August 8, 2014
The morning came too soon! We weren't accustomed to having curtains, so the room was dark and we did not naturally wake up with the sun. The alarm went off at 7:00 so we could get up and out for our 7:30 scheduled breakfast time. Doug and Strider hooked us up with a simple but delicious breakfast, they even made me a custom order of egg whites which Daveed had requested for me the day before! We enjoyed sitting at an adorable picnic table outside while we leisurely ate our breakfast and enjoyed the beautiful views of the Sierras. The table, with its traditional red and white checkered table cloth, was set simply but looked like something out of a fantasy dream to me. There were little glass decorations hanging from the trees overhead, jam in mason jars, mismatched plates and silverware etc. It was a dream for me! I loved it!
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| The adorable breakfast table that I so loved |
After breakfast, Strider took Daveed and I, Taku and another couple back up to the trailhead. I used the pit toilets one last time before topping off my water with the spigot! Going back up Kearsarge Pass was tiring and hot, but not as bad as I thought it would be. We all stopped and ate lunch at the top of the pass and enjoyed the views. There was a nice breeze at the top which felt wonderful and dried the sweat from my shirt quickly.
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| Lunch time! What a view! |
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| Back to the JMT! Kearsarge Lakes and Bullfog Lake |
The decent was of course what did me in. My feet and knees hurt and my legs were tired. We stopped at Bullfrog Lake for a potty break and I relished the chance to sit down and rest. After a few fast minutes of hiding in the shade and gulping water, it was time to carry on.
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| The view of Bullfrog Lake from our break spot |
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| Center Peak |
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| I liked how the trees grew along the "spine" of the ridge leading to the top of this mountain. I thought it looked like a dragon tail. |
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| Down into the valley on switchbacks, can you spot Daveed? |
We stopped short of our goal destination for the day because I was so tired. We stopped about a mile and 500 feet of gain short. This was one of the very few visible times that Daveed was very annoyed with me on trail. He wanted to press on and make it to our goal, but I was D-U-N. He wanted to make it to our goal because it would set us up better for Forester Pass the next day, which he was correct. But I was done. It also started to sprinkle a little which really did me in. So he reluctantly obliged to end our day short of our goal, kindly filled up my water supplies and we stopped at the next spot we found to camp. The site was next to a river and provided good white noise. We ate dinner and I retired to the tent pretty early. I was beat!
Tomorrow we'll have to go at least 12 miles, up and over Forester Pass hopefully by mid-day to beat any afternoon storms. I can't believe we only have 2 days left after tomorrow before summiting Whitney! It's been so routine to go and hike everyday I had forgotten that this leg of our adventure comes to a close on August 12th! We're on the last few pages of the map!!
I will miss the daily routine of getting up and hiking in this beautiful place. It's been such a privilege to "live" out here on the trail for the past month. I am so lucky.
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| Camp just past Bubbs Creek trail junction, elevation 9,645 ft |
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