Lyell Canyon to Island Pass
Donohue Pass. That name was going to dominate most of my day. Still feeling sick, and nervous about my asthma, the 11,056 foot pass was really going to test me. And, I felt, really represent my struggle so far, and my ability to get past it and survive the rest of the trip. So, suffering from my morning coughing fit, we packed up and got moving, a lot more fire in my step than at the end of the previous day!
Soon enough we came to the end of Lyell Canyon and started climbing several switchbacks, crossing over one of the Lyell Forks on a bridge at the top (well, the top of this first portion of our climb!). We crossed over an outlet for a small, unnamed lake, and stopped for water, and to chat with a couple of guys who were also stopped for a break. They were finishing their hike at Red’s Meadow, and weren’t going all the way to Whitney. I think one of the things that I grew to love was the camaraderie on the trail. Regardless of if someone was on the JMT, northbound, southbound, PCT, no specific destination, other backcountry destinations…we all shared a common bond. Even on my tough days, and, I imagine, other hikers’ challenging days, we were all happy to be out there, enjoying nature. It also made me grateful for John Muir, and other visionaries that had the foresight and fortitude to fight to set aside these lands for present and future generations to enjoy. Yes there are a lot of people on the trail, and you could rarely go for more than an hour without seeing anyone. But relatively speaking, not many people get the opportunity (or, for reasons I personally don’t understand, don’t want to take the opportunity), to see these amazing things.
Continuing to climb, and still couldn’t tell which peak was our destined pass, there was a small stretch where a tributary from melting ice and snow ran right over the trail. And not just a trickle, and actual, semi-rushing, rock-hop section of trail with a steep drop off on the other side. I was, for the first time on the trip, listening to my iPod. My ‘instrumental workout mix’. Imagine all that epic music you hear in action movie trailers, superhero movies, etc. Yup, that’s the kind of cheesy stuff I like to listen to while I’m hiking when I need that extra push. Maybe a little weird, but I get really excited when I reach the peak of a climb right at the most dramatic moment of a song. It’s like my version of most people wanting to go run up some stairs when Eye of the Tiger turns up on a playlist. Anyways, I was completely engrossed in my music, trying to figure out how to get across this little trail section. I finally get across, look up, and realize a couple is on the other side patiently waiting for me. Whoops. They popped out of nowhere, otherwise I would have waited for them to go by. Again, thankfully everyone is happy to be out there so they just smiled and skipped over that same section of ‘bumpy trail’ for me making it look like they were walking on water. Well, at least I never claimed to be the most graceful hiker in the world.
Still climbing, and feeling the asthma announcing its presence with increasing wheezy breath, Omar and I started getting further apart. He’d turn around to make sure I was still moving, and keep going ahead. It was good and bad to have him ahead of me. I would try to use it as a gauge. When he’d stop I’d say ‘okay, I can get that far before I stop again and take a breather.’ Usually I couldn’t, but it gave me something to shoot for! The bad part was also seeing how much further I had to go, especially if we encountered a short steep push. At one point when I stopped, two girls we had met on day one, Nina and Grace, motored by me. We said good morning, and they moved forward. We would continue to see them off and on for the first half of the trip – we were pretty much always the first ones up and moving, but because of my slow pace, they’d usually pass us up late morning or around lunch. Then, with their frequent downhill breaks, we’d pass them again, and often get to our camping spot before we’d see them either set up nearby, or keep pushing forward.
We finally made it to the top. Omar, Nina and Grace were already up there, but I (hopefully) didn’t take too much longer. Well, that’s what I’m going to tell myself. Threw down my pack and we celebrated! Took the obligatory pictures at the top, although most of the signage at the top had faded away, so it looked like a bunch of blank sign posts. What I hadn’t realized, or had forgotten, was that Donohue Pass marks the boundary of Yosemite National Park. We were now moving into Ansel Adams Wilderness. That was pretty cool. We had walked from the heart of Yosemite National Park, outside the boundaries, over a freaking mountain. Well, a pass between two mountains, but we were over 11,000 feet in elevation, which, to this point, was the highest elevation I had ever experienced. Looking back, you could see Lyell Canyon seemingly ages away – that was a pretty great feeling knowing we were still moving forward, but had already covered that much ground and climbed that much elevation!
