Jeffrey Hunter - John Muir Trail Journal - 2008
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Jeffrey and Martha Hunter
City: Chattanooga
State: Tennessee
Country: USA
Begins: Jul 27, 2008
Direction: Southbound
Daily Summary
Date: Thu, Jul 31st, 2008
Start: Reds Meadow
End: Campsite at Purple Lake
Daily Distance: 13.9
Trip Distance: 47.2
Journal Stats
Entry Visits: 5,820
Journal Visits: 15,115
Guestbook Views: 651
Guestbook Entrys: 3
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One of the two Red Cones
Day 5
Today was a tough day. Fun, but tough. We started out at about 8:30 and walked perhaps half a mile when Martha realized she didn't have her sunglasses. She took off her pack and headed back to Reds to look for them while I hung out in a burned patch along the trail. While i waited i watched a Swainsons hawk and a Red tailed hawk soar and call high above me. The Swainson's was a real treat, because we don't have them back east.
Martha returned with her glasses a short time later and we continued south along the trail. I had hoped to climb one of the Red Cones on this hike, but we decided not to when we reached that point on the trail. This was to be our longest day of the hike, so we decided to keep on trucking. This stretch of the trail contains the longest section of trail without any water - 6 miles between Deer Creek and Duck Creek. I find that stretch of trail to be somewhat unimpressive - relatively speaking. It's certainly beautiful, but the forest that surrounds the trail for much of the way contains no understory, and hardly and sign of animal life because of the poor soils.
When we finally reached the junction with the Duck Pass Trail, Martha was pretty tired and not looking forward to the final climb to Purple Lake. We had a bit of a spat, and she headed off at a breakneck pace without me. When I finally caught up to her, she was taking off her boot to examine a hot spot. Sure enough, she had the start of a blister on a couple of toes. After dressing the blisters, we headed the last mile or so to Purple lake and setup camp. As soon as we arrived, we spotted a Jackrabbit near our campsite. What peculiar looking animals they are.
After setting up the tent, Martha cooked dinner while I fished. I caught a nice Rainbow Trout (which I released) and had a bunch more fish strike at my fly. When dinner was ready I walked back to camp, ate, and retired to the tent. Tomorrow it's Virginia Lake, Tully Hole and Silver Pass. It should be a great day!
