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Day 2:
Mono Creek Trail to South of Sallie Keyes Lakes, 21.7 miles Sleep
eluded me that night; I felt like a selfish jerk for not bringing a bear
canister. After all, I was stealth camping alone - who would find me if
something went wrong? Additionally, I kept sliding around the tarp-tent.
The floor was made of 1.1 ounce per square yard nylon coated with
silicone and was very slippery despite the moderate slope. Indeed, if I
had not painted a traction grid prior to the trip (per the manufactures
recommendation and instructions) I would have been unable to stay in the
shelter at all. Maybe I could have slept with only one of those
problems, but taken together it was a restless night and I was up and
walking as soon as light allowed. I told the
first people that I met of my trials that night and after some
discussion it was decided that I ought to
detour to Lake Edison and take
the water ferry across it to the Vermillion Resort where I could buy a
bear canister. The detour added 1.4 miles each way, plus the time to
take the ferry. It was still early when I reached the spot where the
ferry would come so I had a choice. I could wait about 2 hours and catch
the 9:45 AM ferry across the lake and buy the canister and then wait
until about 4 PM to catch the return ferry or instead hike about 5 miles
along the lake immediately after getting the canister. Neither option
seemed appealing so I instead decided to abandon my pack and jog 5 miles
along the lake, buy the canister, and catch the morning ferry back to my
pack. I approached some men who had taken the ferry over and set up a
base camp for fishing and asked if I could leave my pack with them while
I ran over to the resort. Well, they
thought that was a silly idea, why didn’t I just call the resort and
have them bring a bear canister over to me, they bring beer, food, and
other things over on the ferry all the time. The younger of the two then
proceeded to pull out a cell phone, dial the number and hand the phone
to me. Within a few minutes it was all taken care of and I had the next
2 hours available to air out my tent, eat breakfast, and take a swim.
The sun had come out for the first time since the trip began and I took
advantage of the situation to jump in the lake.
The ferry came, many people got off, more got on, I got my canister, and once again set off with high spirits despite the once again overcast skies. After walking 1.4 miles I rejoined the JMT and began a long series of switchbacks through very uninspiring terrain. It was wooded and reminded me very much of the dreaded White Wolf hill Emily and I climbed upon leaving the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne earlier that year. To make matters worse, the overcast skies where turning darker and indeed, within seconds after cleaning up after another short lunch the clouds let loose. Big, heavy drops fell from the sky and to make matters still worse, I was descending in the same uninspiring terrain that I had just climbed. Then I had to use the bathroom, number 2 in the rain, another first for me! But I kept going, and although the skies never cleared the rain stopped and the terrain changed. Soon I found myself climbing up Selden Pass in the clouds.
This was truly inspiring terrain, despite the gray skies. Lakes, meadows, and granite over 10,000 feet in elevation are something special and this was no exception. It was late in the day and I had been walking for a long time, however the beauty was not lost upon me. Then it started to hail. It came down for at least ½ hour, the size of peas and quite stinging. My hands became numb but I couldn’t stop, the pass was near. A group of boy scouts came from the opposite direction, a sorry bunch wearing shorts and garbage bags meant only to ride out short thunderstorms. A few minutes before the pass the hail stopped. It was now all down hill to wherever I planned on stopping for the night. I was glad to have the bear canister since I was sure it would start raining again once I started dinner. With the canister I could cook and sleep in the same place.
Heading
down from the pass the terrain was the most beautiful I had seen with
lush meadows, meandering streams, and shear outcroppings. Due to the
rain, the trail had turned into a small creek. However, my shoes were
already soaked so I didn’t really care. What happened next I cannot
explain; perhaps it was my high expectations, the long and high mileage
days, the restless night, the disappointing weather, the solitary
walking, or any other of many reasons... but I cried. Sobbed really,
like you do when a grandparent or family dog dies. I thought mainly of
Emily and wondered why I had to run off and ride bicycles from Oregon to
Virginia or try to hike 120 miles in 5 days. If successful on this
adventure would I try to go from Mexico to Canada the next year? I
thought about what it meant to be happy and what made me happy. Again I
thought of Emily. It was all so clear. I found clarity by walking 40
plus miles in 2 days through miserable conditions. I was not a great
solo hiker. Physically I could walk all day but mentally I could not
endure the solitary days and nights. I would continue to backpack, but
not without my dearest wife. The trip was over. |
