John Muir Trail Day 24: The Jewels of the JMT and My Most Favorite Part of the Trail Very Few Talk About

The minute I opened my eyes on the morning of Day 24 on the John Muir Trail, I had my sights set on Yosemite National Park. We were within a day of crossing officially into what I thought was the pinnacle of the JMT and I could not wait. What I didn’t anticipate about this thru-hike was that I would actually find a section of the trail that threatened to dethrone Yosemite…and we would be there that afternoon.

The morning was full of sunshine and my husband and hiking partner Cliff and I admired the gloriously royal blue sky as we ate breakfast at our campsite. We packed up in a leisurely way and slung our backpacks on, feeling good about the day ahead of us, no matter that we were sore and tired. It just didn’t matter anymore. We would work with whatever state our bodies were in and keep going, as thru-hikers do.

The trail from Gladys Lake dropped down in elevation and a short while later we arrived at Rosalie Lake. It was a lovely setting and I wished, belatedly, that I had toughed out yesterday’s hike to camp at this beautiful spot, instead.

We hiked past Rosalie Lake, taking it in on the move and soon we were in deep shade as a series of switchbacks dropped us down 650’ to Shadow Lake. We couldn’t resist the beautiful scene as the trail led us around the lake and declared a packs-off snack break.

This was also going to be the lowest elevation of our day so we took a deep breath at the end of our break and got started with the first of many climbs.

As the trail led us away from Shadow Lake, we passed multiple waterfalls, both big and small, which provided us with a much needed distraction from the 1,200’ ascent. 

When the last of the waterfalls fell behind us, high mountain ranges off in the distance competed with the unique geology lining both sides of the trail. Glittering green-veined rocks, in an endless assortment of variations, had me constantly pointing out each one to Cliff. They were stunning and I resisted the urge to pocket armloads of them.

As we hiked on, I noticed that the trail had morphed from consisting of dirt with very few rocks, to that of the most dreaded on the trail: baby heads and pie pieces.

I had heard this terminology from another hiker who described these specific rocks as being the identical shape of a baby doll’s head and a triangular piece of pie.  I’ll up the ante on that description by adding that these rock shapes were clearly possessed and dead set on tenderizing feet, twisting ankles, trashing knees, and throwing our mental health into a downward garbage-disposal spiral. 

Might I also add, should a hiker dare to use their trekking poles to navigate this kind of trail, they should be ready to wrestle them away when each one became ensnared in the cracks between every nightmare rock. 

Ahem.

And so, for what felt like an endless amount of time, we hiked on a challenge course-style trail made exclusively of possessed baby head and pie shaped rocks, broken up only when I mentally snapped and declared FUCK THIS SHIT and another thing- FUCK YOU, Johnny M. and bombed off the trail to one that for some inexplicable reason paralleled our own but was made of fluffy, kind looking dirt. 

In an effort to adhere to Leave No Trace, I attempted a graceful leap from one trail to the other, while Cliff cheered me on with, “NOPE! YOU LEFT A TRACE!” Landing in a heap on the soft secondary trail, I crowed something about how he could stick all the letters L, N and T right up his back door, only to find that the dirt trail extended a few more feet in front of me before joining right back up with the asshole trail. This right here? This is where I’m going to have to admit to leaving a trace when I abandoned both my mind and my husband.

Cliff, on the other hand, chose that exact moment of my defeat to show how agile he was on the trail by moving fast as he surfed along on the baby heads and pieces of pie, leaving me far in his wake. 

“I thought we were hiking partners!” I wailed to his quickly fading back, realizing rock bottom had layers of baby heads and each one was laughing at me on the way down.

He yelled something back that sounded like sarcasm and smelled like shit talking. I lurched over the last of the Trail of Nightmares, sending it a final thank you and kindly go fuck yourself when I crested over a small hill, revealing one of the crown jewels of all of the JMT: Garnet Lake. 

