John Muir Trail - Day Fourteen

One year after exiting the John Muir Trail at Bishop Pass we returned to finish the hike! We drove up to Bishop on a Wednesday afternoon and picked up our thru hiking permit at the Lone Pine Ranger Station. Due to Mt. Whitney Portal Construction we opted to leave a car at the Film History Museum in Lone Pine for the end of our trip. We spent the night in Bishop and had some pizza and beers before turning in to rest for the trek ahead.

The next morning we woke up early, grabbed a quick breakfast in town, and were at the South Lake trailhead [9795’] around 8AM. I knew it was going to be a difficult day getting back into it so I mentally prepared myself. The trail started off with a steep climb from what was already a pretty high trailhead. We hiked alongside South Lake for a while, and my heart was racing trying to acclimate. Last year the lake was so low it didn’t even reach the dam, so it was a nice contrast to see South Lake nearly full.

Luckily the trail gave me a break and leveled off as it paralleled Long Lake and Bishop Lake, where we had our morning snack break. I packed a lot more food on this trip based on my ravenous appetite towards the end of our first stint on the JMT. Each morning I planned a Probar Meal bar for myself and on this first day back I made the mistake of eating it all in one sitting! We had 2 more miles ahead of us to the top of Bishop Pass [11972’], mostly consisting of rocky switchbacks and an unexpected patch of snow to cross. Overall I didn’t feel terrible climbing our first pass and I think part of that was being mentally prepared for a difficult hike. We reached the top of the pass marked by a small sign and took a quick lunch break, which was the first of many tortilla and tuna combinations for me!

From the top of the pass we had a pleasant downhill walk along several lakes and streams in Dusy Basin. I enjoyed this hike a lot more than last year knowing that we were headed back onto the JMT! We ended up choosing the exact same campsite as last year – the west end of the last lake in the basin before the trail drops off towards Le Conte Canyon. It was a very strange feeling being back in that same spot from Day 13 of our first JMT attempt. It almost seemed like no time had passed, but last year every mountain was hidden behind smoke from the Rough Fire in Kings Canyon and I was feeling very gloomy.

We setup camp very early around 1:30PM so we had a nice leisurely afternoon swimming, rinsing clothes, fishing, napping, and of course eating! We had dinner and talked while a couple guys in our group tried out their fly fishing setups. Once the sun went down it got cold fairly quickly in the basin so I hopped in my new sleeping bag. I wanted to stay up to see some of the Perseid Meteor Shower but I was way too tired from our first day. Unfortunately my nose started to get pretty stuffed up and I didn’t know it at the time, but I had a cold coming my way which nearly kicked me off the JMT again!