Day 10
Day 10 has come to an end, and I am camped just a couple of miles south of MTR near the Florence Lake Trail junction. After a decent 16 mile day, the afternoon thunder showers started, just as I got to this campsite. I quickly set up my tent, tossed my pack inside and hurriedly filled my squeeze bag with water, so I would have some water while I wait out the rain. Fortunately, the cloud burst was quickly over, and I was able to fill my water bottles. I met two guys from North Carolina, Michael (not Mike) and Nick. They had started at Roads End in SEKI, and like me, they were not “doing the JMT”, just using it as a route down to MTR for a resupply before heading up to the Mammoth crest and eventually north to Yosemite.
Morning view from camp on Darwin Bench.jpg
The day started off icy outside and inside my tent. I left the tarp open on one side, but still, damp cold air coated both the inside and outside of my tarp with ice as well as my bear canister for the second night in a row. I got going as early as I could get my old joints moving leaving most of my gear in camp as I headed up to Darwin Lakes Basin. I met four guys who had hiked by my camp site the evening before during the thunderstorm. They had camped near the outlet of Darwin Lake 5 and were still having breakfast and packing up for the short hike out over Lamark Col to North Lake. After a short steep climb up some talus and around a cliff, I came to a big ice field between Darwin Lake 5 and Lake 4. From the top of the crest, I could see the string of Darwin Lakes and had awe inspiring views of the north side of Mt Mendel, which is even more impressive than the south side that most people are familiar with from the JMT. Once again, I decided not to continue, even though I could have climbed up and around this ice field. I just didn’t think that I had the time. I plan to be back though, maybe next year, either entering or exiting over Lamark Col and through the Darwin Lakes Basin.
Mt. Mendel and Darwin Lake 5.jpg
Darwin Lakes.jpg
Looking Back From Darwin Lakes.jpg
I made my way back to camp, passing the four guys just as they were leaving camp. Once back at camp, I decided to have a tuna burrito for second breakfast/first lunch. As I was having lunch and drying out my equipment in the sun, Carl passed by. He was just finishing up seven days in the Sierra, and we talked about where each of us had been. Carl told me about McGee Lakes just over the ridge to the north of Davis Lake and west of Sapphire Lake. He agreed that Davis Lake is beautiful from afar, but he warned me that it was one long talus scramble around the lake. He recommended just looking at Davis Lake and either working my way north along the ridge to another saddle where I could drop down to the McGee Lakes or crossing over a saddle point to the west of Sapphire Lake and dropping into the McGee Lakes Basin. From the lakes, you can follow the outlet creek all the way down McGee Canyon to Colby Meadow and the JMT if you want.
After spending way too much time talking to Carl, I finished packing up camp and headed back down to the JMT where I tried to cheer on all of the JMTers headed south. I got mostly positive responses. I took second lunch at the Evolution Creek crossing where I got a shocked look from a backpacker who was switching to “water shoes” while I just plowed across the creek without breaking stride. I saw one guy with a very light pack that didn’t even have a hip belt. He surprised me though when he took off his trail runners and socks before wading barefoot across the creek. Personally, I have a hard time walking bare foot on the river cobble, and I have no problem with getting trail runners wet since they dry out so fast anyway. Once I got down to Colby Meadow, I began making good time. I saw a group of six hikers at the Goddard Canyon Trail junction and decided that I needed to stay in front of them if I wanted a camp site at the Piute Creek Bridge, so no more breaks for me.
I stayed ahead of them for a couple of hours, when all of a sudden a guy about my age caught up to me and passed me. Shortly after, I caught up to him as he waited at the Piute Creek Bridge and we talked for a few minutes. He was part of that group of six, and was waiting for the rest of them to catch up. While there are many campsites near the bridge, several were already taken, and in at least two instances, the campers had taken two tent sites by realllllly spreading out their gear. I decided to continue on, praying that it wouldn’t start raining before I got to a site near the Florence Lake Trail junction. The clouds were building up ominously though, and looked like they might cut loose any minute.
As I drew near to the large campsite along the San Joaquin River, the smell of rain was in the air. I asked Nick if it was okay if I camped at a tent site near the tent he and Michael already had up. He told me to go ahead, and I had my tent up in under 5 minutes, just as it started raining. I got a little wet getting some water from the river – I had run out while trying to stay ahead of the group of six – but I stayed mostly dry – so pretty good timing as it turned out. Have a good day wherever you are and Get On the Trail!