DAY 2 | LOWER CATHEDRAL LAKE TO LYELL CANYON | JMT
MILES HIKED PER GARMIN | GUTHOOKS: 14.7
MILES ON THE JMT: 13.0 [SOBO mm. 17.7-30.7]
PASSES: 0
WILDLIFE: Deer, many fawns [12]
BLISTERS: 7 [first in about 4 years]
Nearly a month later, I’ve realized that I should have spent the time to journal each night, rather than making bullet points about the day. It is much easier to write down a few thoughts throughout the day, especially when writing has never come easy! If you have read any of my previous posts, it will come to no surprise that these daily reports are mostly pictures.
I had two goals for the day: start hiking earlier in the day and hike past Tuolumne Meadows to the first legal campsite in Lyell Canyon.
I set my alarm for 0600, with the goal of leaving by 0730. Well, I woke up on time at least. My thermometer showed approximately 25 degrees that morning. Brrr! Frost on the tent and the meadows nearby. Night one, success—not a peep in the night and bear canister was untouched. Now if only the sun would come up from behind Cathedral Peak to warm things up. What’s the harm in sleeping another thirty minutes before getting ready for the day?
As I organized my gear, the other backpacker stopped by to see how my night was. We chatted for a bit about our plans for the day. He headed out for a day hike towards Cathedral Peak. I collapsed my tent and started making my way towards the forest, as the sun began to shine more light over the lake.
After reaching the junction with the JMT, the trail started a fairly steep descent towards Tuolumne Meadows. This is where I made my first mistake: ignoring a hot spot. I told myself I would stop and deal with any hot spots as soon as I notices them, but for some reason I told myself they could wait “just another mile or so” until I reached Tuolumne for lunch. My feet felt better when I arrived at Tuolumne Grill, so I decided to rest them while I ate lunch, then start hiking again. The rest of the day’s hike was fairly flat and shouldn’t be an issue, I thought.
Fortunately: I only had one blister where I felt hot spots.
Unfortunately: I had six other blisters that I didn’t notice until I took my socks off that night. On day two. I think likely a combination of factors: shoe size (shoe have gone up another 1/2 size), friction, gait, and poor choices (live and learn)
Following lunch at Tuolumne Meadows Grill, I made my way back on to the JMT and into Lyell Canyon. Much of the trail here followed along Lyell Fork. I had my permit checked a second time. The ranger was very happy with my choice of permit placement for easy access and safe keeping (in my ThruPack). “Just don’t put it in your bear can,” he said. The two rangers started telling me about a hiker who had put their permit, wallet, and keys in their bear can…which then disappeared thanks to a bear and poor placement of the bear can. “No worries,” I told them, “No valuables in the bear can.”
According to Elizabeth Wenk’s book, mile 28.2 marked the first legal camping. I didn’t spot a single tent. I was determined to find other southbounders to camp with that night. Just one more mile, I told myself. It ended up being more than one mile. I decided to keep going. Approximately 2 miles later, I finally saw a tent!
I will mention this here: I am a shy person and find it very difficult talking to new people. I am awkward, self conscious, and have no idea what to say. But here I am, asking complete strangers if I can camp next to them. There. I did it.
There were two groups: Jenny + Sophie, as well as Stu + Annie (father/daughter).
We ate dinner, discussed plans for the following days, and set our alarms for 0600.
Blisters were drained and taped — I’ll spare you those pictures this time.
