Day 2 on the JMT

Lyell Forks to Garnet Lake jk Rosalie Lake

I am not the “wing it” type. I am that thru-hiker who likes to plan their trip thoroughly.

When I meet people on the trail and they tell me they don’t have a plan and are just popping into towns for food and not sure where they plan to camp the next few days, I act excited for their spontaneity, but I’m actually freaking out on the inside for them. I’m sure they’re fine, but I just wouldn’t be.

I plan the shit out of everything

I plan out my trip so I know what campsites won’t creep me out. I also plan out how many days between towns so I know how much food I have to make, mail, and carry. I plan out all my meals because I want to know I have food I like and can eat. Side note: thru-hiking is a meat-eaters’ paradise, but us vegetarians are lucky if small mountain town stops have a garden burger on their menus. And I have to plan because as a solo hiker, it’s important for people to know where I’m supposed to be.

TLDR, I plan so things don’t suck. But the reality is that surprises happen constantly on the trail, some good and some bad. And today was a surprise 20-mile day when I thought I was only doing like 10. Woof.

My JMT day 2 plan blew up

My plan was to hike from Lyell Forks to Garnet Lake. For months, I had this planned after doing a bunch of research then double-checked the plan a couple of weeks before I left.

Turns out I suck at research, because I never saw posted anywhere that I couldn’t camp where I planned to camp at Garnet Lake. And I didn’t find out until the ranger told me the day before I left on my trip. Yes, I picked up my permit the day before just in case something went wrong – I plan so much I had a plan in case the travel got messed up. But I didn’t have a plan for this.

Finding out I couldn’t camp within ¼ mile of the inlet, I was sure I’d find camping right outside that area. I was going to do something unlike me – I was going to wing it versus spending the whole night before researching a new campsite. Look at me being spontaneous.

And so I headed out on my day 2, Garnet Lake day. I had a beautiful day of the most epic alpine lakes and views.

Over Donahue Pass, a crystal-clear alpine lake where I sat on a rock in the middle of the water and just took in the views. Then on to Thousand Island Lake, Emerald Lake, Ruby Lake.

And finally, Garnet Lake, where I had to walk past the most epic campsite that had my name all over it. It was so perfect.

But my plan to get a spot right outside that no-camping zone was met with restoration / no-camping sign after another. Shit! This is why I’m not spontaneous! It’s okay, I’m fine. Just keep going, a campsite will appear. It didn’t. Or I just didn’t see it  I only spotted a couple of places right off the trail – aka bear highway. I was not stoked to be camping alone right on the trail. So I kept moving.

Surely I’ll find something on the way to Shadow Lake. I knew you couldn’t camp at Shadow Lake because they also said that at the ranger station. But I didn’t worry about it at the time because the plan was never to camp there anyway.

And so I head towards Shadow Lake, figuring I’d find something suitable before the no-camping zone. As I start to head that direction, I check my topos to find out I’m about to get my butt handed to me by a ton of aggressive switchbacks. Switchbacks I was going to have to do when I was already dying at the end of the day – this was not the plan!

This is why I plan the shit out of everything, damn it!

I finally make my way to the top cursing myself for not putting together a plan, sweating and desperate to stop walking because my feet have turned into hamburger meat at this point. That’s when I see the sign saying I couldn’t camp between Shadow Creek and the trail leading up to Shadow Lake. Shit! This was not in the backup plan!

It may sound like I was freaking out. It wasn’t in full panic mode, but the anxiety was up as the sun was starting to go down and I don’t like hiking past 6 or setting up camp late. A little anxiety was probably not a bad thing. It’s probably what got my butt up all those switchbacks pretty fast when I had noseys through my day taking in the views and hadn’t planned for that many miles that day. My anxiety can be a superpower. Lol.

All my planning went to crap, dead tired, hamburger feet, and it’s getting late, I push on to Rosalie Lake where I spot a tent set up. I think I did one of those Fred Flintstone style jumps where my feet kick about, I was so excited. Finally, a solid campsite.

It all ended well after all 

I got to share a lovely massive campsite with Kristine, a solo female hiker who was attempting the JMT for the second time. Had my plans not gone to crap, I wouldn’t have gotten to meet Kristine. So sore feet and plans be damned. Maybe the universe has planned to mess up my plans so I could make a new friend that day. Maybe plans are overrated. Nah. Maybe sometimes.