Golden Staircase 2017 was unbelievable and epic.   Now on to the next 4 passes.  Each and everyday for the next week, Emily and I either hiked to get to the base of an over 12, 000 ft. pass or we climbed  over it in the early AM to avoid the heat of the day.

Our first and toughest pass was Mather Pass.  We camped at lower Palisade Lake surrounded by people.  The lake is rather crowded and lacks privacy.  We rose at dark blessed by the incredible view of the stars.  We hiked with our headlamps to upper Palisade Lake and watched the sun start to rise in the direction of Mather.

I did not expect Mather to be as difficult as it was.  There were long snow trails to walk across. Additionally, the trail was washed out in various places from mud slides or rock slides.  I had to climb up steep hills of scree….slippery slope…to get up to where I could see trail as well as hoist myself up major boulders climbing thousands of feet high with a heavy backpack on to get up to trail hidden by rock slides.  It was very strenuous and slow going.  My body screamed with exhaustion.

 

 

 

 

At the top, I remembered that I was the first one over the pass last year and I had recited Psalm 23 for a gentlemen who came over after me who had experienced a significant loss the year before.

Psalm 23 has breathed over me this entire trip and I declared it aloud again in 2017 from the top of Mather Pass with a new understanding and thankfulness.

Here it is for you to enjoy in the new Passion Translation:

 

 

Emily and I celebrated by sharing our olives, and with  a brief photo shoot and then we started the long way down the pass headed toward the next pass-Pinchot.

On our way down we crossed the South Fork of the Kings River where earlier in the year a Pacific Crest Trail Hiker, “Strawberry” drowned.  That was a Solemn occasion and a reminder for us to be careful and patient with all creek crossings.  We rested here and filled our water containers so we would be free to camp anywhere for the night.

 

At the end of the day, we had a long climb  that sucked the strength out of us.  We were happy to find a sweet little private piece of ground to camp in not too close to water and the trail.  We spent hours laying on our backs watching God paint the clouds up in the sky for a beautiful sunset.

The next morning, we were up early with the sun and after eating our tortillas spread with almond butter we hiked  toward Marjorie Lakes and Pinchot Pass.  We met some Pacific Crest Trail Hikers on the path and one of them had hiked in the California desert last April with my inspirational PCT hiker friend Sunkist who was now approaching the Oregon Border.

There was a little bit of snow left on the trail as I walked up the pass and I could thankfully walk around it and had no major creek crossings.   I was very glad to have dry feet and not have to climb over rocks and piles of boulders.  As I got closer to the pass, I could see Emily already on top doing some yoga poses that were captured against the sky.  I smiled.  It is pretty amazing that my daughter is up here with me.  Unbelievably good.

 

At the top, we shared our olives and met a couple celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary.  We discussed our plan to hike more miles toward the swinging bridge at woods creek. We planned to camp in my secret camping spot near the old fur trader Shorty Lovelace’s old cabin hidden in the woods near this section of the creek.

It was a very long and beautiful day.  We had lunch and got water at a large still pond.  Met some amazing people each and every day going both SOBO AND NOBO on the John Muir Trail.  Slept surrounded by trees that guarded us like a circle of angels.

We woke early heading for upper Rae Lakes and with a readiness to position ourselves for Glenn Pass.  It rained on us as we approached middle Rae Lakes.  Lots of boulders to climb over and go around on the trail today.  Emily scouted out our campsite on a rock above the lakes.  It had an expansive view that settled on Painted Lady. Over friendly chipmunks competed for our food without getting even one bite.

The next morning we headed toward Glenn Pass. It was not easy.  Emily went at her faster pace ahead of me, writing notes on snow with arrows and directions.  Very Sweet.  The pass was long and high which meant thin air and difficulty breathing.  Several Boulder crossing places and some sketchy snow were in place.  We made it to the top safely.  Once there, we relaxed, enjoyed the view, celebrated and enjoyed interesting, fun, conversations with other hikers.  We made a quick decision at the top.  We would try for a second pass …Kearsarge that day as well.  Going over Kearsarge would lead us down into Onion Valley where we had planned zero days at the Mt. Williamson Motel in Independence, CA.  Could we do 2 passes in one day?  We were motivated to try our best.

Emily and I were surprised and delighted at the wonder of the  Kearsarge Pass Trail.  It was the cleanest, softest trail we had experienced on the JMT. We loved it.  Our enthusiasm for completing the pass increased with each step.  We were excited that we were so close to completing two passes in one day!

A storm began to build around us and as we hiked up closer to the pass, we became concerned.  The last place we wanted to be in a thunder and lightening storm was up on a pass that was the highest point around. Lightening always goes to the highest places.

We were planning to hurry over the pass before the storm, however, quite suddenly the skies opened up and began to flood us with rain and hail while lightening and thunder began to blast all around us.  We panicked.  We jumped into a bush near the trail like frightened deer and covered ourselves with my tent rainfly and rain jackets.  We waited the storm out in the bush, frightened, hugging close to stay warm and holding wet, dirty hands while sitting on a piece of plastic in mud.  Coldness settled on us.  We hoped the storm would end soon.

 

Finally after an hour or more, I heard a bird singing and we thought that might be a sign that the storming was over. Other hikers began to emerge from where they had hunkered down.  One hiker had a hefty garbage bag over himself to try to stay dry.  I guess we did the right thing and what most people did, hid in a bush or in whatever they could find.

 

We continued up the pass and met a couple celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary who had just come up from Mt. Williamson where we were headed.  Held our ritual celebration  time at the top by sharing our olives as usual with much joy and then we headed down the mountain for many miles to our last campground in the wilderness  before we would enjoy some days off.

Emily and I had to share her tent for the second time since Tuolumne Meadows as mine was completely soaked from our escapade in the bush earlier.  It rained all night but we stayed warm and dry inside Emily’s roomy tent.  In the morning it was still raining and we lingered in our sleeping bags until the sun peeked out of the clouds to warm things up.  Quickly we packed up our gear and headed down to Onion Valley and back to civilization.

We  arrived at our pickup spot with several hours to spare.  We dried our wet tents and gear in the warm sunshine  while waiting for our ride from “Strider” to the Mt. Williamson Motel in Independence.     We met and talked to a nice couple from Carlsbad located in San Diego County not too far from our hometown.  And now faced  several needed zero days in Independence…Here We Come!