John Muir Trail Day 12: What’s the Big Deal About Mather Pass and the Golden Staircase?

We woke up on Day 12 of the John Muir Trail at the foot of Mather Pass feeling energetic enough to actually appreciate the stunning landscape surrounding us. The credit for our good vibes could be directly attributed to the mere 1.8 miles to the top, making this pass the second to last 12,000+ foot summit on our northbound JMT hike. 

(Want to see the people, places and all-around mayhem mentioned in this post? Here’s the Instagram Reel I might regret posting…)

This kind of progress felt so significant that we opted to pack up camp and eat breakfast on the go. We marched along, taking advantage of the fairly flat path to shove food in our faces as fast as possible, before we would have to start breathing hard around it all on the ascent. With every step, we found ourselves visually hunting for the trail often as the rocky path blended in so well, making it all but invisible until we were actually on top of it. 

This was the case as we peered up the face of Mather Pass, attempting to guess where in the fresh hell the trail was actually taking us. Again and again, we tried to anticipate where the pass was, only to be proven absolutely wrong when the trail randomly jogged along parallel, as opposed to taking a direct route with minimal switchbacks to the top.

Once at the pass summit, we looked down at our campsite and the two small lakes we camped next to and marveled at how fast the trail turned everything into mere specks that would soon disappear out of sight.

Having quickly knocked out the 1.8 miles to the top of the pass with surprisingly minimal effort, we barely paused at the top for a quick round of pictures before descending into a breathtaking valley. The trail treated us to a rare moment of somewhat level hiking as we took in the beautiful scenery all around us. We heard the landscapes we would be moving through were some JMT fan favorites and we wholeheartedly agreed.

Along the way, we crossed paths with a southbound hiker who told us that her favorite part of the trail was coming up for us in just a few miles. She told us that we were lucky to get to experience the joy of it as northbound JMT hikers because the beauty is often forgotten for southbound hikers. 

“What do you mean?” I asked the hiker before she moved on down the trail.

“The Golden Staircase and Mather Pass can be one of the hardest parts of the entire John Muir Trail for most southbound hikers. To get to experience it as a descent as opposed to staring down at the next step up and enduring the entire 4,000 feet of elevation gain should be something really special for you both.”  She smiled and wished us well before hiking out of sight. 

We excitedly hiked on, watching as each bend in the trail delivered another picture-perfect moment of stunning scenery. Assorted wildflowers lined the trail as we made our way around Upper and Lower Palisade Lakes and past grazing marmots. The trail led us through what felt like a magical portal into a corridor of jagged rocks so geologically unique that no photograph could ever do those moments justice. 

We chose this area, at the top of the Golden Staircase, to nestle into the shade of an overhanging rock formation. There we sat, enthralled by the fact that we were sitting in the middle of a master-level painting of a mythical place that could only be believed if seen by one’s own eyes. 

A nearby waterfall refilled our empty bottles and acted as our periodic guide throughout our descent down the sun-soaked Golden Staircase. We followed switchbacks filled with steps as the trail meandered towards and away from the falls, carrying us into a rare patch of shade, before thrusting us back into the broiling heat of the mid-afternoon sun.

The more progress we made on our descent of the Golden Staircase, the more we empathized with hikers toiling away on their own ascent. The high-altitude, summer sun had no mercy for those climbing upwards and we often softened the blow when they asked with hopeful eyes if they were close to the top. They weren’t and we felt so bad about delivering that news. They trudged onwards and I silently thanked the permit gods for not giving us the southbound permits we had wished for and, instead, gave us an even better experience of hiking the JMT northbound.

This was not to say that we were not suffering from our own efforts. The JMT spares no one and the repetitive hard steps down the last of the Golden Staircase resulted in feet that felt painfully tenderized. By the time the trail leveled off, I was hobbling along, praying the river we had been following for miles would run right past an available campsite and we would get to cold soak our feet into a blissfully numb state.

This place proved it was indeed magical one last time when we did in fact come upon another campsite favorite with the perfect combination of a river nearby, void of all other human beings and under 10,000’ where we could finally and legally create a campfire.

In record time, we ditched our packs, set up our tent, secured our food, and headed toward the river. The water was glacially cold, making quick work of taking away all feeling in our feet and making us forget that frostbite was bad. 

We managed to not hobble back to our tent and made a huge multi-course dinner before watching the sun set.

The campfire was a special treat we enjoyed until our eyes threatened to close on us involuntarily. We meticulously and oh, so carefully put our fire out, drowning it until there was no doubt left that it was well and truly cold to the touch. 

When night finally descended, we watched through the mesh ceiling of our tent as stars started to wink into view and thanked each lucky one for getting to be there together in every moment we had experienced so far.

Stats for us hiker nerds

Day 12- August 28, 2024 

The base of Mather Pass to the base of the Golden Staircase 

Mountain Pass/Summit: Mather Pass elevation 12,100’

Elevation Gain: Less than 1000’ 

Elevation Loss: 3,332’

Mileage: 10-ish

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