On day thirteen Molly and I had the pleasure of hiking over Muir Pass and past the splendid lakes that lie in it’s shadow to the north.  Wanda Lake, named for John Muir’s eldest daughter is home to a rare treat, frogs living at 11,500′.  As we walked past Wanda lake we were startled by the plop, plop, plop of frogs jumping into the lake as we passed by.  We stopped to admire the frogs living in this relatively inhospitable environment.  Check this post for more on the Mountain Yellow Legged Frog.

Muir Pass was in my opinion one of the easiest 12,000′ passes along the trail, the final ascent from Evolution Lake is just 1200′ and it is a very gradual slope all the way up.  While I was reminiscing about the Muir Pass summit experience I began to realize that more often than not I felt that reaching the summit of each of the eleven passes was relatively easy.  Why were they “easy”?  I think it has a lot to do with the strategy we used while hiking the trail.

Like most others who hike the JMT we had an itinerary planned long before we even set foot on the trail.  That itinerary remained unchanged for exactly one day before we modified it for our hiking strengths and weaknesses.  Pretty early on we decided to attack the big climbs in sections.  The basic strategy is to look at the passes and plan to hike up approximately half of the required elevation on one day, then camp and hike up the rest the next day when you are fresh and relatively full of energy.  But like the saying goes hike your own hike and follow a strategy that works for you!

8-8-2009
Once again I woke up with a sore throat and felt weak much of the day.  I tried sleeping without socks last night and that did not work very well, my feet froze.  We had only a 1200 foot ascent to Muir Pass but every foot was amazing.  The lakes were a gorgeous teal blue that Molly said looked unnatural.  The Climb to the pass was easy and the descent was long but not too difficult.  In my mind Silver Pass still holds the record for worst descent.  We are camped near Big Pete meadow and are taking advantage of the altitude with a warm campfire.

Today I am happy to be announcing the availability of a new collection of limited edition prints.

The images in this collection were taken during a restorative 20-day hike of the John Muir Trail in California’s Sierra Nevada during July and August, 2009. When I set out to hike, I expected to find jagged peaks, winding streams, and blooming flowers.  I found those things and more: stunning beauty, peace, wildness and the renewal of a soul sapped by human conflict.

Each of the 13 images in this collection is limited to editions of 25 prints and is available exclusively from Gallery La Mesa.

I invite you to come and view the prints with me during the opening reception.  I’m happy to discuss style, technique, equipment or anything else photographically related.

If you cannot join me for the reception you are welcome to visit the exhibit anytime until April 3.  I would be more than happy to view the prints with you at another time, just give me a call.

What: Fountains of Life Opening
When: February 19, 6-8PM (Opening Reception)
Where: Gallery La Mesa 8808 La Mesa Blvd, La Mesa, CA 91942 619.462.5760

Finding images that compel me to capture them can sometimes be challenging.  Sometimes I try to force an image or take a picture that does not feel right, those images very rarely turn out to be something that I am proud of.  Other times images come at me in a flood and it takes all of my concentration to make sure all of the technical aspects of image capture come together.  One of the good days was August 7 when we were hiking through the Evolution Range.
I felt ill the whole day but really wanted to make it to Evolution Lake before we stopped for the day, and I am really glad we made it there.  As the golden hour came the mountains were wrapped in clouds and set aglow by the setting sun.  The scene felt natural and I was able to find several compelling compositions in the span of an  hour.  As a photographer, these are the days I live for!

8-7-2009
I don’t know what is going on but I still feel sick!  I still have a sore throat and still feel low on energy.  Sick or not we still gained 2800 feet and walked 12+ miles for the day.   We passed 130 miles in total today and I am determined to finish this hike!  I did not take many pictures today, mostly because I was focusing all of my energy on hiking.  When we arrived at Evolution Lake a spectacular sunset unfolded and I quickly rattled off a hundred frames or so.  We found a neat wind sheltered spot for our tent but in the process of pitching the tent I broke one of the guy lines.  I fixed it with a square knot and then found someone’s discarded shoe string.  That shoe string may come in handy.  Just before we came over the crest to Evolution Lake we heard the “Cheeseburger Bird” for the first time.  I was really starting to doubt the existence of this bird until I heard the unmistakable song.

