A lighter climb day rather than the hardest day
Day | Miles | Point A to Point B | Elevation gain | Loss of altitude |
June 8 | 10.54 miles | Just below Guitar Lake to Tyndall Creek | 1,706 feet | 1,909 feet |
June 9 | 13.37 miles | Tyndall Creek to Vidette Meadow | 2,283 feet | 3,547 feet |
Read more of my John Muir Trail chatter here.
YouTube vlogging
Before I launch into my chatter on the track; check out my vlog from days 3 and 4.
Day 3
Date: June 8, 2021
Just below Guitar Lake to Tyndall Creek
10.54 miles | Elevation gain: 1,706 feet | Elevation loss: 1,909 feet
Day 3 Hiking
Day 3, I woke up with barely a voice; this always happens in the backcountry, especially when we are very tired, but we had a pretty long day the day before summiting Mt. Whitney and all. We ended up staying under Guitar Lake for the night since it was more closed and we wouldn’t do it. I don’t have to worry about the wind. This day was one of our easiest days in terms of elevation gain, being the same uphill as downhill.
Highlights of the day
Bighorn Plateau: Reaching this point was pretty cool because we could see Whitney on the other side and it’s this big open space with 360 degree views of the mountains around us.
Wallace Creek: Dip your toes in the small creek and take a break for lunch.
Reaching Tyndall Creek: Although a bit crowded; Reaching the site and crossing Tyndall Creek was incredible. When we arrived at the site, we immediately set up camp and went to stock up on water for the night and dinner, clean up camp, and have a quick rinse in the creek.
The groundhogs, we are definitely used to people because they easily approached us from 5 feet away.
Day 4
Date: June 9, 2021
Tyndall Creek to Vidette Meadow
13.37 miles | Elevation gain: 2,283 feet | Elevation loss: 3,547 feet
Day 4 Hiking
To be honest, I was more nervous about this day than Mt. Whitney. Forester Pass is the most difficult pass on the entire trail. I’m tired just thinking about the elevation gain and loss that day. It was a very cold and windy day that really wore me out and I was looking forward to getting into an enclosed space with trees to protect myself from the wind and relax a bit. The trail to Forester was unique and very steep. I can’t explain it as well as the pictures, but the pictures don’t do it justice. It was such a cool pass! Once we passed Forester, my first thought was: wow, I’m glad I didn’t have to go through that; the trail seemed much more difficult to climb from the north.
Highlights of the day
Forester Pass: Obviously climbing the hardest pass on the trail was amazing once we were done, but we had a lot of work to do on the descent.
Nap by the stream: one of the best The quick naps I took were along the creek after the long, crazy descent.
Deer: encountered a small herd of deer on our way near the camp.
Passing many campsites: I found it very interesting on this part of the trail there were so many campsites lined up along Bubbs Creek. I kept saying let’s stop here, let’s stop here, let’s stop here. We decided to go all the way to the junction where we would reach the Kearsarge Pass junction the next day, as we had an early morning climb up to Glen Pass.
I hope you enjoyed my chatter, check back over the next few days as I finally gather my thoughts and research this journey.
Happy adventures!
Annette