When I laid eyes on this lake and the surrounding area, I realized that this had to be one of the most spectacular scenes I had ever had the honor of seeing. I also understood why Ansel Adams favored this area and why the region was ultimately named after him.

As the trail dropped 300’ down to the lake shore’s edge, I knew in that moment, that I would forever regret not bringing a better camera with me. Out of fear of adding the weight of a D-SLR style camera to my attempt at being somewhat ultra-light, I brought only my iPhone 15 Pro Max for the entirety of the JMT. That was a profoundly bad mistake and one I’ll never make again.

I also understood why the area around Garnet Lake had a strict rule of no camping within 300 feet. The pristine lake and the surrounding area were unspoiled in sheer beauty, only possible by keeping human impact to a minimum.

We paused for another round of snacks, water, energy gel, and caffeine near the shoreline and stared at the beauty all around us before reluctantly moving on. In hindsight, I wished we had spent more time in this area, but there was no way to catch one’s breath when in the presence of stunning scenery that takes your breath away.

The trail climbed up and out of the basin surrounding Garnet Lake and, soon, the scene disappeared from view like a mirage. For a mile, we hiked upwards before cresting another rocky outcropping, only to be led to Ruby Lake. 

We followed this pretty lake for a short while, from an elevated viewpoint before it, too, fell behind us. I worried about us rushing through this section of the JMT but was tempted to keep moving towards what was up ahead. 

The path led us along until we came upon Emerald Lake. This alpine lake was just as gorgeous as Ruby Lake and we paused in stunned wonder, questioning when our tour of alpine crown jewels would end and fearing when it would.  

We hiked along for a while longer until we came to a sign post indicating that the Pacific Crest Trail was joining back up with the JMT. I actually felt bad for those hikers who missed the chain of stunning lakes behind us…until I saw Thousand Island Lake.

If I was feeling moderately regretful before about not spending enough time in any given place on the JMT, I was drowning in regret at that moment. Being granted a do-over, I would have explored every inch of Thousand Island Lakes, while taking such an obscene number of pictures with a pro-level camera that the memory cards and my brain would be smoking from the sheer magnitude of it all.

Jaw-droppingly stunning is how I would describe this lake and the way the mountains framed its beauty. And, no, my iPhone pictures didn’t do it justice.  

Camping was not allowed within 300’ of Thousand Island Lake but from our elevated vantage point on the trail, we could have stayed in the vicinity and still had clear views, but…we were faced with a conundrum. 

We were having a stellar hiking day in which everything was working in our favor. Our bodies were feeling excellent, our feet were hanging in there, fun was being had, and neither Cliff nor I wanted to mess with that magic by stopping. And so we continued on towards our goal of getting as close to the foot of Donahue Pass as possible for a next-day summit.

…and to finally get to step into Yosemite National Park.

Stats for the Hiker Nerds (Like You and I)

Day 24- September 9, 2024 

Gladys Lake to the foot of Donahue Pass

Mountain Pass/Summit: 

Elevation Gain: 3,072’

Elevation Loss: 2,288’

Mileage: 13.5 miles

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Comments 2

  • Nephi : Jan 8th

    I only remember Thousand Island and Garnet lakes, maybe we saw others, but those two were the crowning jewels of the Sierra for me. 30 year old memories from Boy Scout hiking. But just wow. And southbound hiking up the amazing Lyell canyon was beautiful, till I crossed the crest and entered Ansel Adams Wilderness. One of your pictures reminds me of hiking downhill crossing a creek. Ansel Adams Wilderness was the best.

    Reply
    • Bernadette Rankin : Jan 9th

      Ohhh, I totally agree- the jewel lakes and Ansel Adams were both the Crown Jewels FOR SURE! I do have to say that Guitar Lake was a close second. I really loved that area, as well. Did you wind up hiking the whole JMT as a Boy Scout? Thanks for reading and for taking the time to comment!🧡

      Reply

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