When We were relaxing at VVR a weather report came in that was somewhat alarming.  The Dweeb Report (yes that is what it is called) was predicting a weather freak-show starting on the sixth.  Predictions were for three to six inches of snow down to seven thousand feet with substantially more on the passes.  A report like this presents a difficult decision for backpackers and an especially important decision for backpackers who pack as light as Molly and I do.

We are not equipped for snow travel so in the event of snow we would likely be holed up in our tent for a couple of days until it warmed up again.  Several backpackers decided to extend their stay at VVR to see how the weather played out.  I spoke with a couple attempting to hike the JMT with their two young children, they had decided to end their trip at VVR.  They had already been trapped in a hailstorm on Donahue Pass and were concerned about hypothermia in the event of a snowstorm.  Us?  Well, ever the skeptic i decided to ignore the weather report and continue Hiking.  I had bailout points marked on the map and was ready to live with the decision.

As it turned out there was no snow, no rain, just some clouds and a ten degree drop in temperature for a day.  Seldon Pass was EASY Molly and I both felt like we just flew up the pass and cruised down the other side.  In retrospect I think Seldon Pass is the easiest pass of the entire trip.

8-6-2009
Last night I had dreams about being sick and that led to me feeling ill again this morning.  We slept in so that I could recover and finally got up around 8:00.  I felt 90% but still have a scratchy throat.  Most of the day was cold and cloudy, especially the hike up to Seldon Pass.  Once late afternoon came the clouds had mostly disappeared but it was about ten degrees colder than normal.  The day’s hiking was easy and I kept thinking that Seldon Pass was the Yin to the Silver Pass Yang.  Tonight might be our last campfire as we are mostly going to be above 10,000 feet from here on.

8-3-09
Great Day!
I see a pattern forming.  When we get on the trail early we tend to have excellent days.  Last night was cold (-2 C according to our British friends) and it was difficult to get going but we did and were on the trail by 7:00.  Throughout the day we leapfrogged with the British guys and an extended family on a week long trip.  We saw the kids that were doing the yo-yo while we were stopped at Duck Creek.  We stopped at Purple Lake for a rest.  I took some pictures and  “washed” my shirt.  At Victoria lake we stopped for dinner and a shower.  The shower was cold but it felt great to be clean.  We camped (Note:  I just asked Molly to get me my headlamp and she told me to bugger off!) near Fish Creek, had a dessert of pudding and saw an awesome sunset!

In my last post I talked generally about the equipment that I carried on the trail.  Today I’d like to review a few standout pieces of equipment.
Selecting ultra light equipment is unfortunately not as simple as going down to REI and picking out the one that fits best, works best or looks best.  Most ultra light equipment manufacturers sell only from their website and advertise only via modern day word of mouth.  It took me a long time researching this and that to finally determine what equipment i was going to use.  In order to save you some time here are my recommendations.

Backpack- Gossamer Gear Mariposa Plus
Selecting the backpack was probably the single hardest decision.  The pack had to hold all of the other items and do it comfortably.  Additionally it had to withstand the abuse I was going to subject it to over three weeks and 230+ miles.  I read several reviews of the previous versions of this pack and it seemed with the 2009 version they had worked out all of the issues with the older versions.  As soon as the Mariposa Plus arrived I filled it up with its hiking load and was releived to find that not only would it carry all of my gear it would also carry a Wild Ideas Weekender inside!
On the trail the Mariposa plus was consistently comfortable with my typical load of ~24 lbs(including camera gear).  Molly and I each carried a bear canister.  We had one Wild Ideas Weekender and one Bear Vault BV 500.  The Bear Vault is more comfortable when carried in this pack due to its slightly smaller diameter.  If I were to d it again I would add 6 ounces and carry the Bear Vault.  I really liked the external mesh pockets, they were perfect for stuffing unused clothing layers for easy retrieval.
By the end of the hike there were a few spots in the main compartment fabric that had either suffered a puncture or abrasion damage.  The ripstop fabric was very effective at preventing the spread of damage.  The damaged sections did not impact the function of the pack in any way, however if it had rained the damage would have let water in.  Whe we returned home I emailed Gossamer Gear and told them about the damage, the replied quickly and said send it in.  Two weeks later I had the backpack back in my hands ready to use.  They had gone through the packs with a fine toothed comb and fixed every damaged location no matter how minor.  I was very impressed with their service.

