact what I preferred was hiking completely at my own pace. I couldn't keep up with the pace for the rest of this hike, but I decided to use this opportunity to challenge me physically. Tom kept telling me how he and his sons are impressed with my pace; I felt, however, that they overestimated my abilities. Or did they?

I left camp at 7:08am. I waved at Tom who was already up and continued on the downhill hike to the next intersection into Mather Pass. It took longer to reach this intersection, which means we didn't get as far south yesterday as we had thought. More deer spooked me along the trail, and more wet trail passages detoured me off the path. I hadn't seen so many deer as I had this morning, browsing right off the trail.

Part of the lower trail were very muddy or flooded with water. At one point I slipped on a pointed rock and bruised my tailbone on the right butt cheek. Ouch! That made stepping up rather painful, and I was using my left leg to compensate for the injury.

There were several older couples coming from the opposite direction, warning me of the snow conditions up Mather Pass.

I just didn't feel my MoJo today. Despite my many rest breaks, I felt exhausted. It was also a hot day. The lower valley up Mathers Pass was an exposed valley, having experienced a brutal fire here that took out most of the mature trees. Many of the dead trees still littered the trail, which at times was no wider than a foot long and overgrown with meadow grass. (The grass reminded me of a bad hair transplant). If I had to pick the least scenic stretch along the JMT, it would be this burned section in the valley.

The one opportunity I had to take a break from hiking and jump into cold water was quickly ruined when, out of nowhere, a grandfather-father-two grandsons group came up from behind and took over my rest spot. One of the young boys got completely naked in the water. The group didn't seem to care that I was nearby and waiting to get into the water, too, if only to get some water for my bottle. I was not in a good mood as my brief privat moment had been interrupted.

My bad vibes must have been felt by the group and they quickly left, never to be seen again. It turns out this family was out hiking the entire JMT and would pass up Tom later.

Tom and the boys passed me up shortly after noon, where we had lunch together off the trail. Once they were on the path again, I lost them. They were simply too fast for me and I let them go; I didn't want to be the "fourth wheel" interrupting their family time. Grant was especially restless to get the JMT over with. He wanted to get back to Indiana and see his new Ford Fiesta Dad got for him.

Oddly enough, what started out as a hot and humid hike quickly turned into a wet late afternoon. I trudged along the trail as it slowly moved uphill. The grade wasn't bad, it's just that the trail was exposed for most of the way. To top things off, I still had to conquer "The Golden Staircase" leading up to Mather Pass, a long 1500' high staircase made of natural rock.

Somewhere in the lower stairs I was hit by a rain and thunderstorm. What could I do besides get into my rain gear and use my tent fly as additional rain gear? I huddled low off the trail while pea-size hail pounded my back. A lone hiker dressed in African safari gear (rather odd-looking attire!) came down the stairs, disappeared briefly off the trail to put his rain gear on, and continued his trek downhill with "Have a nice day!" That comment seemed superfluous considering the storm I was in; it made for anything but a nice day.

The storm lasted only 30 minutes, but it brought with it a swath of mosquitoes I hadn't seen yet on this hike. These bugs were relentless! I climbed slowly up the staircase, passed the appropriately-named "Deer Meadow" where a wet doe stared me down, and arrived at the first of two Palisade Lakes. Storm clouds still lingered, but now the fading sun painted the sky with soft pastel colors as sundown soon lingered.

I took the first campsite I found near this lake. I was again surrounded by solitude. Mather Pass was still at least two long miles away. All I could see was the sub-alpine lakes and flora around me. No one else was around.