07/13/2026 Hike

This was a very long day. I slept in bits and pieces through the night, wasn't great but was adequate. Was comfortable enough, but after all it's still camping on a thin air mattress. The temperature wasn't a problem, which was good (I didn't pack for cold weather). I was awoken around 4:30, Joe and Jason were up, and Mike was getting up. Packed up my sleeping pad and quilt, then I went back up the hill and took a shit in a hole I dug, worked out okay although I forgot my spade and was fortunate enough to remember I'd forgotten it. I went back in the dawning light and was able to find it. Then I went down to have breakfast (coffee, oatmeal with some Gorp, maybe a date) with the others, was a little behind their schedule. Cleaned up my dishes and went back to the campsite. I took the tent down and rolled it up, with help from Joe. Then I laid everything out and started packing it into my backpack. I was ready to go before the others, Jason and Mike hadn't gotten much if any sleep, and I learned later that Mike was congested and feeling run-down. We were moving a little after 6:20, and the early start turned out to be a good thing on a very long day. It was kinda flat, walking through woods for a while before we started climbing out of this watershed and over Duck Pass. At one point, at a little flowing waterfall by a creek that probably exited from Skelton Lake and emptied into Arrowhead Lake, we stopped to filter water. I was feeling pretty good at the start, used my poles for a bit but found I didn't really need them. We stopped pretty frequently. Joe and Mike were slower. Several times I would get ahead and then wait for the others. I think we did a decent job with the breaks, none were too long. I would have taken fewer, but I probably would have regretted that decision. It took us over three hours to get to Duck Pass, including a number of rest stops. On the way up we saw a couple with four dogs, one of them, Bear, a dachshund who was a barker. They got to the top of the pass, then passed us going down while we were on a break there. Saw a scout troop (I think) there as well. During the day we talked to a surprising number of people who were doing seriously long hikes, which I guess should not be too surprising on the JMT and PCT. After the pass we had a long general and gradual descent toward Duck Lake, which is quite large. We didn't get down to its shore until we reached the southern end. Jason and I were out front for nearly all of this segment. There was a good spot to collect and filter water, so we took an extended break here and did that. The trail ascended a little bit before dropping pretty steeply down to a point where the Duck Pass trail intersected with the combined PCT/JMT.  That descent was hard on the others, particularly Mike and Jason, with his surgically repaired hips. But Jason recovered pretty quickly. For a while the trail was relatively flat as we hiked along the mountainside. We met Ranger Kyle there, who looked at our pass and told us some interesting stuff: good campsites and beautiful views at Virginia Lake, not many bears above 8000'. I think it was around here that we stopped on the trail for lunch. I had reconstituted peanut butter (messy and not worth the weight savings) on a tortilla and on a cracker. Had some nuts as well. I had trailed the others for a while here, and it was on this segment, naturally when I was behind the others, that one of my water shoes fell out on the trail. After we continued there was a tester ascent of about 200' before descending to Purple Lake. The last serious climb of the day occurred after we passed by Purple Lake, our original destination for the day. We took a brief break here, and I ate a granola bar. Then we passed by the lake and started an 800' climb to a ridge. I started at the back but passed the others and was working pretty hard, intent on getting this last chore done as soon as possible. Jason slotted in behind me, and for most of the climb he was right there. I gapped him near the end but not by much. When I got to where the ridge flattened out I stopped and waited for him. I was planning on waiting there for the others as well, but he was worried about the possible lack of good campsites at Lake Virginia, so we kept on. There was a little more climbing, quite gradual, before we dropped down to the lake. We met a guy who had started from Kennedy Meadows and was intent on hiking to Canada on the PCT. He told us a different story about the upcoming water crossing that gave me some hope I could do it without getting wet. We dropped down into the meadows by the lake and got across to the water crossing. No way were either of us going to get through it without getting wet. I took my boots, socks, and pant legs off while Jason crossed over. Then he threw one of his shoes back to me so I use it, along with my poles, to navigate the shallower areas by rocks and get across without getting my pants wet. A note about the weather up to this point. We had cloudy weather up to the pass and down to Duck Lake. I think it was around our lunch break that it started raining. We had seen it ahead of us, so it wasn't a surprise. It was heavy enough that I put on my pack cover, as did the others. We got through it and didn't have much more precipitation until we got to Lake Virginia. Then it started to sprinkle, sometimes heavily. So I was damp by the time I made the first water crossing. There was a second one that I did in the water shoes, could have probably done it without getting my boots wet by rock-hopping. Jason followed me after putting his socks and boots on, then we continued on for just a bit before going off the trail and doing a recon for campsites. We found a suitable location, staked our claims, then hiked back to the water crossing, where Mike and Joe had showed up. Apparently, Joe was ecstatic about the prospect of crossing water and getting wet, go figure. They came across and we started the process of setting up camp. Joe didn't like my initial campsite selection, so we moved into a small grove of trees and set up the tent (this spot ended up being a pretty good one, better than my original choice). Mike and Jason set their tent up and then discovered standing water nearby, so they also move from the original spot. Their tent base got wet in the process, but it wasn't a disaster. When I set up the poles in my tent I put the bases in the wrong loops, which ended up causing a major issue. I chalk this mistake up to my mind being more tired than I thought, so I was not on guard for avoiding stupid stuff. I was damp around my neck (jacket had a seam separation here) and in my boots, so I needed to keep moving to avoid getting chilled. I did a lot of water filtering, then we started making dinner. It was raining by this time, and even though our kitchen area was sheltered it was really hard to start the burners. Lighters weren't working, neither were regular matches. Joe had some flare matches, about half of them worked, so crisis avoided. I had the mac and veggies recipe, Mac was just slightly crunchy after 15 minutes of steeping. The dried mushrooms were tasty, could have used more of them as well as other dried vegetables. But it was incredibly hot! It took me about 30 minutes to eat, had to pause every now and then to let the heat subside. Somewhere around here I had changed my wet shirt for a long sleeve shirt with another shirt over it, along with my rain jacket. That helped with the chill, as did eating the very spicy meal. While this was going on, I started to help Jason string up the bear line until Joe called me over to a tent crisis. When I had fixed the pole bases earlier I didn't put the top of the pole back in the grommet, so it ended up poking a hole in the tent fly. Damnit! Joe and I fixed it temporarily with some tape he had brought, but the permanent fix will require more work. I was really angry with myself for this screw-up, but that's life. It reminded me upon reflection that when I am physically tired I am mentally tired as well. Jason and Mike finished up the bear line, and I was ready to call it a night. Got into the tent, stripped off my boots and socks, inflated my sleeping pad, and unrolled my sleeping quilt. I drew the string at the bottom of the quilt to close it off, then climbed in with no socks on. I caught up on my blogging for the previous two days, didn't get all the way through the second day before I was ready to stop. Around this time Joe came in and settled in, then I slept for about an hour until waking up again when it started to rain. I lay there for a bit, then got up to make sure my pack was covered well. Rain was steady for a while but never really heavy, and eventually it subsided. I got back to sleep until after 2:00, when I woke up again and decided to go pee. The sky was clear, I could see some stars but was unsuccessful in taking a picture of the nighttime sky. Back to the tent and eventually back to sleep, waking up and getting up around 6:00.