After a short break, we headed down the other side of the pass. At the bottom of the pass, there was a large not quite a meadow, but a large open area with meandering tributaries, scattered rocks and green grass. A pretty decent lunch spot. So we stopped, ate, and again decided it was nap time. After the rush of finally making it up that pass, my energy was drained and the cold sank in again. Chills, coughing and I felt like possibly a fever. So just barely falling asleep….and I felt a drop. Nah, it was nothing. Then a few more. Damnit – our first rain, and it just had to interrupt my nap and our break! So we jumped up and pulled out our pack covers and rain jackets. I’ve heard that most Sierra Nevada storms rain just long enough to prompt hikers to put all their appropriate gear on…and then stop. That’s exactly what happened to us, but it gave us some practice anyways!
The remainder of our descent was of course beautiful, but otherwise uneventful. We had decided that we were going to stop at the bottom of the canyon, before the climb to Island Pass. No need for two passes in one day and push my cold, even though it was the original plan. We still hadn’t made up that mileage we lost the first day, a fact that I think was in the back of both our minds. By the time we got down to our camp area, there were lots of tents already set up. When we stopped for a quick break, I made the suggestion/decision to keep going up and over Island Pass. In order to get back on track, we needed to hit Garnet Lake, about 5 miles past Island Pass, with some ups and downs in-between. Even though I felt like crap (I may or may not have had those death eyes too, I don’t remember!), I had the drive to keep moving today and wanted to take advantage of it.
Island Pass was definitely easier than Donohue. Still tough to breathe and feeling ‘foggy’, but manageable. When I got to the top, Omar said I was only about 15 minutes behind him. Not bad considering I was probably at least 30 minutes behind him for Donohue. As we moved on together, we realized we hadn’t quite been at the top, so Omar moved a little ahead again. I said we should stop at Thousand Island Lake, about a mile and a half from the top of the pass. So he said he’d scout out a good camping spot.
When I finally did hit the top of the pass, I could finally see Banner Peak. I don’t know why, but during planning and research, every single photo I saw of this area just summed it all up for me. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I couldn’t wait to see it for myself. It didn’t disappoint. It was one of those moments that was just so beautiful and meaningful, it made me a little misty-eyed. It was nice to be teary-eyed for a good reason instead of feeling disheartened. And I had cell reception! So my first call was to one of my best friends, Amy (sorry Mom and Dad!). We chatted for a couple of minutes, but I kept it short, knowing I still had some hiking ahead and Omar would probably be getting impatient. After about a quarter mile, before going downhill, I saw Omar setting up camp! What a nice surprise. He said that after I’d made the decision to push forward further than planned, the least he could do was set up camp when he found a great spot. He hadn’t even known I loved the view so much, so it was an added bonus. I then found out that he also fell in love the with view. It was still overcast, but we camped near a little lake that really reflected the range beautifully.
Looking out my tent at Banner Peak, I reflected on the day. It was tough. And I felt my cold hitting harder than the last couple of days. And yet it was the best day I’d had on the trail so far. I’d made it over two passes over 10,000 feet in elevation DESPITE my cold and my asthma. I’d made the decision to go further than our original plan. I was finally seeing one of the views I’d waited for a year to see in person and it was better than I thought it would be. I’m actually on the John Muir Trail, no longer in Yosemite, walking along the Sierras, the ‘Range of Light’. Although with all the clouds, there wasn’t a lot to help the mountains live up to that particular name! Looked like we might get rain that night, but it was OK. We planned on a short day the following day, so I had a little room to relax and not have anxiety over trying to make up mileage. I was pretty sure we would end up a day behind, taking 20 days instead of 19, but I was OK with that. Omar….not so much. That competitive personality was going to have a hard time accepting that, but that could be a conversation for another day. In the meantime, I was just going to sit there and bask in my absolute favorite campsite so far, with an amazing view looking right outside my tent. It was just too bad we had to sleep with the rainfly on obstructing my view.
Amazing day. Amazing. I’m starting to see why this is called the most scenic trail in the world. Every single time you stop you say ‘it can’t get any more beautiful than this’ and it does. Every time. Without fail.
