Trail Stats
Name: JMT Day 8: Vermilion Valley Resort – Bear Creek Junction (via Bear Creek Trail)
Where: Sierra Nevada, California
When: August 7, 2014
Distance: 10.3 miles. 1200′ elevation gain.
Journal Entry:
This morning we had breakfast and I finally got my pancakes (yay!). The hiking was F-ing hard. My pack weighed 45lbs which is probably 20 more than yesterday. It was brutal. I sucked and took forever. We also got hailed and rained on. The skies are now all rumbling and cracking. My back is aching. My feet are aching. And my ankle is worryingly sore. We can’t have a fire tonight. I think I’ll spend the evening in the tent being depressed and sore. Tess saw a bear just down from where we’re camping.
I hate my pack.
Yikes. That was a little embarrassing to type out.
After our half-rest day at VVR and the luxury of lounging around on soft things, eating delicious food, and cleaning ourselves, it was a bit of a punch in the stomach to start hiking again. Since this was our only resupply point on the trip, our packs were weighed down with 12 days of food.
We opted to take Bear Ridge Trail back up to the JMT, as suggested by the folks at VVR, rather than taking the ferry back across the lake. So, technically, this day isn’t even part of the JMT.
The trail up Bear Creek was actually very beautiful. For much of the way, you travel next to the bubbling, glistening, crystal-clear creek. There are ample opportunities for taking breaks on the banks and dipping your feet. We met quite a few hikers along this trail, including a couple of backpackers out with their dogs.
Unfortunately, the weather turned bad again by early afternoon and we hiked for the rest of the day in rain and sometimes hail. So far, it had rained every afternoon on the trail and we were getting a little sick of it. Every photo and guidebook of the JMT we had seen while doing our research had shown perfectly-clear and bright-blue skies. Lies!!
Late in the day we came upon a group of three older hikers. We stopped to chat. One of the guys noticed that we were hiking in Vibram Five Fingers and told us that he is one of the characters in the book Born to Run which kind of started the barefoot running revolution. Both Tim and I had read the book recently so it was a neat coincidence. The group was headed in to VVR to celebrate one of the guy’s 65th birthday although given the late hour they were concerned that they wouldn’t make it in time for dinner and beers. Tim had bought himself a few beers at VVR and gave a couple to the group as a birthday gift. Tim loves his trail beer so this was a pretty big deal – he’s a good guy!
After meeting that group we shortly came upon the JMT trail junction. This was prime bear habitat and many a hiker we met told us that they had just seen a bear. Much to Tim’s dismay (he had never seen a bear at this point and believed they were mythical creatures) we didn’t see one.
We made camp in a nice big treed area next to the creek. There were a few campers about. The weather was still gray and foreboding so we picked a spot under a big tree and were thankful for the cover. We kept hearing stories about people seeing bears. In fact, two young guys camped a little ways away had failed to screw the lid onto their bear canister before retiring to their tent and another hiker walking past spotted a bear quietly scooping food from the canister just feet from the young guys’ tent!
Late in the evening, a couple wandered into camp looking for a place to pitch their tent. This area was already quite crowded with tents, especially considering that many nights we camped completely alone. We told them they could put their tent up near ours. We chatted with them a little bit but mostly went about our own business — little did we know that we would end up becoming friends!
Unfortunately, it seems that my grumpy mood throughout the day kept me from photographing the beautiful creek and many awesome swimming spots. Whoops.
Starting out on the Bear Creek Cut-off Trail
Disappointing weather. Again.
Tim loves trail beer!
Karen and Tess at camp
Tim in the “kitchen”
Nice little spot.
The evening’s entertainment when fires are not permitted
Tent time
The Hiker Hunger 