Sleeping Bag- Montbell Ultra Light super Stretch #3
In my mind a sleeping bag is successful if it keeps you warm when it’s cold and lets you breathe when it’s not.  The Montbell Sleeping bag did that very well in my mind.  This bag squishes down into a package just slightly larger than a nalgene bottle and then fluffs up enough to keep you warm on a 30 degree F night.  I was cold one night during the trip.  That night Molly and I decided to sleep Just below trail crest on Mt Whitney at an elevation of 13,550 ft.  That night the temperatures got into the low 20′s or perhaps the teens, temperatures far below what the bag was designed for.  While I was cold I did not die and was able to sleep reasonably well.

Clothing-Merino Wool
I tried merino wool for the first time this trip and I am hooked for life.  There are several manufacturers of this stuff (I guess I mean processors as sheep are probably considered the manufacturers), but we got ours from Icebreaker.  There are many amazing things about merino wool but my favorite two are; a lack of odor and warmth even when wet.
We washed our clothes every three or four days but this did not prevent my Railriders Nylon shirt from becoming soo nasty that I refused to wear it on the last day.  The Icebreaker shirt in contrast never held an odor and never made me want to vomit.  If I were to do it again I would wear a very light weight Merino Wool shirt instead of the Railriders Eco Mesh shirt.

8-2-09
Heavy Day.
Today was scheduled to be an easy day and for the most part it was.  We slept in and did not get on the trail until 10:00 or so.  We had a light breakfast in anticipation of the big lunch ahead at Reds Meadow  We arrived at Reds Meadow right at noon and immediately checked on our resupply package.  Along with our package was a note from Dad and the $20 I had lent him for the bus after he lost his wallet.  He had found his wallet right where Mom said it was.  Lunch was good but maybe a little bit too much food.  I had a bacon cheeseburger and a chocolate malt it was yummy!  While at Reds Meadow we met a guy named “Boots” who was hiking portions of the JMT/PCT and taking pictures of everyone he met along the way.  He took pictures of me fixing up Molly’s blisters which were pretty bad today.  The Hike to our camp at Deer Creek was easy but my pack weighs more now than it has so far.  I look forward to eating some food and lightening the load a bit.  Deer Creek has tons of mosquitoes and this led us to have our first campfire.  The campfire was surprisingly  pleasant!  Tomorrow will likely be longer than scheduled.

I have been hiking for as long as I can remember, for most of those years I have been carrying what I would consider to be a heavy backpack.  Two Years ago when I hiked from Agnew Meadows to Toulumne Meadows was the last time I will ever hike with a heavy pack.  I have made the transition to Ultra Light Packing and have no regrets.  Packing light makes hiking fun, rewarding and sometimes easy.  Well maybe not easy but certainly much easier than it would be with a heavy pack.

While on the trail we frequently passed people who would look at our packs and ask us how we were able to carry such a small load.  I would generally answer by saying,”by only carrying what we absolutely needed.”  It took a long time to decide what I could go without, but the idea that the hike would be easier without superfluous items made the weight cutting easy.  Some days I would miss one luxury item or another but then there were days like 8-1-09 when I was glad to be carrying as little as possible.

On 8-1-09 Molly and I were feeling more tired than the days effort warranted and we ended up hiking about 2.5 miles further than we were planning.  I was so exhausted this day that besides a few snaps here and there I did not take any pictures.  Overall it was a pretty difficult day.  Had we been carrying heavy packs we either would not have gone nearly as far or we would have been utterly exhausted by the end of the day.   Going light made this day a lot easier than it would have otherwise been.

If you are backpacking with more than 35lbs I urge you to check out Backpacking Light.  It is a subscription site but well worth the price.  They have a wealth of knowledge contained on their pages, knowledge that was instrumental in helping me have a successful first ultra light trip.

Our Packing list can be downloaded Here.  You will need Excel to read it.

8-1-09
Exhausted once more!
Today our goal was to make it to lower trinity lake…
We awoke to an amazing sunrise with a glass like Thousand Island Lake reflecting Banner Peak..  After enjoying the sunrise and capturing a few images I started preparing breakfast while Molly packed our gear.  We didn’t get started hiking until 8:30 because we were cooking for four and playing host to Mom & Dad.  Dad lost his wallet (yes Dad brought his WALLET on the trail) and that slowed us down too.  After summiting the ridge  above Garnet Lake there was an amazing view of the Sierra to the south.  Farther on down the hill we talked to a father and son who were very interested in our small and light packs.  The most unexpected part of the day was the super steep climb out of the Shadow Lake area.  We finally made it up to Rosalie Lake where I took a quick plunge to clean up a bit.  We rested for a bit  and then set out for Trinity Lake.  We made it to Trinity Lake without event but there was no clean water there.  We had to continue on another 2.5 miles to Johnston Meadow before we could make camp.  We were both exhausted and I feel like I am more tired than I should be.

