July 23rd Mileage: 2.6 (74.5) I’ve decided to forego the 15 mile day and save the hike into Red’s Meadow Resort until tomorrow, which means today is a very short day.  I feel alright about taking a nero; my body needs to do some healing. Short days mean trying to sleep in, and I succeed … More The Howling Wind

July 22nd Mileage: 11.3 (71.9) I enjoy my best night’s sleep of the trip and wake at 6 a.m., without the help of an alarm.  The morning is once again cold and the opposite ridge keeps the sun from warming me.  I walk through the empty campsite, blinking, and find my bear canister.  Still no … More The First Pass: Donahue

July 21st Mileage: 14 (60.6) I wake to air so crisp and cold it could chip a tooth.  The sky is blue and the surrounding mountains look lunar: pale, stark, severe.  Last night, I was not visited by a bear.  I begin my morning tasks: breaking down camp and loading my pack.  I have become … More The Glory of Lyell Canyon

July 20th Miles: 10.9 (46.6) For the second night in a row, I camp at the junction to Cloud’s Rest.  Again, I fall asleep to the shrieks of “Bear!  Go on!  Get, bear!” but it doesn’t revisit my campsite.  When I wake everything is damp.  A brief early morning rain fell and now mist is … More The Grey Kingdom

July 19 Miles: 13.2 (none on the JMT) (35.7) Shortly after I fell asleep last night I woke to shouts of “Go on bear! Get out of here bear!” and the loud clacking of trekking poles being knocked together.  A bear?  In the campground?  The shouts sounded about 100 yards off, but where was the … More A Bear, A Crash, and a Bang-Bang

July 18 Miles: 13 (22.5) I wake to a chilly morning–I can see my breath.  What a difference a day and a few thousand feet make.  The 6 a.m. scene is so serene I consider just stopping my hike right here (just kidding…).  The air is crisp and smells of the back-country mountains, a smell … More But, this was supposed to be easy…

July 17 Miles: 9.5 Today is the first real day of backpacking and I lurch-hike under the weight of my pack.  “Goodbye lawyer couple!” I think as I leave their sleeping tent.  “Good luck!” and I don’t even mean it sarcastically.  I have to find a way to get to the Pohono Trail, which is … More Up!

July 16th I wake early, 5:45, in a stuffy hotel room.  I’m in the central California valley, Steinbeck’s country, and I blink in the early morning light.  The place smells like smoke, but it was my only lodging option and was had for a steep price.  Tourist season is in full swing, and the folks … More An Arrival