DAY 5: Upper Lyell Canyon to Garnet Lake

Today marks our longest mileage day so far (only to be replaced by tomorrow's planned day) at 11.2 miles. I know we're not those PCT/AT folks crushing 20+ miles a day, but hey, it's still some grueling stuff our first week out!  As planned the night before, we woke up early to get the bleep out of our buggy campsite. Actually, now that I think of it, our particular patch of lush tent space is a bit reminiscent of the classic film, A Bug's Life, in which the bugs were much funnier than in our real life version. We were out by 7am, which is late by some standards, but we are getting faster and faster at breaking camp.  So with few words, we kept our mosquito headnets on for quite some time as we climbed upward toward Donahue Pass. The ascent offered incredible views, and in retrospect, the hardest part was really the section we knocked out at the end of yesterday's hike.

Beginning the climb

Finally above the Mosquitos

I think I speak for the both of us when I say that the climb up Donahue felt incredible. Perhaps it was the delicious, nutritious meal we had the night before, or the escape from the vicious skeeters. Either way, we powered up that pass. We were at the top by 9:30am, at which point we were seriously craving some breakfast.  We found a nice rocky perch overlooking the other side of the pass, and miraculously, I noticed that we had cell reception. As much as I completely relish this time apart from technology, it was pretty sweet being able to FaceTime my family from a mountain pass. Sorry I missed you Mom!  It was great to hear the voices of Ryland, Lauren, and my dad.  So there we sat, eating and showing off our amazing vista. I was disappointed to discover the Thai chili lime almonds I bought at trader joes were too spicy for me to eat, as they comprised a sizable chunk of my planned daily calorie intake. Word to the wise: test out your food! Never fear, we packed plenty of (too much) food.  On a separate note, I have heard many the warning not to trust marmots, but I have to admit, those little guys are some of the absolute cutest things alive! I'll keep a watchful eye on my food though...

Up, up, and up

Looking back down toward Lyell canyon

Crossing over from Yosemite into Ansel Adams Wilderness stop Donahue

Our first shot of a curious little marmot

Rush Creek Drainage

Panorama of other side of Donahue Pass

Half an hour flew by—I swear I could have napped there for hours—and we decided to get a move on.  I saw little wisps of clouds above and wanted to ensure we didn't get caught in any terrible weather again.  Heading down the south side of Donahue into the Rush Creek drainage was one of the best stretches of trail we've experienced thus far.  The landscape mimicked what I can only describe as a cross between a well-kept mini-golf course and Alice in Wonderland, where every grassy knoll could feasibly house the rabbit hole. The streams were flowing, the sun was shining, the sounds were charming...it was just too perfect.

#SelfieSaturday

We're having a rockin' time!

The lovely mountains

I guess it defeats the purpose of taking off my ridiculous hat if it's displayed so proudly in the foreground...my bad.

And so we proceeded down down down until we hit the bottom of the ascent to Island Pass. At this point in the afternoon more clouds had formed and I suspected we might have to contend with some more interesting (maybe not the best word) weather.  By the numbers, this pass is not particularly impressive. It's not the tallest, steepest, or longest, by any stretch. But the trail up is so utterly full of gnarled tree roots that the wind Donahue had previously blown into our sails during the morning was quickly robbed by Island pass. We trudged to the top where we sat by a small lake and ate a snack. We were tired, in poor moods, and I dropped our fuel bottle in the water. Not a big deal in hindsight, but an added insult to injury in the moment.  And just our luck: it started to rain.

After the long slog to the top of Island Pass

Maddie atop Island Pass

It started out as a light drizzle. But I had been watching the clouds all day and the sky was changing rapidly. We headed down toward Thousand Island Lake as the thunderstorm erupted from where we'd just been. It was a bit eerie, but the sound of thunder is thrilling nonetheless.  As much as Maddie and I were looking forward to swimming in Thousand Island Lake, we were forced to continue walking down the adjacent ridge longingly gazing at it's shimmering water. It looked dazzling.  

Dark, ominous clouds converging on us

Thousand Island Lake!

It was early enough in the day that, rather than set up camp, we decided to continue slogging through the rain to reach our goal of Garnet Lake.  We passed beautiful Emerald Lake and Ruby Lake, but by the time we made our last ascent to Garnet, Maddie needed her foot retaped. It was at this moment that I think we both reached our day's low point. My hip belt was rubbing the skin raw (I abjectly failed at my pre-trip weight gaining goal), the skin on my heels was sloughing off, and my back was giving me a bit of trouble.  I was assured by my doctor and physical therapist that my slightly bulging disk would not pose a threat to my trip, but one of my belt loops has been pressing right on the trouble spot.  Maddie, meanwhile, has raw spots on the pads of her feet. So we stopped as I knelt down to fix her feet. It was wet, cold, and we both just wanted to sleep.  Our charge to Garnet was made that much more stressful by the fact that we were essentially racing other hikers to find choice campsites. Finally after some tough searching, I claimed a decent spot right next to the lake. 

Descending to our home for the night: Garnet Lake

In an erratic manner I've noticed to be entirely befitting of the Sierras, the weather eased up suddenly and our plans to jump into the tent morphed into a quick dip in the lake before cooking dinner. While cooking I took a cool picture of my cooking pot with Mounts Ritter and Banner in the background. I then thought it would be a cool segment to do here and on instagram, so I present to you the first installment of #PlacesMyPotGoes.  We'll see where it finds itself next!!

Took a dip when the sun showed itself for a few minutes

On Banner, on Ritter, on Donner and Blitzen!  #PlacesMyPotGoes

Some curry for ma lady

Last of the sun we saw before retiring for the evening

So today's been a long one, and I'm thoroughly happy to be in bed. And now my hands are tired from this blogging thing. So goodnight! We miss you all very much!

Conquering our first major pass together. I guess there's a metaphor in there somewhere but I'm too tired to figure it out.