On the JMT at Devil's Postpile

Found a great campsite at Red’s and  met up with Irene who was dropped off there by a friend who made an incredible pasta dinner for us that night.  She and I spent the next two days camped at Red’s Meadow, great campground.  It was here we first encountered the “Eddie Bauer” backpackers.  At first I thought I was in an episode of the Twiglight Zone.  They were dressed in matching outfits, nothing out of place.  At first I thought they were park rangers, the colors would be correct.  Then I noticed their backpacks matched perfectly. Down to the “kitchen Sink” .

Not sure what that was for, have never needed a kitchen sink in the backcountry.  Everything tied to their packs was new and expensive and right out of a catalog.  They even had a large can of bear spray on their waist bands.  I think my Mylar space blanket was a lighter, cheaper and better solution.  I didn’t want to be that close to a bear that I could spray it in the face with peppers. 

The Eddie Bauer packers were nice enough ut they were the strangest site.

We also ran into Ken and Theo at one of the cabins at Red’s.  Unfortunately Ken severely sprained his ankle crossing a creek and trying to save his camera from the water.  Their trip was over.  He was on crutches.  It was so sad; they had so looked forward to this trip.

We took a day hike down to Rainbow Falls, a mini Niagara.  I couldn’t believe how much water there was.  There was also a herd of people.  I felt a little out of place, having gotten used to smaller groups only.  It was a hot day and I couldn’t believe how many would make the 5 mile round trip journey with no water, little kids and flip flops.  I can’t seem to get away from those. 

On the JMT to Devils Postpile

August 20, 2011

So far my experience with bears in the last few days has proven to me the Bearikade was a great idea. It fits great sideways in my Osprey Aura 65 and has proven itself to withstand the efforts of two sets of bears.  It also made a great seat while cooking.  I was more thrilled with the can than my pack.  By this point I have discovered the limitations of this light backpack’s shoulder straps and was cursing their stiffness.  Lucky for me I found a pair of brand new thick synthetic backpacking socks in my camp left there by the previous camper.  After short consideration I chose to cut the bottoms off and use the tubes to pad my shoulder straps.  It paid off, my comfort was greatly increased.  Other than that the pack had so far proven itself to be easy to organize and fit my gear perfectly.  I have also discovered I love the Honeyville powdered eggs. 

Due to the mystery illness I have been suffering from for the last two years, I was determined never to get stuck hiking in the heat. If I could avoid this, I could complete the trip without numb feet and dizziness. After a breakfast at 4:30 am of powdered eggs, grits and coffee I hit the trail about 5:15. I already discovered if you want to have some alone time on the trail the best time to hike was early in the AM, most didn’t seem to leave their camps until about 9 or 10. Sometimes adversity turns into a blessing, it forces you to do things differently.

It was on to Devils Postpile to meet up with Irene who was resupplying me and actually going to hike the next leg to Eddison Lake VVR with me as her first backpacking trip.

Rosalie Lake

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It was then on to Rosalie Lake.  I found a great campsite below the trail. 

I had the great vantage point of being able to see people walk by again and they couldn’t even tell I was there.  Unfortunately a bear did find my campsite and once again I was awakened in the middle of the night by a very pissed off furry friend.  This time I wedged my bear can among some large boulders.  This only added to his/her frustration because the can couldn’t be rolled around at all.  My main concern was the can rolling into the lake, and it didn’t.  I did end up with a couple of incredible claw grooves in the aluminum top as mementos. 

Practicing

My John Muir Trail challenge is not determination, got plenty of that.  It won’t be altitude sickness, never had that, maybe because I was born in Switzerland, lived in the Rockies, Alaska and now at altitude in the Sierra Nevada range.  My challenge is going to be health.   I’ve been battling and unknown illness for the last year.  Sometimes I feel like a patient on the network show House.   I have days that I can’t walk a straight line if my life depended on it and that’s before any alcohol.  I wobble, have memory issues, tingle, and have severe itches on one arm.  I feel like my upper torso is being compressed.  Then there are the days when most of these symptoms are non-existent, they are few and far between but they do occur.  One would think this would be easy to diagnose but it’s been a year of nearly weekly Dr. visits and specialists and lots of positive and false positive tests and still nothing concrete.  I have accepted that Doctors really do have a license to “practice” that’s truly what it is.  I’m practicing too, practicing keeping a good attitude, practicing adapting to a debilitating illness and practicing keeping most of this hidden from my coworkers.  So far so good.