- Today’s Miles: 14.0
- Ascent: 4,078 ft
- Descent: 1,258 ft
- Total Miles on Trip: 104.8
Breakfast starts at 7:00 A.M. and I’m there right when the door opens. I order for Kevin and myself two breakfast burritos and coffee. As I’m finishing making the order, Kevin walks-in and tells me to add pancakes. Yes sir.
After the breakfast burrito, pancakes, and three cups of coffee, I’m ready to roll. But wait! I was going to see if the general store had a pair of sunglasses for sale. I walk into the store and take a look at the rack where I see two pairs of sunglasses left, both equally ridiculous in their own way. One is leopard print and looks horribly uncomfortable while the other pair is pink with butterflies at the end of each lens. I end up opting for the butterfly pair.
So good
Pink butterfly sunglasses swag
Now, with my pair of spiffy glasses, I’m finally ready to go. The ferry/boat will be bringing us back to the other side of Edison Lake where we will make the 1.7 mile walk back on to the JMT. According to Guthook, today is a big day as we have 14 miles and 4,000 feet of climbing in store of us. Plus, since we are the mercy of the boat, which doesn’t leave until 9:45 A.M., we will be getting a much later start than normal.
As we walk over to the boat, a ferocious battle breaks out between my stomach and breakfast. Jeesus. How is this ferry ride going to go? But in another episode of nothing is as it seems, the ride over is smooth and we get there without a hitch. Kevin places a few calls when we get to shore and we are off hiking by 10:15 A.M.
Five steps into hiking, I realize I have a rock in my right shoe and the tent poles are rubbing against my shoulder blades. Well, so it goes. There’s no way I’m stopping and taking off my pack and my shoe only 10 seconds into hiking. I feel the rock shifting around. Is it in my sock or shoe? Well, I think, I have a lot of time to figure it out.
Before I know it, Kevin and I are at the beginning of the hellish switchbacks that gain 2,000 ft in 2.5 miles. Kevin gives me his blessing to go ahead on the ascent. I doubt I’ll get too far ahead of him. I’m a little quicker on the climbs-up but he walks at a faster pace descending and on flat ground. It’s a good hiking combo.
As I hike up, I pass a lady who is wearing two knee braces and hobbling with her feet faced out like a duck. I wonder if she is in pain. She gives me a friendly smile as I pass her. Five minutes later, I catch up with her husband and we have a good gear talking about our packs. He finishes the conversation by telling me him and his wife will be ending their trip at Muir Trail Ranch, which is where Kevin and I will be resupplying tomorrow.
For the last half of the climb, I put in my headphones and listen to a podcast as I hike. I’ve noticed a pattern on the trip that for the first two hours or so in the morning, I like to hike undisturbed, chatting occasionally with Kevin. And then the hour or so before we stop for lunch, I usually put on an audiobook or podcast. Maybe some hikers are more hardcore that me and consider it sacrilege to use technology in such a manner out on trail. Personally, one reason I enjoy backpacking is it gives me time and space to do things I wouldn’t do in the normal world- like listen to a podcast completely undisturbed.
It’s one foot in front of the other for the next six miles. We stop at 2:15 for our first long break of the day. I dunk my whole body in the ice cold river, soak my legs for five minutes, nap for fifteen minutes, and eat a 720 calorie Patagonia meal of rice and beans. At 3:30, the time we leave, I feel as good as new.
The next few miles include a number of river crossings. The first requires a leg stretch that Kevin barely makes and as I watch him, I doubt my ability to do it. But the mosquitos are swarming, taking off my socks and shoes sounds awful, so I go for it. And make it. The next crossing requires balancing on a very shaky and thin tree. And then at last we meet our match and are forced to take off our socks and shoes for a knee deep crossing.
As I cross, I see two other hikers coming from the opposite direction we are heading. They ask about what’s ahead, telling me they ran into a group who said they had to “make three river crossings with their shoes off”. I feel me ego swelling as I tell them that two of the crossings are sketchy but doable with shoes on. They are happy to hear it and I wish them the best of luck.
Our intended camping spot for the night, Lake Marie, is still four miles away and I hike fast to avoid the clouds of mosquitos. Also, I’m feeling something rubbing on my foot that seems dangerously close to what a blister would feel like it. I’m disappointed as I thought by Day 10, I was in the clear of blisters. I make a mental note to check it out when we get to Lake Marie.
Kevin and I make it to Lake Marie at 5:50 P.M. The lake is beautiful and windy. We find a campsite up on higher ground that is surrounded by trees and rock, providing shelter from the wind. Wasting no time, we have our tent set-up and water boiling for dinner within 20 minutes of arriving.
After dinner has been eaten, I get the usual evening aches and exhaustion that I’ve become accustom to. My hamstrings feel overused, my feet tender, and my back sore from where my pack sits. But I’m not worried about it as I’ve become a full believer in the magic power of sleep. What happens during those mysterious hours that makes everything alright the next morning is a mystery to me but I’m grateful. It’s 7:35 P.M. by the time I’m climbing into the tent to do a little writing and reading, and hit the hay. Part of me feels ridiculous for thinking about going to bed this early by why not? We usually wake-up right when it’s light outside, around 5:30 A.M., and then hike all day. Before going to bed, I think of tomorrow. We have 7.5 miles to our resupply point at Muir Trail Ranch and then the moment Kevin and I have been waiting for- hot springs. There are natural hot springs half a mile from Muir Trail Ranch, although it requires a “gnarly river crossing” according to comments on Guthook. With my mind thinking about river crossings and hot springs, I drift asleep.
