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A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a
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John Muir Trail Photos, Day 10: Seldon Pass
John Muir Trail Photos, Day 9: Back Over Italy Pass
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A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a
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John Muir Trail Photos, Day 8: Italy Pass
I run into that problem sometimes too, but the fault is ours and not the fault of the English language. I just have to try harder when describing the breathtakingly beautiful Italy Pass.
My favorite moments on the John Muir Trail were when you reach the crest of a mountain pass and peer over to the other side. It's like climbing the stone wall surrounding a secret garden. You have no idea what it will look like, except that it will be grand and, for lack of a better word, beautiful.
I've only recently finished the hike, but not a day goes by that I don't wish I was setting up camp on Italy Pass.
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A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a
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John Muir Trail Photos, Day 7: Silver Pass
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A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a
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John Muir Trail Photos, Day 6: Red's Meadow to Silver Pass
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John Muir Trail Photos, Day 5: Thousand Island Lake to Red's Meadow
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John Muir Trail Photos, Day 4: Lyell Canyon to Thousand Island Lake
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John Muir Trail Photos, Day 3: Sunset Creek to Lyell Canyon
On the third day, I hiked 18 miles passed the Cathedral Lakes, through Tuolumne Meadows and into Lyell Canyon.
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A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a
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John Muir Trail Photos, Day 2: Nevada Falls to Sunset Creek
Another beautiful day, but my memories are mostly of the night. Someone left a note by a creek stating the next water source was dry, so I climbed up a hill beyond the creek and setup camp. I ate dinner on a rock with a view and watched the sunset. It's one of my favorite moments in a day and such a regular practice on the trail, yet it's rare that I do this off the trail.
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A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a
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John Muir Trail Photos, Day 1: Happy Isles to Nevada Falls
I started late my first day, so only hiked in four miles. Far enough to have a great view at sunset, though. Nevada Falls was one of the few waterfalls still flowing this late in the year. At dusk, I detoured onto the Panorama Trail for a better view of Half Dome from camp under the full moon. And to avoid crowds in Little Yosemite Valley. And because I took a wrong turn.
A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a
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John Muir Trail: Mount Whitney
I'll post more photos soon.
John Muir Trail: Take Another Step
Upon hearing about the 3,000 miles I've hiked in the last fifteen months, a woman asked me, "Aren't you tired of hiking yet?"
I can't imagine ever being tired of it. Tired, as in exhausted, sometimes, but never tired of it. The next day while fording a river, I thought of one reason why.
It's not only the beauty. No, sometimes the forest is ordinary when I feel my heart might burst. Beautiful, yes, but ordinary. It's the freedom of the forest I love. And the simplicity of the walk.
Just take a step... and that's it.
No alarm clocks, no phone calls.
Take another step.
No traffic, no news, no ads.
Just take another step.
At the river crossing, there are no meetings, no lunch-and-learns, no primary-action-items, no office politics. Just you pulling off your shoes and peeling off your socks. No bosses, no fake smiles, no fake laughs. Just smooth polished stones under your bare feet.
You stop for a moment to stare upstream at the perfect bend of an ancient river. Always new, but ancient. You gaze up at the valley that the water has slowly cut into the solid granite. The same cold water that flows so softly passed your ankles.
There are no computers, no fluorescent-lit cubicals, no ergonomics. Just you closing your eyes and breathing in the sweet smell of pine. No stress, no demands, no corporate ladders. Only you and the forest. And everything is beautiful. Then that feeling rises in your chest and you think your heart might burst.
All that is required is that you just look. Just feel. Just breathe. Just be... Then take another step.
A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
John Muir Trail: Resupply
I didn't get back on the trail that night. I've never been able to get a hitch after dark, so I've stopped trying. Instead I walked up the road to a park and slept on the ground in a thicket of trees and bushes, mostly out of sight.
It took three hours to get a hitch back to the trailhead, 2 hours longer than my previous longest wait, but I'm back on the JMT and 230 miles into a 270 mile trip.
The JMT requires only 219 miles or so, but I added a few detours. I haven't been in a rush to finish. Although, I am looking forward to seeing friends and family again. And, of course, starting the planning stages for the next adventure.
John Muir Trail: I Heart Hitching
"When they pulled me over I had six pounds of marijuana back there," he said and pointed behind his seat where a variety of tools now lay.
"Wow, six pounds?" I said.
"Yeah, but I'm allowed to grow it. It's medicinal," he said. "But I didn't have my paperwork, so they confiscated it and now I have to go to court. Ah well... so where you hiking to?"
