Light broke on my tent early this morning. My air mattress popped during the night. That sucked!
My lower back still ached from yesterday’s painful hike, but the nausea had passed and I was feeling much better. I took my time getting ready and made sure to drink lots of water and eat a good breakfast before hitting the trail.

Don suggested making some adjustments to my backpack to make it ride closer to my body. This was my first trip with this pack and I hadn’t had time to fine tune its fit before starting. I was thankful for the suggestions and never again experienced the pain that I had the day before.

We followed the trail across Island Pass, taking time to stop and visit with several other hikers at Thousand Island Lake. After Thousand Island Lake we passed Garnet, Shadow and Rosalie lakes before reaching Devils Postpile and finally Red’s Meadow.

At Red’s, we met up for dinner with two hikers we had met on the trail. Patty melts and beers all around.

After dinner, it was off to the general store where I picked up a fresh apple and banana to have with breakfast the next morning. After shopping, I headed over to the showers where for $5.00 I was able to wash off 5 days worth of dirt and grime before heading off to the backpacker’s camp for the night. $1 of dirt per day seems like a fair compromise for the amazing time we’ve been having so far on this trek.
No time to fix my air mattress, so hoping it will hold air tonight.
Mountain pass 3/10 – Island Pass (10,221′)
Photos:
- John Muir Trail Day 5 – Past Donahue Pass to Red’s Meadow. 19.5 mile lake tour hike. - March 7, 2017
- John Muir Trail Day 4 – Tuolomne Meadows over Donahue Pass. 16.4 mile shakedown hike. - March 2, 2017
- John Muir Trail Day 3 – Sunrise Lakes to Tuolomne Meadows. 10.1 mile hike for hunger. - December 28, 2016