DAY 9: Lake Virginia to Mono Creek

You guys, this may very well be the night. "The night for what?" you ask? For a BEAR sighting, I say. One of the older gentlemen with whom we've been leap frogging since yesterday told us he caught a photo of a bear today roaming right where our tent is set up. Don't be alarmed, as they pose virtually zero threat to us and we are practicing bear safety (ie. storing smelly stuff—not including ourselves—away from our tent). It's exciting because it seems like everyone I've met has seen a bear except for me, and let's be honest, that's sort of as thrilling as it gets out here. Don't get me wrong, climbing and earning spectacular views is exciting in it's own way, but wildlife sightings? Come on.

Anyway, you will definitely be kept in the loop on whether or not we see our furry friend reemerge from the woods.  Now back to the beginning of the day.

We left Lake Virginia around 10am. It was a great night of sleep for me, and I sure needed it. As I was falling asleep last night I felt borderline sick, but I awoke feeling quite refreshed. Lake Virginia, besides Yosemite Valley, is one of our absolute favorite spots so far. It would have been damn near impossible to leave had a chilly wind not driven us out after a delightful breakfast overlooking the lake.  

Rock hopping across the inlet of Lake Virginia

Lake Virginia

Panorama of my favorite lake

From Lake Virginia, we began a long series of switchbacks down to Tully Hole.  Unless Tully is another name for mosquito, I'm not sure about why it's called that. It was prettier walking down to it than straight through it, let's put it that way. Speaking of names, Maddie asked an interesting question as to why some lakes have the word "lake" before or after the name (Lake Virginia versus Virginia Lake). I told her I wasn't sure, but after thinking about it, I thought I noticed some sort of a pattern--that if the name is an adjective, it tends to come before (Ruby, Purple, Thousand Island), and if it's a name, it tends to come after (Lake virginia, Lake George). There are obvious exceptions, which leads me to believe that there is no rhyme or reason for the naming, but if you have any thoughts let me know.

Making our way down to Tully Hole

Tully Hole

Maddie

Me

For some reason, bridges are always fun to cross

After crossing the bridge toward Silver Pass, we began our formidable climb, stopping at Squaw Lake to snack for a little as we leapfrogged with the group whose photo we took yesterday.  At that point the views across the valley below were becoming incredible.

Somewhere up there is Silver Pass, at 10,781 feet

Squaw Lake, some 500 feet below the pass

Rock hopping is fun

Maddie at Squaw, one of my favorite lakes so far

Climbing up to the pass

Still climbing...

Token selfie for today

Finally at the top, we enjoyed the views and a group of friendly people joined us at the top. They have been section hiking together and we were all happy to take photos for one another.  It was a nice relaxing 30 minutes or so before we headed down the other side. I think passes are my favorite parts of the trail so far. Yeah it's a lot if climbing, but we've discovered we actually sort of enjoy climbing...it's the downhills we detest.  And this next section was quite the downhill, with over 2000 feet of loss in elevation.  So I put in my headphones and listened to Mindy while we cruised it to Mono Creek.

Finally at the top!

Down the backside of Silver Pass

Silver Pass Lake

Pocket Meadow

Before our final descent to Mono Creek

Beginning the first of many switchbacks

Crossing a sort of waterfall/stream

Selden Pass the day after next!

As we approached Mono Creek, they swarmed once more. The mosquitoes were back. Whereas Maddie has all of 5 bites, I have that many on one small section of my calf alone. Sure wishing Liam were still here...for that AND to play cards with.  

Once we arrived, we set up our tent as fast as we could in our bear sighting spot. As we were doing so, an excited, youngish guy comes up looking for a campsite and starts chatting away. He's going over his itinerary, when the subject of Muir Trail Ranch comes up. For those who don't know, this cozy establishment marks the halfway point of the trail. We will be arriving there in two days, and we are very much looking forward to our stay because we splurged just a little bit and snagged us a coveted private log cabin, a package that comes with cooked meals and access to laundry and hotsprings. Needless to say, we are both extremely excited.  This guy, though, goes on to tell us about some fellow he met who's trying to sell his stay at the ranch to other hikers because he doesn't want it anymore. At the end of it, he goes, "yeah, I mean, who would pay for that kind of stuff?!"  Ummmm, as you might have guessed, the correct answer is, anyone?  Unsure of what to say, we sort of just nodded and said something to the effect of, "totally, who in their right mind would want that," trying our best to sound sincere.  But had this guy bothered to open his eyes for two seconds, he would have realized that he was talking to a girl completely color-coordinated and matching in pretty much every one of her outfit choices, quite the obvious candidate for one who might splurge for a creature comfort here or there on the trail. And so he left us, springing toward another area to search for the "perfect" campsite, leaving Maddie and me grinning.  More food at the ranch for us, then!  

Almost to Mono Creek

Maddie admiring the view

And that's that. It was a long day, and tomorrow's supposed to be longer, with 12.6 miles and over 4000 feet of elevation gain. If completed though, it sets us up the following day for a relaxing stroll into Muir Trail Ranch. Until then, I'm Graham Harris, and you stay classy, internet.

Second major pass conquered together...again, I suppose you could spin a metaphor together here, but whatever, suffice it to say we're having a blast!