Our 2007 John Muir Trail Attempt (Day 9)
Day 8 looked at our journey from Reds Meadow to the Duck Lake junction.
Day 9: Duck Lake Junction to Squaw Lake [Pictures]
Distance: 9.5 Miles
Elevation Changes: 10,480 - 9,080 - 10,200
Day 9 started bright and early and with a steep ascent out of our campsite up to the next ridge. We continued along for over two miles, descending gradually to Purple Lake. The scenery today was leaps and bounds over yesterday's. The ridges traversed from the Duck Lake junction to Purple Lake, and from Purple Lake to Lake Virginia, provided ample mountain scenery that we had been unable to enjoy in several days.
While the scenery was eye-catching, it was still of the low alpine variety where there are still plenty of trees and grassy fields, and the mountain peaks are lower and more gentle. Personally, I prefer the desolate fields of granite, the jagged mountain tops, and the quite hum and cool touch of the wind at such elevations. In short, I longed to return to mountain scenery reminiscent of the first half of Day 5. Although the lower alpine scenery is still rather amazing, as the picture above illustrates so vividly.
We stopped for breakfast upon reaching Purple Lake and were there in time for the fish enjoying their breakfast as well. Seeing the schools of tasty looking trout meandering around the surface of the lake, periodically popping up to grab a fly, made me wish all the more that I had a fishing pole. That and the fact that my body had quickly acclimated to high-calorie, greasy food from Reds Meadow, and was now back on a diet of nuts, beef jerky, and dehydrated foodstuff.
After breakfast we continued on our way. From Purple Lake, the trail climb up about 400 feet to another ridge and then follows that for nearly two miles to Lake Virginia, a popular fishing destination for weekenders starting from Reds Meadow. I don't know if Lake Virginia boasts better fishing than Purple Lake, but I imagine that fishermen prefer it over Purple Lake in part because it is more accessible to campsites. Purple Lake is surrounded by fast rising mountainsides and thick forest. Lake Virginia, on the other hand, has many flat rocks and meadows around the water's edge.
Following Lake Virginia, the JMT rises briefly then levels out for about a mile before dropping rapidly into Tully Hole. The trail literally winds down the side of a mountain, taking hikers from over 10,300 feet to below 9,600 feet in a series of switchbacks. The picture below shows the view of Tully Hole from the trail shortly before it begins its dizzying descent.
By the time we reached the floor of Tully Hole our feet and shins were burning - it's amazingly how much hard work is required to go downhill! Still, it beats going uphill. The optimal backpacking topology and conditions is a very slight decline where the trail is composed of a giving dirt, not one that's too dusty, but neither one that's too hard. With such conditions, you just lean a bit forward and let gravity do the rest. For hikers coming from Mt. Whitney to Yosemite, there are a couple of these types of days - from Duck Lake junction to Reds Meadow, and along Lyell Canyon. While there are segments of these optimal stretches for southbound hikers like ourselves, they are far too infrequent.
The worst type of trail topology and conditions is on hard granite going virtually straight up, as such conditions zap the energy and life force out of your body with each step. The trail from Whitney Portal to the summit of Mt. Whitney is a prime example (or so I'm told).
In any event, once we reached Tully Hole we followed the river pictured above downstream for about a mile and then crossed it, found a spot in the shade, and enjoyed lunch and a well-deserved break. At this point we were near 9,000 ft. Looking forward, our next obstacle was Silver Pass at 10,900 feet. We decided to make as much progress as we could, and started our climb.
After a little over two miles we reached Squaw Lake and decided to call it a day (you can see me utterly pooped in the picture below). At 10,300 ft, Squaw Lake was a short climb to the pass and was only 1.2 miles away. Throughout this trip we had always performed our best in the morning hours, so we were confident that we could make it up to the pass and over in record time. And from after Silver Pass, it was all downhill to our Day 10 campsite.
Jisun and I found a secluded spot at Squaw Lake and took a bath as best we could. The water was cold, but we got used to it after a while. The lake's bottom was not very appealing, so we ended up standing on rocks in about two feet of ice cold water and washed ourselves the best we could. It felt good to get some grime and sweat off.
By this time in the trip Jisun's blisters were really becoming an issue. I first noticed how greatly they were impacting here back at Reds Meadow, and the one rest day was, unfortunately, not a long enough rest for the blisters to heal. By this point she was clearly in more pain and was in the most discomfort when starting a hike for the day or after a rest. Her naked feet were a sight to behold - large, protruding blisters emanating from virtually every toe and from the bottoms and sides of her feet. In a word, gross. I was very lucky and did not have a single blister, although my feet were surely sore through much of the days' hikes.
Tomorrow's hike took us over Silver Pass and then dropped us down to Lake Edison. The highest point - Silver Pass - stands at 10,800 ft., while tomorrow's terminus was below 8,000 ft.! Did I say that going downhill is not easy? I'll highlight this portion of the trip in a future entry. Until then...
UPDATE [2007-11-12]: Read about Day 10.