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August 9th to 11th 2009: North Lake to South Lake

Day 1

Around 10 am I arrived at the Ranger Station in Bishop, having driven for 5 hours from the Bay Area.  To avoid potentially slow tourists I opted to take Highway 108, Sonora Pass, over the mountains, but will probably take Highway 120, Tioga Pass, next time, despite the $20 park toll.  At the ranger station, I signed in for a walk-in permit (I was unable to reserve a spot in advance) and was told to come back a few minutes before 11 am.  When I returned after getting gas and buying Chapstick the previously empty station was full of people.  Shortly after 11 am one of the rangers called my name and 5 minutes later I had a free permit which allowed me to start my hike tomorrow.  Instead of sitting around, I drove to the trailhead and started walking.

At elevation 9,350 feet, at 12:30 pm, I left the North Lake trailhead and hiked for 5.0 miles to Piute Pass at elevation 11,243 feet.  Despite coming from sea level, I felt pretty good, plus the weather was perfect.  Specifically, the skies were a deep blue but snow white clouds blocked the sun which can be brutal at higher elevations.

1:12 pm - Beautiful golden cliffs just minutes from the North Lake Trailhead.

1:27 pm – Piute Pass comes into sight.

1:37 pm – Mommy and baby day hiking and riding, but not my wife and baby however.

2:33 pm – Snow just south of Piute Pass.  Later on the trip I started wearing the dish towel around my neck when it was not required on my head due to the sun.

Around 2:30 pm I reached Piute Pass and was blown away by the terrain, certain I had been transported to the high plains of Tibet.  For several miles the terrain was wide open and flat with easy walking on smooth packed sand trails so that I could focus on the jagged, snow capped ranges in the distance instead of my foot placement.  Why I didn’t take photos at the time is unclear to me.

However, I had to go down, and in doing so entered more forested area that paled in comparison to the plateau and much later, at 6:45 pm, I reach the JMT junction at elevation 8,050 feet.  It was a good half day, but I still felt like walking, so I decided to start hiking south on the JMT until I found a nice campsite next to the river at 7:30 pm.  After setting up my tent, I rinsed in the river then sat clean and refreshed in my underwear, marveling at the lack of mosquitoes, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before re-dressing and hitting the hay.

4:29 pm – I felt the need to take a picture at this junction.

4:45 pm – Despite being the size of my thumb I could clearly see this little guy's heart beating 200 times a minute.

5:47 pm – A nice place to camp due to excellent swimming options.  However, the day was young so I pressed on.

6:47 pm – Flashing the horns in excitement due to a) reaching the JMT and b) finishing the descent from Piute Pass.

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