The best part about getting dressed today - clean liner socks!! The world gets real simple when you're on a trip like this :). Great breakfast of a variety of cereals, fresh blueberries & bananas, real milk, etc. And then we said bye-bye to Sierra, the truck and civilization.............
The original plan for today was to take the ferry back to where we were picked up yesterday and then retrace a couple of miles of footsteps until we were back on the JMT. Then we would ascend a steep uphill (Bear Ridge) before finding gentler terrain on top of the ridge. Rumour has it that there were about 97 switchbacks to get us up this climb. Seems this was a random number perhaps made up after consuming a few rehydration beverages. The guidebook says the number is "only" 57. Katie and Alex said it would have been our toughest day of the entire trip. However, they ran into an old friend last evening who is a packhorse operator and he recommended a different route - one that several of the other hikers I spoke to were going to take. Our next resupply is not for another 5 days, so our packs are the heaviest they have been yet. I just don't know why they can't arrange for the re-supplies at the tops of passes, rather than in the valleys! There was a scale outside the general store that we used to weigh our packs, just out of curiosity. Mine was 48 pounds. I was right in the middle. The rest of the women ranged from 36 to 42 and the men ranged from 48 to 58 (lots of camera equipment in that one!). Our guides were in a class by themselves - Katie's was 66 pounds and Alex's was 76 pounds!
We started out by piling into the "prisoner van" once again for a ride from VVR, along the dam, to the Bear Creek Cutoff trailhead.
We climbed about 700 feet over the first few miles, through lovely forest with some views back to the lake/puddle.
Then it was back down a bit and we followed the beautiful Bear Creek pretty much the rest of the day. I'm so glad we went this way - Bear Creek was gorgeous! It was a pretty good trail in most places; a bit of a challenge in others. The whole way was very pretty, though, and we had lots of great views of the creek with many cascading waterfalls of various heights. There were also a few swimming holes along the way. We had a rather extended stay at one as Alex, Katie, Mike T, the Professor and Jane all went in and then had to dry out again before we got going once more.
We scored a great lunch spot - double waterfall and a sandy beach. It was a short stay, though, as we still had lots of miles to make before camp.
After lunch we veered away from the creek and went straight uphill for over 800 feet. I found this part, especially, really taxing. It was rocky, with large steps; it really wore me out! But - according to Alex - it was still worth it to avoid the 97 switchbacks on the other route......
It was another hot day out there, and a long time between water breaks. I had chosen to bring two water bottles rather than use a bladder on this trip. If I were to do it again, I would keep at least some of my water in a bladder. With only the water bottles on the side of my pack I am either reliant on the kindness of others to reach the bottles for me, or I have to stop and take my pack off to reach them myself. I don't often do the latter and when the whole group stops everyone is happy to reach my bottles for me. But when we have long stretches between group stops, then I tend to get a bit parched. Thankfully a lot of of our route today, particularly in the morning, was in the shade.
We were back in Jeffrey pine territory for part of the day and there were also tons of wildflowers in places.
The growth became quite thick at times, and the flies & mosquitoes worsened throughout the day. Of course they did - I sent my bug repellent back with Sierra this morning...... Once we joined the JMT again for the last 3 miles of the day, the footing improved but the bugs did not!
After one last stream crossing about a mile out, we had a gradual uphill to our camp at Upper Bear Creek Meadows.
I was pooped by the end of the day, and my feet were feeling beat up from the rocky terrain! The mosquitoes at camp were horrendous!! Dinner was Indian - coucous, lentils, butter chicken, naan bread, mango chutney & cream cheese. Really very good; except for the mosquitoes! Almost everyone made a quick retreat to their tents right after dinner. In fact, quite a few entirely missed the appearance of the oreos. Not to worry - a few folks made sure they wouldn't be weight in a pack tomorrow. This became a bit of a sore point for the rest of the trip!
How very quickly that clean feeling has disappeared! No laundry tonight, although I did manage a bath. A late-ish arrival in camp and a need to barricade myself inside my tent took precedence over clean clothes.
Stats for the day - about 12 miles, 3140 feet up and 1240 feet down. Elevation at Upper Bear Creek Meadows is about 9500'.
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