icki’s alarm went off about 4:30am and dinged and dinged. I didn’t quite hear it as I was still fast asleep but one of the men finally came over and shook her tent repeating “Vicki, Vicki, Vicki” until she woke up and then I woke up to total condensation inside and outside on the tent and everything inside was covered with moisture. From Garnet Lake it was only 2.5 miles to magnificent Thousand Island lake, basically the grand finale before climbing up Donahue Pass in the early afternoon and entering Yosemite National Park. At 11,056 feet, Donahue was our last big pass that we needed to get over and then it was all downhill from there to Tuolumne Meadows which was our final day tomorrow on the John Muir Trail. The JMT actually continues down to Yosemite Valley, an extra 27.2 miles with a 5,000 ft elevation drop, but we like to finish up at Tuolumne Meadows. We took many photos at Thousand Island Lake because what can I say, it’s magnificent! Another great photo spot is Island Pass, a minor uphill but a big downhill just before Donahue.
We met our fourth ranger who was a young man this time. Very friendly, with shovel in hand he was repairing part of the trail tread. Meaning, he was moving rocks in such a way so people didn’t attempt to go around those huge stepping boulders.
By this time, all three of us were really starting to feel the last three weeks and struggled uphill, mentally cussing and swearing those dang stair steps all the way to the top. We passed two gal older teenagers sitting by the side of the trail taking a break. We passed a handful of men coming down the pass without packs on. Odd, but we found out why when we reached the top. A woman asked if we saw two girls and how far down were they. We said yes and filled her in. Apparently one of the gals wasn’t feeling well and the menfolk were going down to help her and carry her pack up for her. I asked if it was altitude sickness and she said she didn’t think so. Of course, our minds flashed to Covid19 but didn’t ask that question. We were at least six feet away from them and neither one was coughing. Continued over the top and then down, down, down. (Dang, this was so much easier in 2016 when the pass was covered in snow. We just went straight up and straight down.)
We finally stopped short of our goal and made camp at the bridge, about 10.4 miles from Tuolumne Meadows. It was good we stopped early as we needed to dry out our tents, sleeping bags/quilt, and other stuff that was moist from the condensation the night before. Two fellows stopped in to ask some questions. They were official looking with one t-shirt that read “Yosemite Climbing Ranger” and the other “Yosemite Patrol”. They were doing some sort of survey. We were worried that we were in trouble as our permit was for exiting Tuolumne Meadows but our assigned camping spot was in the Inyo National Forest. No worries, they said have a good night. Miles today – 11.6, elevation gain – 2,516 ft, elevation loss – 2536 ft.