Sunday 8/22/21 9:19 PM DAY 3 đź“Ť Lyell Fork 10.99 miles 6:07 hrs
Journal entry: Later start, but got in the lake. Missed sunrise. 5.5 miles to Tuolumne Meadows, our first resupply. Feeling good. Brittany is getting bruises on her shoulders. Moving a little slow. All downhill to T.M. 2 permit checks right before TM. Ran into issuing ranger. Lots of day hikers coming from Cathedral Lakes trailhead. Sunday = closed post office. TM store was helpful. Met NOBO JMT Tracey, with lots of helpful tips. “Always look back” “It’s not the pass that sucks, its usually 2 miles before that” Arrived to TM around 3 PM and left around 5PM. Lots of resupplies. Bought cheese. Beer. A sticker, and salad. Store was fully stoked. Left around 5:15 PM with full and heavy packs. Mine was 35 and Brittany’s was 39! Long day tomorrow. Donohue Pass + officially leaving Yosemite. Burritos for dinner. Arrived late to camp. 7:30 PM Lyell Fork. Random site big enough for 2 person hotel. Tomorrow we hike Donohue Pass to Davis Lakes. Will be another big day. Hopefully we start early. We have been starting late, making it hotter and not reaching miles. Tomorrow is a new day!
Story: After a late-night up with the full moon last night, I was certain we’d miss sunrise, as we did. A slow start to our day, so I decided to get in the lake. Not for very long, and just for a quick rinse. It was our first lake on the John Muir Trail and I’d completely regret it if I didn’t at least dip my toes! It was 5.5 miles to Tuolumne Meadows, and from what I remember it was mostly downhill. After running into the ranger who issued our permits on trail, he mentioned the post office is closed on Sundays. Worried we weren’t going to be able to pick up our resupply buckets, we were thankful that we can at least purchase food from the store.
We saw probably the most amount of day hikers here, of course after Yosemite valley and I’m pretty sure they were all hiking to Cathedral Lakes. We tried to come up with a Plan B, if we weren’t able to pick up our resupply buckets that day, and worried we wouldn’t make it to Red’s Meadow by Thursday. You see- we had to exit the trail after hiking to Red’s Meadow to attend a family funeral that Friday, so unfortunately we didn’t get to chill when we wanted to most, and actually had miles to complete each day.
When we arrived at Tuolumne Meadows, we immediately checked on our buckets. Bright orange and grey buckets could be seen from the store line, and we were excited to have our first resupply in hand. And as a first resupply ever- we may have packed a little too much food, but grateful the lady behind the counter at Tuolumne Meadows started a hiker box, allowing others to grab what we left behind, and we probably could have filled an entire 5-gallon bucket, we packed that much.
Losing track of time in town, or at a resupply is SO easy to do. After hiking all day, and now surrounded with easy accommodations, restrooms, cold beer, salads, and trail talk, we spent 2.5 hours rearranging our packs, having lunch, and getting back on trail with just enough time to find a campsite, 5 miles outside of Tuolumne Meadows. The only thing that kept our spirits high, besides the few beers at T.M was the backcountry burritos we were about to have for dinner.
