John Muir Trail Day 9: Trust No One

JMT Day 9 — 8/12/24
Bear Ridge Rim to Senger Shoulder
Bear Creek Cowboy Camp to Big and Empty Camp
JMT miles: 11.3 miles
JMT total: 80.8 miles
Elevation change: 2,149ft gain, 1,545ft loss

What was bothering me? Why was I in such a bad mood? The day had just begun, but as the morning dragged on and we packed up camp I could feel stress building inside my chest. Was I worried about the longer distance that we needed to hike today after stopping short of our plan last night? The distance should still be easily achievable. Was it the crink in my neck from my crappily piled pillow? Was it that I lost the spare o-ring for our stove somewhere in the dirt? No, that was a false flag. Aside from the minor littering infraction, that didn’t matter in the slightest. So what was going on?

I hiked behind Flower Power in the cool morning shade trying to identify and move past this anxiety, but it was sticky. When a dude hiking in the opposite direction left the trail to walk around us rather than let us stand aside, I judged him hard. “Plenty of room for all of us,” he said, gesturing to the forest at large. Yeah, well if you don’t mind jacking up the trail and making it worse for everyone, I thought, letting him perform his stupid little maneuver while glaring silently. His mindset was shortsighted and irresponsible, sure, but I had my own thing going on today, so I tried to forget that he existed.

Hard to believe I could be in a crummy mood this morning in a place like this.

A short stretch further, I put my hand on the trunk of a mighty ponderosa pine. The crusty crumbles of chunky bark poked my palm and I looked up along its length, taking a deep belly breath and releasing it slowly. This pondy was a different shade than usual, a deep foxy red that matched the beautiful fuzzy mane of the surrounding juniper trees. They were flashy and undeniably attractive, so I understood where this mimicry was coming from. Juniper red was so hot right now. I released our brief bond and moved on, taking a few more deep breaths. I still didn’t know what held my heart in a bind, but its grip was releasing and I let the stress go. No need for it now.

Not a ponderosa. Just a pretty juniper.

The trail following Bear Creek was as pretty and smooth as we hoped it would be. After yesterday’s grind, we were all in for a smooth cruise rather than a struggle through epic scenery, and we got just that for a glorious few miles. The widely spaced pine gave my mind space to mull, and the rushing water tumbled with an infectious joy down slabs of layered granite. Even though we were working upstream, the miles came easy and my brain unconsciously worked out its knots. By the time Flower Power and I reached the confluence of Hilgard and Bear Creeks just after the Lake Italy trail junction, I wasn’t just feeling like myself again, I felt better than usual. This could probably be explained by the caffeinated Clif Bar I’d just inhaled, but I prefer to thank the power of Bear Creek. We stopped for a snack and to dunk our feet. I was looking forward to the day now.

Across the mighty Hilgard.

After safely navigating a water crossing notorious for danger, things were truly looking up for the AtHome-Flower Power duo. Both figuratively and literally. From here the trail steepened for the final few miles to Selden Pass. It had been one of the more forgettable places on my PCT journey, so I looked forward to seeing it again with a fresh perspective. Our experience at Tully Hole two days prior had proven that younger me was an unreliable judge of gorgeousness, so I was excited to find him wrong again.

And how wrong miles-crazed me had been. What do 25-year-olds know anyway? That fool had flown through the pocket meadows and granite playground like they were a dime a dozen. Sure the mosquitoes had been hell, and Selden Pass held a less overt beauty than the bigger southern passes, but this spot ruled. Huge peaks and wide ramparts of vertical granite rimmed the top of the valley. Flowers exploded around us on the terraces of hardy grass. The stiff breeze rustled the tired stillness of the past few days. There was not a mosquito to be found. And then there was Marie Lake. Just when we thought it might never appear, we crested the granite rim, stubbled with twisted pine half the height of their siblings lower down. Like Thousand Island Lake, smooth granite breached the azure waters. Like Garnett Lake, it sparked below spires of white granite. Unlike either of them, I didn’t want to swim in Marie’s waters. For once it was chilly, with a fat cloud perched between us and the sun, and the breeze was now a wind. The ripples heralded each fresh gust, bringing with them a delightfully uncomfortable chill.

Yep, no memory of this place from the PCT. What’s up with that?

This surface was the trail for a little bit. Geology nerds delight!

Yay, Marie Lake!

Looking across the windy water to Recess Peak.

Still full from our lunch break, we pushed south to finish off the pass. I followed Flower Power along the shore then onto the final switchbacks to Selden. At each turn I learned a little more how confused I had been so many years before. Now that I was more familiar with these mountains after the Sierra High Route, I couldn’t stop turning around to wonder at the pointed summits. Seven Gables I knew well — it had been the prize of my first off-trail backpacking trip — but many others were just familiar names. Now that I was chugging along the JMT, I wished that I had spent the time to summit them when they were within reach, but those thoughts were unrealistic. Life is full of unrealized opportunities only revealed by hindsight.

Red Slate Mountain was the big kahuna that had gotten away, and it reared its prominent domed summit across the Silver Divide as we neared the pass. One day, I thought. One day I’ll visit.

Almost to Selden Pass. How I was disappointed with this view in 2015, I’ll never know.

Selden Pass in 2024 was a good one. Good views, good vibes. On top were two NOBO JMTers, and though they were gregarious, I couldn’t help but self-righteously think to myself that they were all wrong after they claimed that their direction was the way to go. I’d done the JMT NOBO after all, or most of it during the PCT, so I knew the gradual letdown as the mountains shrunk between Whitney and Tuolumne. But hey, there really isn’t a wrong way to do it. I was just thrilled to be heading south.

Chilled, Flower Power and I scooted down the other side, speeding past Heart Lake to the protective trees along Sallie Keyes Lake. With a half dozen Big Agnes tents poking through the trees like giant red mushrooms, it was an easy choice to push a mile further to the next campsite.

Down we go. Almost done with section two.

Around Heart Lake.

Around Sallie Keyes Lake.

Although it was large enough to sleep everyone we’d met on the trail so far, the sandy spots were all empty. We picked the best one closest to the views and set up for the night. High on the valley rim, we were practically on top of Muir Trail Ranch (MTR) where we planned to resupply and rest tomorrow. It would just be a short, four-mile descent in the morning. In the distance was an intriguing new horizon of mountains, and we both spent plenty of time staring in their direction as the sun dipped and faded to pink. Goddard was the big one. We’d be going left of its wide bulk in just a couple of days.

All the action might be at Sallie Keyes tonight, but this spot is pretty sweet.

Flower Power doing her thing and checking out the view.

Alpenglow on the Goddard Divide.

Beans and couscous filled me up. The cold night knocked me down. Even though it was only 8:30pm, there was nothing left to do but turn in for the night, wondering where all the other hikers were. Two things I did know, I ended the day feeling way better than I had in the morning, and 2015 Owen doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Remember the classic adage, “You can’t trust hikers”? Yeah, well it looks like I can’t trust myself either.

This post was originally published on my blog hikefordays.com. Check it out for trip reports from my other hikes including the AT, CDT, and Sierra High Route.