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John Muir Trail, August 2005
Day 11: Little Pete Meadow to Deer Meadow. 8 Miles. Total storm day, no pictures. Hikers who checked in at Le Conte Canyon Ranger Station were informed that we were in the midst of a brutal monsoon that had pushed up from Mexico, and that we could expect no less than 3 days of blizzard, rain, ice, lightning, and complete misery, and that we were best off escaping the tragedy now, abandoning our journeys, and hiking out over Bishop Pass back to comfort and civilization. Some poor souls even took this advice. Others went up to Palisade Lakes on this terrible day, and spent a cold night in the snow. Hawkeye rediculously continued up to Mather Pass, alone. When I caught up to him again on Mt. Whitney, he said the pass had been in a complete white-out and that he nearly froze to death. Being that I had no rain pants, I was happy with my 8 miles, and even happier to stay below the tree line and enjoy the warm wet forest. I planned to get up very early the next day and charge over Mather Pass, storm or no storm. I figured if it was still storming, I'd run it. This night I had nightmares of getting over the pass and then being trapped in the canyon of the South Fork Kings River, from which there are 3 exits: Mather Pass 12100 feet, Taboose Pass 11360 feet, and Pinchot Pass 12130 feet. |