Day 85: 946-964

Mosquitos were gone the morning. I got up and headed out with Ten Gallon. We followed the massive Tuolumne river until it intersected the trail.  The bridge that was under water just a few weeks ago was now in tact. The river is the largest Ive seen on trail. Tuolumne Falls is enormous and swollen.  Ten Gallon really wanted to go stand in the spray even though it was 7 in the morning.  I got some cool video of him.

10G's

GoPro caught up to us and we started the climb out of the valley. Its hot and the mosquitos are back out on a rampage, terrorizing us. While I was taking a break, I saw two legs walking in the woods a few hundred yards away. I yelled “marco!” The legs whipped around, but I couldn’t see the face of the person attached to the legs. The legs yelled back. “Polo!” It was Scotty!  I didn’t think i would see him again.  he was with the others in Yosemite Valley en route to Tahoe on a faster schedule than me. Shortly after, the rest of the Lazy Fucks crew trickled into the break spot. I learned that Happy Hour got off trail indefinitely to hand some business back in Portland. He’s probably done for good.

We kept climbing up into another badass meadow -  also mosquito infested.  The plan is to push for camp at the base of Benson Pass. We approached and eventually crossed McCabe Creek.  It was pretty large. Scotty fell in while crossing but saved himself. We climbed up a short but brutal 1,000 ft to Miller Lake.

McCabe

My ankle started aching this morning and was getting progressively more annoying throughout the day. I ignored it and kept hiking, because I don’t have much of a choice but to keep walking. But now it is starting to feel worse. Im hoping I can limp to camp and rest good before tomorrow. Miller Lake has plenty of snow so I stuck my foot in there to ice it down.  GoPro and I split off from Ten Gallon, Steele, and Scotty to do a slower pace. We descended down one of the most beautiful portions of the PCT. I tried to find out what the name of the valley is but its not labeled on the map.  It remains nameless. It was such a steep, forested hill we ran down, skipping the switchbacks. Massive peaks and canyons everywhere. It looked like Zion Park except way more fucking awesome.

Down at the bottom was Matterhorn Creek - one of the deepest and fastest/sketchiest crossings since Bastard Creek. It was just GoPro and me and I crossed it first. Three quarters of the way across the current took me out.  Water level was at my stomach. I grabbed the edge of the other side and pulled myself out. GoPro crossed after me and he got stuck in the same spot that I did. I grabbed him by his pack and pulled him ashore. He’s about a foot shorter than me so I knew he wouldn’t be safe. One of the perks of being tall out here, I guess.

Matterhorn Creek was deceptively deep and very strong on the other side. This was at 6pm.  

We decided to keep going up to the Wilson Creek crossing and try to catch up to the other 3 dudes. After climbing a mile up along a cascading and very angry looking Wilson Creek, we saw the boys.  They were stopped.  The PCT/Wilson creek intersection was a little too hairy.  The plan is to try it early in the morning.  Steele has a water update and it looks like the next 3 days are loaded with sketchy and dangerous crossings. yay. We made camp and warmed up. There is still no sign of the Lazy Fuck crew. For Dinner I made an awesome chili with refried beans, lentils, and peas. For desert Scotty and GoPro shared some of their goodies.  I made a delicious burrito stuffed with Nutella, marshmallows, and coconut shavings.  MMMMM.

the best burritos are sometimes the worst at first  

Day 84: 926-946

It was a wet morning. All of my gear was soaked from condensation.  Im feeling extra exhausted today too. From here it is 90 miles to Kennedy Meadows North so Im going to try and hike 20 miles today. We climbed 3.5 miles up our last major pass of the Sierra - Donahue Pass. It’s sort of like a mini version of Muir Pass. Large snowfields had to be crossed in order to get to the top. Everything from here for the next day is supposed to be downhill. We also have cell service up here.  I facetimed Jessica and my dad. I also tried my brother but I got no answer.

The view of the southern slope on Donahue Pass

Ten Gallon posing for mom

Getting down off of the pass, we scrambled a couple rock cliffs that had cascading waterfalls coming down them too. We hit a couple glissade paths to cut some of the switchbacks down the mountain. When we got down it was a spectacular opening to a miles-long green grass meadow.  It looks fake. The Lyell Fork river is aqua green and cuts through the meadow like a long snake. The water is so clear its hard to believe.  Behind us are the towering snowy peaks we just descended from - Donahue Pass. Ten Gallon and GoPro jumped in for a swim. I rolled a smoke, journaled, and watched them freeze their asses off.

Lyell Fork is beautiful  

We marched down through the valley to Tuolumne Meadows and saw hoards of section hikers and Yosemite tourists.  We can’t camp within 4 miles of the area so we pushed towards a location along the Tuolumne River.  It was really nice and calm. We set up our tents and quickly realized the mosquitos are on a whole new level of INSANE.

Tuolumne River  

We decided to hike a little further. The rest of the gang showed up made a decision to stay and brave the mosquitos. We pushed on about 200 yards to a slightly better, more dry spot on the river but the bugs are ridiculous. Its hard to do anything but sit in your tent.  Cooking dinner is even a pain in the ass. As I write this Im debating opening my tent to get my camera out of my bag and capture a photo of the sun setting over the river.  The moon is massive. I have to get this photo.  Damn mosquitos.

The outskirts of Yosemite Valley   

Day 83: 909-926

This was the last stretch of the JMT before it cuts off and dumps to its start point in Yosemite Valley.  We decided to hike the last 14 miles of it before we permanately break off back onto the PCT. Although there was a good amount of snow to hike through it was nice..  I hiked the alternate to Island Pass. The climb was nice and not too tough.

my attempt at an illustration  

For a majority of the day, I hiked solo.  The trail brought me to Rosalie lake, which had beautiful reflective water. Then I dropped 700 ft down switchbacks to Shadow Lake, which was one of the largest natural lakes in the Sierra that I have seen.  It was also completely melted through, and crystal green. I took a break here and smoked a cigarette. Getting down to the lake I cut my knee open hopping over a tree trunk, but I feel pretty good.  The mosquitos, however, are on a rampage.

the last bit of frozen water  

After my break I hiked uphill for a long while with Ten Gallon to get up and over into the next valley. The next valley had Garnett Lake, which was…wow.  So damn beautiful. Storm clouds are all around us and I heard thunder booms in the distance.

forest! 

Our group is super strung out across this section of trail, some of us are hiking faster than others, and we may not hit our 17 mile goal today. GoPro, Ten Gallon and I hung out for a while waiting on them but we finally decided to keep going. We continue the climb up and over to Ruby Lake and then we pass a small unnamed lake. One more hill is climbed and then we are able to see Thousand Island Lake for the first time. Its completely frozen over which a couple spots thawed.

At the lake we reunite with ViPR, Fundip and their crew.  We head up Island Pass with the intent of finding a good place to camp.

Righteous, Big Daddy, and Happy Hour never show up to the lake.  I know Big Daddy was having severe ankle pain. We decide to summit Island Pass - the easiest pass by far. We haul ass down the north slope and stop to camp. Im so tired and sore after a 17 mile hike.  It was a lot of up and down hiking today. We bullshit and make dinner. The other 3 never show up.  I hope they are ok!