"John Muir Trail to Mount Whitney," I said. "I figured it made sense to go south and end on the highest mountain in the lower-48."
"I've climbed Whitney," he said. "But I don't buy that it's the highest." He pointed to another mountain peak, that I forget the name of now, and said, "I've climbed that one too and I don't care what anyone says, that one is six feet higher."
I had no comment, but wondered how much of his medicinal product he was smoking himself.
"I can get you as far as Pine Creek Road," he said. "I'd take you the whole way if I didn't have to be in court."
"I can get you as far as Pine Creek Road," he said. "I'd take you the whole way if I didn't have to be in court."
"So, you'll just show your paperwork and get your six pounds back?" I said, not really knowing what else to say.
"Yeah, well, they say I won't get it back because it turned up missing. Heh... Got smoked or sold by some cops more like it," he said. "So, I'm suing the state."
He took his eyes off the road and glared at me for a couple seconds and said, "I'm asking for three million from those S.O.Bs."
The joy on his face that followed these words made me wonder if he thought the cash was practically in his grasp. And again, not knowing what to say, I said, "Yeah, well you gotta start high, right?"
What is there not to like about hitching? It's becoming one of my favorite ways to travel. You can never predict where the conversation will go.
What is there not to like about hitching? It's becoming one of my favorite ways to travel. You can never predict where the conversation will go.
My next hitch was much more normal, a friendly backpacking couple on a day hike. I was on the side of the road scribbling down some ideas for making my own backpacking gear when they stopped. Turned out he was a gear designer for REI. I liked them a lot and could have talked about backpacking and gear all night, but even if they wanted to hear me jabber on and on about it, I needed to get back over Italy Pass and back onto the JMT.
I have a problem of talking too much these days. It's hard to stop. After living 15 months on trails, I finally have something interesting to talk about.
A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
John Muir Trail: Kearsarge Pass
I'm heading down the pass to resupply at a gas station in Independence, CA. I'll get out my journal and catch everyone up on my trip when I'm in town.
John Muir Trail: My Town Visit
It only took a half hour to get a ride to Bishop. The woman who picked me up gave me a quick tour of the town. They had everything a backpacker needs: laundromat with showers, fast food, grocery stores, four outfitters, and most importantly, a place simply called, Donuts and Ice Cream. A business name I'm going to steal if I ever open an outfitter by a long-distance trail.
Until... "Where you going tonight?" a very friendly round-faced African-American man asked in my third fast food joint of the day, but I'll come back to that.
I met him and his friend in my first fast food joint when they saw me searching for an outlet to recharge my cell phone. Apparently, they have the same food cravings I have.
"No outlet here, man," he said. "I already looked. My laptop battery is dead."
At dinner, I saw them again. This time they sat by me to talk. They were from Indiana too, and were in California to deliver a brown mail truck to UPS. Their topics of conversation jumped back and forth between Indiana, the military, politics, his slow laptop, 9/11 being an inside job (a strange position that irritated me to no end), and his love of Avril Lavigne (which was also a bit strange, but not that irritating).
"Where you going tonight?" he asked.
"Nah, man. You don't have to do that. You can stay with us if you want," he said, and then sang, "Why you gotta go and make things so complicated?" which was not the first or last time he inserted Avril Lavigne's lyrics into conversation where appropriate.
"Really, you wouldn't mind?" I said.
"Nah, not at all," he said. "And hey, maybe you could fix my slow laptop.
Sometimes I feel like when people know I worked in IT, our conversation is just pretext to asking me to fix their computer. I don't think that was the case tonight, but it didn't matter. I had a legal place to sleep and a free shower.
A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a
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John Muir Trail: Italy Pass
Lightfoot, whose priorities are clearly skewed, needed to get off the trail to be in his brother's wedding. (Just kidding, Lightfoot, give your brother my best.) I was running low on food, so headed to town with him to get supplies for the next 115 miles.
Bishop, California was about 15 trail miles and 20 road miles east, so we headed in that direction down a side trail.
Fifteen trail miles isn't quite accurate though, because for several of those miles, there was no discernible trail. My maps only cover the JMT, but luckily we met a man with detailed maps who everyone just called "Steam Engine".
He was going a little out of our way to get to his vehicle, but from there he was driving to Mammoth Lakes, where Lightfoot left his car. Steam Engine offered him a ride, so we said our goodbyes at Italy Lake and I headed to Bishop on my own.At the lake, a hiker on his lunch break let me look over his maps.
