The bus drive to Mammoth was fun and Emily and I made friends with a couple from the east coast who were going to start the JMT from Mt. Whitney. We hope to run into them on the trail. I shared with this couple that I was a Chaplain and prayed for people on the trail and sometimes saw God heal.

Later, as I was getting my backpack out of the luggage compartment of the bus with the bus driver’s help, He said,”My knee… I tweaked it and can’t really hike right now.” I said,” You heard my conversation about prayer, do you want me to pray for your healing?” He said yes and I prayed for our bus driver and he quickly jumped back up on the bus full of hope and I believe healed! Praising God for that one.😊

Emily and I walked the brief way to the car we left parked nearby and then headed for our hotel anticipating  fresh food, coffee, jacuzzi, and a zero day. Our room was not ready when we arrived so we went to the amazing Stellar Cafe for breakfast. 

As I ate a delicious breakfast burrito and large vanilla latte,  I began checking out the trail conditions on the John Muir Trail 2017 Facebook  page.  The first post was about a mama wanting information from anyone who knew alternatives to the somewhat treacherous log crossings at Rush Creek. She was hiking while carrying her one year and wanted to find a place to safely cross the creek by foot.  My interest perked because I thought: “This has to be the mom and baby Emily and I saw at Donahue Pass last week”.

As I read further there were a lot of ugly voices crying out “child endangerment” and such and judging this mom harshly for having a child out in the wilderness.  My passions rose up and I responded with words of encouragement for this mom who was doing  for her daughter what I did for my daughter when she was a young child and look at us now hiking the JMT together!  Emily and I had an interesting discussion about these posts aggreeing that early wilderness outdoor experiences were beneficial.

As I continued reading, I noticed that the Mama “Monica” had responded to the harsh unfounded words.  I started reading her post. About halfway done, I read that she was in Mammoth for a zero day and I thought to myself that I ought to keep an eye out for her.  I then hear a baby’s cooing voice behind me and turn around in my seat to behold that right before me was the actual mother who I met last week on Donahue Pass and whose current Facebook  post I was in the middle of reading.  Monica and her baby were seated right next to me!  We had great conversation and I shared with this Mama what I felt and read my post over her to encourage her.    So what do you think of think of this “child endangerment” photo?

After resting and feasting two nights in Mammoth, we drove to Lake Mary and the Duck Pass alternative to getting on the John Muir Trail. Our family loves this pass and has years of memories hiking it together.

Emily and I planned to camp at Pika Lake which is next to Duck Lake on the other side of the pass.  This day Emily discovered two cabins that were built in the 70’s by the “Trout Slayer” a guy who  lived in his homemade cabins year round to catch trout. 

The next morning we rose with the sun and all was wet and damp. On the trail again, we met several JMT Ladies as we hiked to Purple Lake.

Next morning we hiked to Virginia Lake where we had to ford two knee deep creeks, and then went down into Tully Hole.  Tully Hole is the kind of place I imagine Butch Cassidy and the Sundance  Kid would have hung out.

Finally, we crossed the bridge over the river and hiked up a long hot trail to Squaw Lake just before Silver Pass.   Thankfully, it was not too crowded with other hikers and those camped nearby were friendly. The star viewing and Milky Way were spectacular! 

Emily and I woke before dawn, to make our assent up the pass before the heat of the day.  Our final assent involved climbing straight up snow for about 25 feet. Emily thought that was fun. Not so much fun for me.

 After the pass, we hiked all day down to a much lower elevation to the Ferry Pick up for Vermillion Valley Resort located on Lake Edison. We were fortunate the resort  had the “boathouse” available for two nights and a hotel like room for a third night.  The rooms all faced Lake Edison with amazing views. At VVR we had good food and drink as well as laundry facilities and a shower. We met some amazing people and made new friends.

We received much needed refreshment.   One of my waiters a former Pacific Crest Trail Hiker, Ogre, shared this John Muir Quote I love but had never heard before. 

After this respite, we got a ride to the Bear Ridge Trail, and began our trek back to the top of Bear Ridge  where we would reconnect with the JMT. Our destinations for the next three days: Bear Creek, Marie Lake, Selden Pass, and then more zero days plus a resupply and meetup with Doug at Muir Trail Ranch.