We were up at 7 and on the trail by 8:45...not to shabby! The first couple of miles sucked when I had to hurdle downed trees. Not an easy task when you have a 40lb pack and short legs. It took some creative maneuvering. I also managed to get lost during this time. Well not really, just off the
trail. I was just happy that I have a good since of direction and can remember odd things. I knew that as long as I stayed to the east of the river I would be ok. After about 15-20 minutes of trying to find the trail rather then blazing my own (I'm all about leaving the wilderness as is and not disrupting it too much) I thought it might be a wise idea to actually find the trail. So I climbed up on a rock to get a better view and found what looked like the trail about 50 yards to the east. Once again I had to climb over more downed trees and headed towards the trail. My sense of direction was right and I was once again on the right path. Not a detour I would advise or would ever want to do again. It was my most adventurous morning by far (other then looking for the lost bear keg.)
trail. I was just happy that I have a good since of direction and can remember odd things. I knew that as long as I stayed to the east of the river I would be ok. After about 15-20 minutes of trying to find the trail rather then blazing my own (I'm all about leaving the wilderness as is and not disrupting it too much) I thought it might be a wise idea to actually find the trail. So I climbed up on a rock to get a better view and found what looked like the trail about 50 yards to the east. Once again I had to climb over more downed trees and headed towards the trail. My sense of direction was right and I was once again on the right path. Not a detour I would advise or would ever want to do again. It was my most adventurous morning by far (other then looking for the lost bear keg.) 
This afternoon we hiked up the Golden Staircase, which as the last section of the JMT to be built. Not a bad hike if you consider it was 1500 ft of elevation over 1.5 miles of switchbacks. Little did I know this part of the trail was full of trickery. There is nothing like hiking up the side of a mountain and think you are getting close to the top because the sky getting closer and you are running out of rock, only to get to the top and realize that what you thought was the top wasn't the top at all and now you are hiking up switchbacks again but now you are heading west instead of east. At this point all I could do was utter a few bad words, curse the trail builders and continue upwards. I tried my very best to stay pleasant, but you can only sing "just keep swimming" so many times before the bad words begin to fill your brain again. This positive side of the Golden Staircase is that I enjoy hiking uphill rather then down hill...and the views are breath-taking.
Mugs and I decided to camp at Upper Palisades lake rather then try to summit Mather Pass tonight. We could have summitted, but we weren't sure how far we would have to hike past Mather to get to set up camp and more then likely we would have been doing this in the dark.
We found a nice little area that was sheltered by trees and a stream not to far. Almost like it was calling our names from the tail to stop for the night. I just wanted to get out of my boots and eat. My feet really don't hurt to bad tonight. Two more toe nails fell off and I noticed that I have tw
o red and tender areas below my great toes on the side of my feet. I think they are the cause of yesterdays 11 mile down hill hike. More mole skin and tape for me!
o red and tender areas below my great toes on the side of my feet. I think they are the cause of yesterdays 11 mile down hill hike. More mole skin and tape for me!Mugs just pointed out to me that we are on our last week out here. Only five more days to go! This past week had just flown by. It seemed like it took forever to hit the 100 mile mark and today we are close to completing 150. Still seems unreal to me that I have come this far and the trip is almost done. By the end of the week I'll be sleeping in a bed. That's what I'm looking forward to the most...well actually what I'm look
ing forward to the most is indoor plumbing
. 
ing forward to the most is indoor plumbing
. 
Pictures:
1. Where I'm headed...Deer meadow
2. Trees left after the Palisades fire...this is the part of the trail where I got lost and had to climb over a number of trees
3. Hiking the Golden Staircase looking back at where I just was
4. At the top of the Golden Staircase looking east. Palisades Mts in the background. First peaks over 14,000 ft
5. Bruce striking a pose
6. about one mile to go to Upper palisades lake. Lower palisades lake in forground
7. Mugs at camp
Mileage: 8.4/ 150.9
elevation: 8070 ft to over 10,000. I lost the page with the rest of my elevations for the trip. However for the rest of the trip we don't drop much below 10,000 ft
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