"It's quicker if you go over Italy Pass," he said, pointing at it on the map. "You can't make it to the road before dark though."
"No?" I said. It didn't look that far.
"No, it's a rough trail, there's no way you'll make it," he said then recommended a place to camp.I think I can add another thing to the list of things I have learned about myself this year: When someone says I can't do something that I think I can do, I'm highly motivated to prove them wrong.
From the top of the pass, at over 12,000 feet, I found a wilderness even more awe-inspiring and remote than anything on the JMT so far.
I gaped at the thousands of mountainous acres ahead of me. It was vast, barren, and isolated. It seemed finding the road to Bishop without a map could be a lot like finding a needle in acres of haystacks.
I continued down the curvy mountain road toward the main highway, but by nightfall, not a single car drove by to wave my thumb at. Next to a turnout by the road, I found a small flat piece of land big enough for my tent that was partially hidden by a mound of boulders and dirt.
"Home sweet home," I said outloud to nobody.
I spent the night there and would put my thumb back out the next morning and continue toward the highway.
John Muir Trail: Silver Pass
Being a mountain pass made of white rock that gleams brightly in the sun, Silver Pass is aptly named.As we ascended above tree line toward the pass, Squaw Lake, the first of several lakes in the area, came into view. (Not pictured since I didn't take one with my phone.) My first thought was that Grecian columns and statues could have surrounded the lake and wouldn't have looked out of place. Something about the white rock soaring toward the thick clouds above made it feel like the home of a Greek God.
John Muir Trail: My Name Written With Stones
I haven't seen him since November on the Appalachian Trail. If you've been reading my blog since then, you may remember we met in Shenandoah National Park.
He ran down the hill to join me.
"Hey, Lightfoot!" I said and put out my hand to shake his. "How've you been?"
He pulled my hand into a hug and a pat on the back. I apologized for the hiker smell.
After finishing his AT thru-hike, Lightfoot moved from New Jersey to California. When he saw my facebook status saying I was heading to the John Muir Trail, we made plans to hike together again for a few days.
Since hiking the AT, I probably doubled the number of great people I'm proud to call a friend. That in itself has made all the miles, and all the spent savings, worthwhile.
A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
John Muir Trail: Donahue Pass
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On the morning of my fourth day, I climbed up Donahue Pass (11,073 feet) and into the Ansel Adams Wilderness. I wondered if my headache was due to altitude, and then stopped to pop a few pills and have a seat on the ground.
At the top, I could see miles of what looked like a shadeless rocky desert mixed with golden grasses, and no sign of civilization. The only sound, other than a breeze brushing passed my ears, came from grasshoppers leaping into the air around me, buzzing like spinner fireworks. They drop to the ground hard as if they spent all their fuel on each short three second flight. The view provoked a feeling of absolute contentment and I wondered if I could ever give up this lifestyle. Few things, including salaries and 401ks, are as rewarding after a morning of hard work.
Once getting deep into the valley, it merged into a pine tree shaded oasis with trickling streams and birdsongs. After stopping here for lunch, I hiked over the 10,221 foot Island Pass toward Thousand Island Lake, an alpine lake speckled by dozens of small islands, to setup my camp for the night.
At the shore of the lake, the John Muir Trail intersects the Pacific Crest Trail, marked by a wooden sign. On the ground in front of the signpost, small rocks had been arranged to spell a word.
It spelled "Ryan."
As I get so few chances on my blog to leave cliffhangers, I'll leave that for the next post.
At the top, I could see miles of what looked like a shadeless rocky desert mixed with golden grasses, and no sign of civilization. The only sound, other than a breeze brushing passed my ears, came from grasshoppers leaping into the air around me, buzzing like spinner fireworks. They drop to the ground hard as if they spent all their fuel on each short three second flight. The view provoked a feeling of absolute contentment and I wondered if I could ever give up this lifestyle. Few things, including salaries and 401ks, are as rewarding after a morning of hard work.
Once getting deep into the valley, it merged into a pine tree shaded oasis with trickling streams and birdsongs. After stopping here for lunch, I hiked over the 10,221 foot Island Pass toward Thousand Island Lake, an alpine lake speckled by dozens of small islands, to setup my camp for the night.
At the shore of the lake, the John Muir Trail intersects the Pacific Crest Trail, marked by a wooden sign. On the ground in front of the signpost, small rocks had been arranged to spell a word.
It spelled "Ryan."
As I get so few chances on my blog to leave cliffhangers, I'll leave that for the next post.
A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.