Anyhow.... we soon hit the trail. She, for the first time on the hike, got a small head start on me, but we both knew I should catch up soon. And I did, but she had stopped to rinse her socks in a creek and I completely missed seeing her and her pack on the side of the trail. Had Karolina not seen me and called out, I'd have kept on walking. Who knows how far I'd have walked before realizing that I must have passed her, so I'm glad she caught me.
The trail headed downhill for a couple of miles where we crossed a wonderfully jumpy suspension bridge before starting a long 3,500 foot climb towards Glen Pass. The trail was well-graded for most of the distance and it wasn't particularly difficult despite being non-stop uphill.
The trail might have been a non-stop uphill, but Karolina and I certainly took some stops along the way. We detoured a short way off trail to another unnamed waterfall for a quick break, and another extended break at Dollar Lake.
When we arrived at Dollar Lake, Karolina wanted to swim in it, but just as we arrived, a large cloud covered the sun sending a chill through the air. She decided to wait until the sun came out again since it was just one cloud blocking it.
We didn't know how Dollar Lake got its name, but we thought it would be funny to throw a dollar bill in and take photos, so that's what we did. We "dollarized" the lake. =)
Not wanting to litter (or be out an unnecessary dollar), I retrieved the dollar bill and tried to dry it out the best I could before putting it back in my wallet.
A half hour later, the sun still hadn't come out from behind the cloud and we eventually gave up on it. Karolina ditched her plans for a swim--although she did wade out into the water so it wasn't a complete loss for her.
Minutes after we left, the sun finally came out again. Of course....
The trail continued upwards and onward, passing the impossibly scenic Rae Lakes. We had considered camping near here, but it was already crowded with a lot of other hikers. Where did they all come from?! We took another break, but eventually decided to carry on to a less-crowded part of the trail. Our maps showed a campsite perhaps a half-mile from the summit of Glen Pass, and we decided to head for that.
The trail rose sharply after the lake so our pace slowed dramatically, but we made it to the camp shortly before sunset. It would be our highest campsite yet at just over 11,000 feet above sea level.
The water source, however, was a small, stagnant lake about a hundred feet down a steep and rocky slope. On our maps, it looked like it was right next to the campsite, but that was obviously not the case. We scrambled down to the water before it got too dark and filled up with water, then headed back to the trail to set up camp for the night.
It was another good day!
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| A wonderfully rickety suspension bridge! =) |
I test out the bounciness of the bridge.
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| Another unnamed waterfall, which was a nice place for a break. =) |
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| I set a dollar bill loose to sail the rough waters of Dollar Lake! =) |
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| Arrowhead Lake |
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| Rae Lakes is a series of several scenic lakes. |
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| Still part of Rae Lakes! |
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| We're leaving Rae Lakes behind us now. The JMT actually crosses that narrow channel of land between the two lakes which is kind of neat! |
1 comment:
I refuse to be on a suspension bridge with my husband! Once was enough! What's with men and bouncing on those bridges? He also likes to jump in elevators. He's well over 70 and he still does these things!
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