During my 2008 Tour in Iraq my vision for the hike changed when while perusing BackpackingLight I learned about the Sierra High Route.  This amazing route travels parallel to the JMT while remaining mostly off trail.  I ordered all of the necessary maps and began to map out the route as described by Steve Roper.  It took several weeks to turn the written descriptions in Roper’s book into a complete plotted route.  I was set and just needed to get home and hike it.  I returned home just before Thanksgiving 2008 and told my wife Molly about the hike and that I would be away for a month during the summer of 2009.  In retrospect I should have anticipated her response.  Molly in no way wanted for me to be away from her for another month after being gone for so long in the past few years.  I was bummed but then a couple of days later Molly asked me if she could come along.  I said sure and changed the plan back to the JMT as this would be Molly’s first long backpacking trip.  During the next few weeks we tossed around possible dates and then in March 2009 we applied for and received our permits.  The hike was on!

7-28-09
Exhausted. Today’s Hike reminded me why I am not a big fan of Yosemite Valley. There were tons of people and it was somewhere north of 100 degrees.  The heat made our 3300′ elevation gain seem like 6000′.  Molly really wanted to climb half dome, I did not.  We climbed to within a half mile of the top when a ranger strongly suggested we turn around due to a storm building to the east.  I was more than willing to turn around.  About 2:00 PM we took a long break by a stream and we both showered using our 4.5 Ounce Sea to Summit Pocket Shower. It felt Great! We then hiked on to our campsite on the side of Sunrise Mountain where we met some very nice LDS Boy Scouts who were quite impressed by our water filter.

Day one on the John Muir Trail was easy.  Well maybe it was easy because we weren’t hiking on the John Muir Trail.  Due to permitting issues Molly and I had to start our hike from Glacier point and spend our first night in the Illilouette Valley.  It was a pleasant five mile loop that led me to my first image of the trip, the image you see to the left.   The image is of a Ponderosa Pine and Wolf lichen growing together.  Wolf Lichen was frequently used as a dye by Native Americans and and it apparently got its name because it was used as a poison to kill wolves in Europe.  We saw a lot of wolf lichen along the trail.  The following is my Journal entry from day one on the Trail.

7-27-09
After three relaxing days, two in Tiburon and one in the Yosemite Lodge (we were upgraded from our hut in Curry Village), we finally started our hike.  We did not plan on starting until tomorrow so I guess we actually started early.  We started from Glacier Point and hiked towards Illilouette.  We observed several deer–2 bucks and 4 does–as well as a few quail. The only difficult section was a stream crossing.  We removed our shoes and waded across barefoot [in retrospect this was a bad idea, the rocky bottom made it almost painful to cross barefoot] halfway across we threw our shoes to the other side and were grateful for the improved balance.  We are camped on the ridge to the east of Glacier Point and have not seen anyone since before the stream crossing.

In the last two months I have been “forced” to do something that is a little bit abnormal for me.  What is this strange thing you say?  Writing.  Yes it has been some time since I had to write anything substantive, but my recent John Muir Trail trip and the writing course that I am taking at school both led me to leave writing exile and re-enter the world of written word.  So in an effort to continue writing and publishing new photos for you all to see I have decided to publish one photo and accompanying words each day.   So Here is day one.

What you see to the left is an endangered frog, a Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog to be exact.  This Frog lives in Wanda Lake high in the Sierra Nevada mountains where by some stroke of luck trout were never introduced.  You see it is endangered because it’s tadpoles can take up to four years to mature into a full grown frog and during those four years the tadpoles make a yummy snack for trout.  In the high sierra you can have trout or you can have frogs not both.  To ensure the survival of the frogs the National Park Service is eliminating trout from certain high altitude lakes and reintroducing the frogs as you can imagine this is controversial with back-country trout fisherman.  I for one am glad that these little critters are being given a shot at survival.