To be safe, I set an alarm last night. I do share a tent with Bunny and was forced to “hit the snooze or die” (her exact words). This turned out to be the one day Bear chose to be efficient and live life on the edge. Maybe he cleared his throat. Maybe he didn’t. In either case, we were too far away to hear. He woke Sassy early! We were running behind and I still had to go dig my morning hole. This might have been a great spot for privacy off trail, but it was all rock. I started to have a panic attack as time was running out for me.
It was bound to happen, sooner or later, as many holes as we dig. I hit pay dirt (not in a good way) when I finally found a dig-able spot. We’ve ran into someone who got the trail name “Prospector” when he hit someone else spot 3 days in a row. I will veto any attempts to change my trail name, but I have to be extremely careful tomorrow, just in case. At any rate, I can rest secure knowing that my boys are not alone in their grave (today).
It wasn’t too bad of a hike up the final few hundred feet to Silver Pass. We continued to meet a lot of JMT nobo hikers, especially on the 6.5 mile downhill section following the pass. By this point, they have, presumably, been through the worst that the JMT has so they should be flying. Bear and I managed to piece together bits of conversations (which we both wisely kept from Bunny) that someone had gotten struck by lightening at John Muir Camp. We’re not sure of the severity, but Bunny and lightening are a “no go.”
As usual, Bear and Sassy were far enough out front to scout and secure a lunch spot by a pleasant creek. After lunch, they decided to let us have a head start. I think Bear had to make garment adjustments (there might or might not be some chafing involved, but Bear is too much of a man to ask to borrow my Vagisil). During the 3 mile climb after lunch, we gained a bit over 2000.’ I am terrible when I gain PE but fly when I convert it to KE (this is engineering energy talk to the non-technical follower). In between wheezes, we ran into a nobo JMT’r and asked him a favor—engage the couple behind us in a long conversation so we can make it to the top of the pass before them.
One thing we’ve heard from many passing hikers is that we should make the side trip to VVR because they are very hiker friendly. However, we’ve also heard the water taxi isn’t operating because of Covid and low lake levels. The way Bunny and I are dragging, an 8 mile long side trip are not on our radars. Bear and Sassy caught us around the junction of the return trail from VVR when we were about to take a wrong turn.
It rained again today—3rd day in a row! People always talk about not carrying rain gear on the JMT because there’s not any rain. Maybe CA should hire us to end their drought. Even though Bunny kills the climbs, she will sometimes place her foot wrong which applies strange forces on her hip causing her to cry out in pain. Her hip is the worst it’s ever been. I’m starting to believe we’re going to have to start the BRP (Bunny Replacement Program) this off season. We made up 3 of the miles we fell behind yesterday, but the rain,Bunny’s hip, and my lack of shape (good shape, that is, I have plenty of other shape) caused us to cut short our stretch goal. I broke down.
While we were hiking, we saw several JMT hikers give up and set up camp to get out of the rain. We managed almost 6 miles without a break to make up our lost mileage. In reality, we got too cold if we stopped walking.
In the great scheme of things, we’re only about 1/2 day behind schedule (if you exclude the two extra zero days we have already taken). We all agreed to a tighter schedule this year so that Bear could hike and still make it off trail in time to teach a new program that he has developed. This is his passion. He’s also equally passionate about planning, scheduling, and contingencies, all of which we agreed to him developing for us this year. We also agreed that he’d keep all these plans to himself and he’d just dole them out on a need to know basis.
It’s slowly becoming apparent that we’ve used all the slack up. I’m torn between pushing Bunny so Bear and Sassy can make it all the way to Kennedy Meadows with us (I’m sure Walker Pass is dead to them), or just saying “fuck it” and slowing down. Bunny is hurting bad. The pain keeps her from sleeping well and she cries in the night. She’s willing to keep going, but we’ve got to slow down or she’ll want to quit entirely. And for gods sake, no more lightening!
Our camp spot was close to Bear Creek. Too close to Bear Creek to be LNT compliant, but it was an established site that fit both tents and prevented the additional requirement of a couple of body bags if we continued on. It was cold, we were tired, Bunny was in pain. We ate in our tents. Tomorrow shouldn’t be too bad. Our packs will be lighter as we head into Muir Trail Ranch to pick up our resupply buckets.
EFG