The same family of deer wandered all through our site as we awoke and broke camp. They weren't bothered by our presence in the slightest, and they watched as we dusted all the dried deer poop off the bottom of our tent. After cleaning our hands and eating, we shouldered our packs and headed on our way.
A half mile or so later, we stopped to delayer by the intersection with the trail leading to Bishop Pass. There, we saw a man named Mike waiting for the llama-fellow we had met the day before. Mike told us that he, the other fellow, and the llamas had started from Whitney ten days ago and were trying to hike north along the JMT. Unfortunately, one of the llamas had become sick before reaching Glen Pass. They waited two days for the llama to recover, but it died. Next, one of the other llamas broke its leg and had to be airlifted out. Then, another llama fell ill with what they think was food poisoning. Now, it appears yet another llama is ill with food poisoning. The man seemed to have a decent sense of humor about it all, but he understandably stated that this was the last time he was ever going to hike with a group of llamas.
While we were listening, Don and Debbie passed, as well as a fellow named Phil (we had first met him on Selden Pass, before Muir Trail Ranch). We would play leapfrog with D&D and Phil all day....which we didn't mind, because all three were cool individuals. Turns out D&D had camped just a tenth of a mile or so away from us.
After listening intently to the tale of llama drama, we wished Mike good luck and continued on our way.
The goal for this day was to get as close as we could to Mather Pass without actually going over it. We figured we'd camp alongside either Lower or Upper Palisade Lake.
The trail felt easy in the beginning...we wandered through trees on the dirt path, happily discussing how lucky we were not to have llamas in tow. The sky was mostly clear, but there were some clouds forming way off in the horizon.
When we came to what I thought was the last bit of tall trees before our climb up the "Golden Staircase," we stopped to refuel and re-hydrate. Once again, Phil, and then Don & Debbie, approached and joined us. We ate together, remarked on the somewhat-cloudy sky, and then the girls and I moved on. I wanted to get up past the exposed part and back into the trees before any potential storm could form.
Unfortunately, I don't have photos of the Golden Staircase -- it's a series of exposed, short and steep switchbacks tucked into the side of a cliff. Thankfully, tiny streams of water seep out from the rocks and cross the trail from time to time, which is wonderful, because that Sierra sun is HOT. The girls and I kept our bandannas wet so we could better wipe the sweat from our faces.
Once up and over the Golden Staircase, the land looks like this --
Clouds were still forming behind us, but, as you can tell, most of the sky remained clear.
We reached Lower Palisade Lake and saw the one camping spot mentioned in the guidebook. It was completely out in the open. I didn't like the thought of camping there, completely exposed, knowing we'd have to get up the next morning and make our way past both lakes. We therefore rejected this spot and headed toward nearby Upper Palisade Lake.
Our guidebook said there were a few camping spots at Upper Palisade Lake, but the first spots we came to, just off the trail on the right, immediately after topping a steep stretch, were taken. Looking toward the curve of the lake and the way the trees were situated, I felt certain there must be a few more camping spots along the curve of the trail, before passing the lake entirely. I was right -- this choice spot was less than a tenth of a mile away from the previous camping area.
There were also a few smaller spots close by, each just large enough for a small tent -- Don and Debbie came along and took the one closest to us, and when Phil arrived, he took one that was situated closer to the lake, downhill from the trail.
The girls were excited to have dinner because I'd promised them we could have Nutella and peanut butter wraps. We sat and ate these delicious, can-only-eat-this-while-thru-hiking concoctions for half an hour. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.
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| View toward Upper Palisade Lake from our dinner rock. |
We lounged, ate, and wrote in our journals for a long while. After an hour or so of enjoying the views, the fresh air, and life in general, we thoroughly cleaned our eating area and ourselves, readied ourselves for bed, looked up at the gorgeous sky...and saw this fellow in a tree above our tent, staring down at us.
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| Photo by Alex |
He/she was a moderate-sized bird of prey. He/she didn't seem bothered by us at all -- in fact, the critter stared down at us continuously as we looked up and returned the gaze. Alex fetched a Sierra birding book she had bought at VVR and identified it as a Cooper's Hawk. I walked over to Don and Debbie's area and invited them over to see our new friend. The five of us stared in admiration as the fellow/gal calmly sat and stared back. Eventually, we all went to bed. I kept our rain fly up so we could continue to look at the magnificent creature in the moonlight while we dozed off. It was still there when I fell asleep.
Loved today's post...I always do! Enjoyed reading about the Cooper's Hawk staring down at all of you. That was a neat experience, and a nice way to fall asleep.
ReplyDeleteThank you -- that was one of my favorite days of our trip. The Cooper's Hawk experience felt magical. I hope that memory stays with the girls for a long, long time.
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