John Muir Trail: Day 17

Day 17 took me up Fish Creek to Tully Hole. Then up and out of Tully Hole, past Purple Lake and Lake Virginia, then along the shoulder of the mountain above Cascade Valley all the way to Deer Creek.

By the end of the day I had gone 14 miles and climbed 2500 ft.

My daily progress and major trail milestones can be seen at https://caltopo.com/m/DKGD, or on Google Earth using https://www.dropbox.com/s/9cy12lzxnuvatsa/2017.07.30_JMT_Actuals.kml?dl=0. The caltopo website is the best place to look to find the place name I use.

Day 17 elevation profile in yellow

Day 17 route in blue.

Fish Creek was full of water and flowing fast at the crossing.  In 2013 I could have crossed without the bridge.

The bridge across Fish Creek

A sledgehammer?  Just a reminder that the trails we enjoy take work to build and maintain.

A sledgehammer

The trail rises almost 800 feet in a little over .75 miles.  The switchback are stacked tightly on the side of the mountain.

Switchbacks from Tully Hole to Lake Virginia

Looking over Tully Hole from near the top of the climb.  Mount Isaak Walton is the right peak of the saddle in the middle of the picture.

Tully Hole

This section of the trail parallels Cascade Valley up high on the northern side of the valley.  The highlights of this section are Lake Virginia and Purple Lake.  They are both beautiful, but very crowded, as access from Mammoth Lakes is relatively easy.

Lake Virginia

Purple Lake

Duck Lake is where my 2013 trip started.  It is a day hike from Mammoth Lakes to Duck Lake and back.

Duck Lake Creek

Looking back across Cascade Valley at Silver Pass.  The pass is just to the right of the high peaks on the left of the picture.

Somewhere along this stretch of trail I stopped to rest and somehow lost my tent stakes.  For the rest of the trip I would have to gather stones to secure my tent.  Luckily there is no shortage of stones in the Sierras.

Looking back at Silver Pass from near Duck Lake Creek

Deer Creek was full of small meadows with an abundance of wildflowers.  The purple Wild Lupines were everywhere.

Wild Lupines (Lupinus perennis) near Deer Creek

At Deer Creek I stayed in an established campsite near the creek crossing.  I usually avoided these spots, but it was really nice and there was nobody there.  I few people did come by later and we shared a campfire that evening to keep the bugs away.  My only campfire of the trip.

The folks I shared the campsite with were hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.  Like many PCT hikers this year, they made it as far north as Kennedy Meadows before getting stopped by snow.  They caught a ride north of the high mountains and spent a little over two months exploring the Pacific Northwest, not necessarily on the PCT.  In July they returned to Kennedy Meadows and were trying to get to Tahoe before they had to go back to the real world.

Camp 17 at Deer Creek