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December 25, 2009October 26, 2016

John Muir Trail Day 13: Vermilion Valley Resort to Marie Lake

This post is part of a series called John Muir Trail Journal
Show More Posts
  • John Muir Trail Date Set, Permit Reserved
  • John Muir Trail Planning
  • John Muir Trail Packing List
  • John Muir Trail Journal
  • John Muir Trail Day 1: Yosemite Valley to Clouds Rest Junction
  • John Muir Trail Day 2: Clouds Rest Junction to Half Dome to Sunrise Creek Crossing
  • John Muir Trail Day 3: Sunrise Creek Crossing to Lower Cathedral Lake
  • John Muir Trail Day 4: Lower Cathedral Lake to Tuolumne Meadows
  • John Muir Trail Day 5: Tuolumne Meadows to Donohue Pass
  • John Muir Trail Day 6: Donohue Pass to Thousand Island Lake
  • John Muir Trail Day 7: Thousand Island Lake to Rosalie Lake
  • John Muir Trail Day 8: Rosalie Lake to Reds Meadow
  • John Muir Trail Day 9: Reds Meadow to Deer Creek
  • John Muir Trail Day 10: Deer Creek to Cascade Valley Junction
  • John Muir Trail Day 11: Cascade Valley Junction to Silver Pass to Vermilion Valley Resort
  • John Muir Trail Day 12: Vermilion Valley Resort
  • John Muir Trail Day 13: Vermilion Valley Resort to Marie Lake
  • John Muir Trail Day 14: Marie Lake to Selden Pass to Muir Trail Ranch
  • John Muir Trail Day 15: Muir Trail Ranch to McClure Meadow
  • John Muir Trail Day 16: McClure Meadow to Muir Pass to Lake West of Helen Lake
  • John Muir Trail Day 17: Lake West of Helen Lake to Deer Meadow
  • John Muir Trail Day 18: Deer Meadow to Mather Pass to Main South Fork Kings Crossing
  • John Muir Trail Day 19: Main South Fork Kings Crossing to Pinchot Pass to Woods Creek
  • John Muir Trail Day 20: Woods Creek to Glen Pass to Vidette Meadow
  • John Muir Trail Day 21: Vidette Meadow to Forester Pass to Bighorn Plateau
  • John Muir Trail Day 22: Bighorn Plateau to Guitar Lake
  • John Muir Trail Day 23: Guitar Lake to Mount Whitney to Whitney Portal
  • John Muir Trail: Post Trip Thoughts

Journal entry for August 29, 2009
Approximate distance hiked: 13.9 miles, 22.4 km

Still feeling the effects of overeating, I chose to have a light breakfast consisting of pancakes only. Ryan was there and told me that he had invited another member of packbackinglight.com to join us. I met Steve who, like me, posted in the same forums on BPL during the months of preparation prior to the hike. We had compared itineraries and were hoping to meet on the trail. Steve asked me: “Are you Kevin from BPL?”. At first I thought he knew my name and that I frequented BPL because Ryan had told him. For some reason, I didn’t make the connection between this Steve and the Steve I met online. It was not after I saw his McHale packpack (an item I remembered from his online packing list) that I realized who he was. He has a very comprehensive writeup of the hike and a very nice picture gallery at his website.

I paid my tab of $130 for my entire stay at the resort, and said goodbye to the resort employees I had met. Ryan, Steve, another gentleman name Art and I boarded the morning ferry to leave Vermilion Valley Resort and rejoin the trail.

Leaving Vermilion Valley Resort
Leaving Vermilion Valley Resort

The four of us hiked together until where the Lake Edison Trail met the JMT. At this point Art, who was doing a loop hike and not the entire JMT, split from us while we continued south. The trail immediately starts a 2000 ft. climb up to Bear Ridge. Steve started motoring and left Ryan and I behind in no time. The two younger guys couldn’t keep up. Ryan was struggling a bit with his new resupply with about 10 days of food. On the top of the climb, we stopped to rest for a bit and met Mark and Misty. Mark had done the Appalachian Trail and most of the the Pacific Crest Trail. He and his fiancee Misty were taking a year off to travel around the world, starting at various national parks in the US, followed by New Zealand, South East Asia and India. Their travels are chronicled in their blog.

Ryan and I moved on. Shortly after we saw Marty and Ross, a couple from Connecticut who had previously completed the Appalachian Trail. They were on the Lake Edison ferry in the morning, but I hadn’t had a chance to talk to them until this point. After filtering some water, I told Ryan to go ahead of me since he was planning to finish the JMT days before me and was in more of a hurry. The plastic tip where the clean water comes out of my filter had been cracked for days and it finally broke. I could no longer hook up my Platypus hose to the filter. This worried me a lot since I might had to resort to my emergency purifying tablets, and once those run out that could mean drinking unfiltered water.

Pacific Crest Trail sign
Pacific Crest Trail sign

For a long while the trail was pretty uneventful. Lots of trees, no lakes, very few views of mountains. I stopped at Upper Bear Creek to get more water. I tried using the filter upside down, and let the outcoming water drip into Platypus container’s mouth. It was a lot of more work than using the hose but at least this way I could still use the filter for the rest of the trip. Just before I finished filtering, I was joined by Jack and Kathy, who I had met briefly at Rush Creek a week before. I was really surprised to see them since they were planning to finish the JMT about 10 days after me. They were way ahead of schedule. We chatted for a bit before I moved on.

I run into Ryan again right before reaching Rosemarie Meadow, which is where I had planned to stop for the day. Ryan convinced me to push for another 1.5 miles to Marie Lake. I was tired but thought that the views at the lake would be worth it.

Ryan hiking the last few feet of a long 15-mile day
Ryan hiking the last few feet of a long 15-mile day

I was glad I made that decision. Marie Lake was beautiful. We settled at the southern bank of the northern lake. Mike and Andy, two guys also doing the JMT were already there. The four of us had dinner together before taking pictures of the sunset. The three of them all had professional photography equipment and I’m sure they took much better pictures than me.

Marie Lake
Marie Lake
Marie Lake
Marie Lake
Camping by Marie Lake
Camping by Marie Lake

On this long day, I met a lot of nice people but scenery-wise, I felt it had been pretty underwhelming until the end. Marie Lake saved the day. Looking at the guidebook before falling asleep, I realized I had reached the 100-mile mark on the JMT.

Posted in Travel, Hiking, Photography, Americas, John Muir Trail, United States
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   John Muir Trail Day 12: Vermilion Valley Resort
John Muir Trail Day 14: Marie Lake to Selden Pass to Muir Trail Ranch   

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kevinstravel

Rough race and not the result I was looking for. W Rough race and not the result I was looking for. Was targeting a sub 2:55 but finished in 3:31. It felt hard from the start and had stomach issues later on. Still proud of the effort and finish.
2 more days 2 more days
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