John Muir Trail 2012 Day 7 7-20-12
We woke up at 7:30 to blazing sun and calm winds, a brilliant morning!! I striped down to shorts and a tee shirt to soak in some rays, the temps were in the 50's but felt like 80! The star show last night was the best yet, I spent a lot of time in my sleeping bag staring at the sky. I caught some shooting stars and the Milky Way was clear and bright in the night sky.
We left Sunrise HSC and climbed up and over Sunrise Mountain and down to Sunrise Lakes. We got stopped by a park ranger who checked our permits and quizzed us on bear safety, we passed with flying colors. I left my solar charger at Lower Sunrise Lake, someone got a souvenir.
The walk down from Sunrise Lakes to Tenaya Lake was hot, dusty and crowded. We hiked out to the Sunrise Lakes trailhead to catch the shuttle back to Tuolumne Meadows. The shuttle arrived right on time and with both of us waving, it drove right by.. After the shock wore off, the anger set in. I yelled a few choice words before starting off on the road by foot.
Needing to stay ahead of some incoming weather, we decided to head back out on the trail and knock off some miles. We had a cheese burger and a tall beer, then jumped back on the JMT at the Lyell Canyon trailhead.
We had to get at least 5 miles down Lyell Canyon before camping was legal. We started on the trail at 5pm, and I had trouble with my feet right away. I don't know what changed, but our afternoon hike was a rough one for me. I tried everything to keep the blisters at bay, but by the time we found a campsite my feet were in bad shape.
I took off the boots and tried to baby my feet for the rest of the evening. I had 4 nasty blisters on my left foot and a couple on my right. We built a small fire and had a nice dinner before jumping in the tent for the night.
The total for our hike was:
13 miles
13 miles