Bear and Sassy don’t even pretend anymore. We get up, eat, pack, take down the tent and tell them we’re ready. They just say “Go. Please go. For the love of god, go. We’ll catch up. (continued mumbling as we leave camp)”. I think they’re regretting letting us keep the D-team status. As can be surmised, we left camp before Bear and Sassy to get a jump on Mather Pass.
It wasn’t long before I was dying, but Bunny was on fire. She must have gotten the right combination of drugs to get a good night of sleep, but then I noticed something strange…Something strange indeed. I passed 4 people. I mean, 4 people heading in the same direction we were heading—uphill! But Bunny passed 6 people and got to the top a full 7 minutes ahead of me.
There was quite the cheering section at top of Mather Pass. The final 1/4 mile of trail can be seen from the top and there was a group up there shouting encouragement. I felt obliged to keep moving. By the time I got there, Bunny had already made friends with a group of women. Another strange thing, they were all wearing day packs. Is there a trailhead nearby? Some were even dressed in white. Wickey Task Force! How is this possible? Did we miss a resupply point near the trail.
We discovered, rich people hike in the Sierra. I’m not certain “hike” is the correct term, but they are out there walking on the trail. How does a group of pampered women accomplish such a fete? This was a group of 8 middle aged women wearing designer “hiking” clothes, makeup, deodorant! and carrying day packs. And we weren’t wrong, we are still over 30 miles from the nearest entry point. How? One word—mules!
This group of 8 women had at least 4 support crew guiding them and a team of 12 mules. They had no idea about filtering water (done for them), or how to set up a tent (done for them), or even what dehydrated food was (they had fresh steaks, baked potatoes, and wine last night, of course, all cooked and served for them). I tried to dislike them for their privileged life (and found it to came quite easily and naturally). They were all chipper. I ignored them after I heard “the steak wasn’t too bad…”
Instead, I struck up a conversation with a young kid named “Iron Hip.” Now this is someone I can admire. He was only 17 and out hiking by himself. His parents were going to meet him in Yosemite. I asked about his trail name think Bunny might be in for a new one if we replace her hip this year (which it’s looking like we can’t wait until Medicare).
Iron Hip had been riding in the car of a friend when they had been broad sided. Somehow, a piece of metal had gotten driven through his pelvis. He spent months in the hospital, a lot of the time wondering if he was even going to live, let alone walk again. This was only a bit over a year ago. When he got well enough to walk, he told his parents he wanted to hike the JMT. His family has been switching out with him along the way, but he was doing this section by himself. He was very positive and had an amazing outlook on life. I found him much more relatable (except for the positive attitude—very foreign to me).
Bear and Sassy were only 10 minutes behind me. When they appeared on the trail above us, everyone cheered. Bear and Sassy didn’t notice anything unusual about this as they seem to know everyone wherever they go. We had a snack and socialized a bit before heading down.
It was a good 3 miles before we got to some shade by a creek. We stopped for lunch. Our food is getting scarce since we added an extra day. Bunny and I shared a package of tuna and had a protein bar each for lunch. We’re kind of caught in a food trap. As we eat more, our packs get lighter, but since we’re going further, we’re down to about 1600 calories a day, each. We should be able to go faster but are actually going slower because of low fuel.
It was Grand Central Station when we made it to the creek at low point of the valley. This is a Muir Bubble with no end in sight. This creek be a very dangerous crossing in early season when the snow melt is at its peak. There were signs posted by the Park Service notifying of bear activity in area. I hope so! We’ve been carrying these f#$@ing canisters for over a month and haven’t seen anything. We might have seen a pile of scat but hardly worth the extra weight so far.
It was less than 3 miles to camp (uphill) so we sent Bear and Sassy ahead to find camping spots while we took a leisurely stroll up to the lake. When we arrived, Bear still hadn’t picked a spot but had narrowed it down to a couple. He took me uphill to his favorite one and I liked it. It was big enough for both tents and level enough for Bear. It was a bit of a way from the lake, but that’s no big deal—we’ll be closer to poop spots in the morning. If life gives you poop, make lemonade (something seems off there, but I’m close to the meaning of the saying).
Because of the elevation, it started cooling off fast. By the time we set up our tents and got water, it was almost too cool to stay outside. We just cooked and ate in our tents. If there’s truly bear activity in the area, tonight would be a good night to prove it to us.
EFG