A half-moon night last night which lit up the sky beautifully until it went behind the mountains, at which point the stars shone brightly. A few more clouds in the morning but still a lovely day. It seemed colder than usual last night; had an extra layer on until we got back on the trail. First up - Mather Pass, about 1400 feet above our camp over 4.5 miles.
Leaving our campsite, with Alex in the lead today...............
Gaining elevation as we hike beside Palisade Lakes and then start to leave them behind.........
Looking forward toward Mather Pass (saddle left of centre)
A few more pics of the ever-diminishing Palisade Lakes.....
Meanwhile, the pass is getting closer.
And finally.......... the top of Mather Pass (12,100') by about 10:30. This was the last pass developed for the JMT. Certainly lots of engineering on it. Quite a few big steps and lots of loose rubble. Such wonderful views the whole way and at the top!
Here we go down the other side toward Upper Basin. Lots of engineering and switchbacks on this side.
Hard to even imagine that there's a trail up there.........
Eventually the trail leaves the switchbacks and becomes a gently rolling downhill-trending path.
A few more looks back at "can you believe there's a trail up that?"
And then it's off further downhill to treeline for lunch.
Amazing what a little elevation loss does for a change of scenery..........
We're staying at a campsite tonight that is just past a ford of the South Fork Kings River. It is a beautiful open spot with lots of room between tents and another creek in our backyard. I was in to camp by about 3:30 so lots of time to bathe, do laundry and even rinse my hair out - woohoo! My body is still doing well - no blisters and hips & knees are in good shape. The climbs are hard, but I'm not wiped at the end of the day. So - all is good!
Stats for the day: about 11 miles, 2680 feet up, 3260 feet down. Elevation at camp is right around 10,000'.
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