My JMT hike ended early, trail conditions, new fires, and bailouts.
Well, my hike is over much sooner than planned and I’m typing this from a motel in Fresno. Meanwhile, my truck is on the other side of the Sierras in Mammoth, our car is at Whitney Portal, and my resupply bucket is still at MTR.
We got a late start (around 4 pm), entering at Mammoth Pass to Red Cones as mentioned in the Ferguson Fire thread, and spent our first night at Deer Creek. It was nice and clear the whole way, no signs of smoke except what we could see over the mountains to the northwest. The next day took us from Deer Creek, past Purple Lake and up the climb to Virgina Lake, where we saw the smoke rolling in. It got quite noticeable and began to affect the lungs of my 20 yr old son, who I think was also not quite acclimated to the 10,500’ altitude yet. So we pushed on through past Tully Hole to Fish Creek which is right about 9,000’ altitude. That seemed to help and he started to normalize.
We spent a smoky night there thinking it was blowing over us from the Ferguson Fire. We found out the next day that the smoke was actually from a new lightning strike fire south of Mammoth. Even worse was that my 17 yr old told me that he didn’t sleep at all that night due to his eye itching. I took a look at it......Pink Eye. He’s had it before, but it had been a few years. Our hike was now over and I had to decide on our bailout plan. I didn’t want him spending another sleepless night on the trail if possible.
We were right at the base of Silver Pass, and after looking at the maps I decided that the best plan was to head toward VVR via the ferry at Edison Lake. It was a little smoky in the morning, but generally clear the rest of the day, The 17 year old, who is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion, in tremendous physical shape and would normally hike circles around myself and his older brother, was dragging throughout the day and struggled to make it up Silver Pass. But he gave it everything he had, despite his eye being swollen and shut, and he made me proud. We finally came up wit his trail name....”Cyclops”. After 8 strenuous hours of pushing as hard as he could, we missed the afternoon ferry by barely 5 minutes (we heard the boat engine fire up and pull away) and had to spend the night on the beach at Edison Lake. That evening, the smoke rolled in over Edison Lake and our campsite.
We caught the morning boat the next day and got to Vermilion. The rooms and trailers were all booked up as I thought they would likely be, but they did make us breakfast despite being past normal breakfast hours. I talked to Jim, the owner of VVR about how they normally handle bailouts from the JMT. He said he would arrange to get us a shuttle to Fresno for the next day (which is today). So we had a wonderful New York steak dinner last night, and other than a few incourteous drunks who wandered to their tents after midnight while laughing and talking at the top of their voices, apparently oblivious to those around them who were trying to sleep, we spent a nice night in the tents.
This morning, there were several others who needed to bailout, so Jim asked me if my boys and I would be willing to give up our seats on his arranged shuttle and he would drive us out later that morning. We accepted his offer of a discount on breakfast and, after an outstanding omelette, he drove us down to Fresno in his truck. By the way, if you weren’t aware, the “road” out of VVR, while paved, isn’t really a road. It’s a one lane, pothole filled bump fest for 30 miles and 1.5 hours or so before hitting the main road for another 70 miles into Fresno. Jim is a great guy who told us stories about VVR, some of the interesting guests he’s had, and his experiences running the resort. Make sure you meet him if you go there.
So anyway, my JMT hike ended sooner than planned, but we had fun and it was a good lesson on knowing your bailout options should one become necessary. We got drops for my son’s eye, and I expect him to get much better sleep tonight. I have to rent a car tomorrow, drive it over Sonora Pass (the 120 is still closed) pick up my truck in Mammoth, and drop the rental car off at the Mammoth Lakes airport. Then we need to pick up our car at Whitney Portal and drive both back down to Southern California. I may make this a 2 day thing.
To those planning a JMT hike in the next couple weeks, you will almost certainly encounter smoke to some degree, regardless of where you start or your direction of travel. Most people we talked to on the trail just hiked on through it. They did not seem too bothered by it and did not intend to change their plans. It only bothered us on the climb southbound after Purple Lake, although it seemed to only bother my son when combined with the altitude. I personally didn’t find it too uncomfortable, although I’d certainly prefer to hike in the normally clean Sierra air.
Temps are a little warm during the day on the northern half of the trail, mid 80’s, but not too chilly at night, with our nights mainly being in the low 40’s, possibly high 30’s at Deer Creek. My 25-35 degree JRB quilt was plenty comfortable, and I‘m generally a cold sleeper. I suspect it’s a bit chillier at night in the higher altitudes on the southern part of the trail.
Now to plan for next years JMT hike.....
