- Today’s miles: 16.1
- Ascent: 3,764 ft
- Descent: 3,324 ft
- Total Miles on Trip: 168.2
The process of waking up this morning leaves me somewhere between wanting to go back to bed and eager to start hiking. My eyes are crusty from sleep and the air feels cold at a quarter past 6. Simultaneously, the other part of mind urges me out of sleeping bag with curiosity towards the day. The latter quickly wins out and with great efficiency, camp is packed and we are rolling on the trail.
Our first stop is a small stream a mile and a half from last night’s camping spot. I fire up my stove and add a couple of spoonfuls of peanut butter to my oatmeal for good measure. The food tastes good, the sun feels warm, and I’m excited to be hiking today. Our plan today is to do a little over 12 steep miles, with 2,700 feet of ascent and 2,200 feet of descent. We may have cell service at the top of Mather Pass but we’ll see.
It feels like a crawl to the top of Mather Pass and I stop to catch my breath. I notice my head is throbbing, my heart is pounding, and my hair is wet with sweat. When did that happen? It doesn’t really matter and I shift my attention to two small turquoise lakes that are directly below me. Patches of snow are scattered around the lakes and I wonder how much longer they will last under the bright sun.
And then at last….. we are the top! 12,100 feet. It’s the highest elevation we’ve hit on the JMT thus-far. However, we still have Forester Pass ahead of us which reaches 13,100 feet. That’s not for a few days though. One pass at a time.
We stop for an extended lunch right by a flowing creek. Our usual lunch break is an hour but today we stay for almost two. Right before the end of lunch, the ultralight bros, who we saw yesterday, pull up and stop at the opposite end of the creek. Kevin walks over and chats with them, picking-up some valuable information. He learns that Whitney is opening back-up on July 5th. Whoo-oo! I marvel at our good luck with dates on this trip. Whitney opening up on July 5th and we plan to hike it on July 7th. Tioga Road opened June 15th and our starting date was June 19th. The hiking gods are smiling upon us.
It’s 3:30 P.M. when we reach our intended camping spot. I’m not enthused about stopping this early and I take a look at our intended itinerary. We have a monster day planned tomorrow- 16.4 miles and 3,000 plus feet of ascent. Kevin and I discuss our options. We’ve only gone 11.5 miles today and also had a short day yesterday. We could hike another 4 miles today over Pinchot Pass, shortening our day tomorrow. Kevin and I mull it over for a solid five minutes and decide we are going for it.
I take the next 15 minutes to do all the necessary preparations for our extra miles. In order, I jump in a freezing lake, charge my phone, pour a double coffee in my shaker bottle, and change my shoes. At the end of this, there’s nothing more to do. I could never be more ready than I am now.
I relax into hiking the next few miles and enjoy our change of plans. Not a big picture taker in general, I’m moved to stop frequently and snap photos of the red mountains that make up our surroundings. The coffee tastes delicious and I can feel the afternoon caffeine flowing through me. I catch up to Kevin and we attempt a game of Where is the Trail Taking us Next? I almost immediately concede defeat as I always seem to guess the opposite way of where we are heading. Kevin takes us a different approach, telling me he thinks his guesses are bad luck. “I guessed correctly this morning on Mather and it turned out to be a bitch.” I laugh and enjoy the windy trail, wherever it is taking us.
We finish our climb up Pinchot at 5:00 P.M., as the sun is still high. While we are taking a break at the top, we are joined by the ultralight bros. Twice in one day! We tell them about our trip and they tell us about theirs. They hopped on at Bishop Pass and are exiting at Kearsarge Pass, making it a four day trip. They’re averaging about 15 miles a day over steep terrain and I know jumping into it can’t be easy. The conversation turns away from hiking, as we talk about backcountry skiing and favorite areas in the Sierra. Turns out the ultralight bros are pretty cool.
Kevin and I descend off Pinchot Pass and find a little campsite off the JMT. It’s 6:40 P.M. when we put our packs down and it marks the latest we’ve been out hiking. I enjoyed hiking in the evening air as the sun moves down instead of up.
The moon is spectacularly full and illuminates the rocky mountains that sit below it. Kevin and I play an awesome late game of Morels under the full moon. It feels incredibly late to be still be awake, let alone playing Morels, at a quarter past 9:00 P.M. You only hike once though right so might as well make the most of it right? As I climb into my tent, I think that tonight was my favorite night being out here. Goodnight world.
