John Muir Trail: Day 6

The goal on day 6 was to get as close a possible to Forrester Pass.  The path to Forrester took me across Wallace Creek and Wright Creek, then up and over Bighorn Plateau, down across Tyndall Creek, and finally up into the lake basin south of the pass. By the time I made camp I had hiked 14 miles and climbed 3000 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 6 elevation profile in yellow

Day 6 route in blue

The trail from Guitar Lake to Bighorn Plateau is through trees until you start to get up onto the plateau. Most of the trees are Lodgepole Pines like the ones seen here.  Their name come from the long straight trunks that native Americans used to build their lodges.  The lodgepole is by far the most common pine tree along the trail, but not necessarily the best one.

The forest south of Wallace Creek.  There are clear signs of past avalanches with the trees laying side by side on the ground.

Since this was my first year in the Sierra with significant water, my crossing of Rock Creek 3 days before was a cautious affair.  I put my my camera, notepad and everthing else that I didn't want to get wet in a dry bag before crossing.  For my second creek crossing I left things where they were and probed my way out with hiking poles.  As long as the water was not much above my knees there was no problem.

Wallace Creek crossing.  Knee deep and moving pretty good.

Wright Creek is a tributary to Wallace Creek, but the confluence is below where I crossed Wallace.  Wright still did not have as much water.

Wright Creek crossing.  Slightly less knee deep than Wallace.

As I climbed up from Wright Creek to Bighorn Plateau, the horizon on all direction was filled with mountain peaks.  The most prominent, of course, was Mount Whitney.

Mount Whitney as seen from about 10,900 ft elevation between Wright Creek and Bighorn Plateau.

On top of Bighorn Plateau you get a magnificent view in all directions.  Ever since Upper Crabtree Lake, the mountains on the other side of the Kern had been drawing my attention.  I have never been to that part of the range, but it is on my short list now.

The view west from Bighorn Plateau.  The mountains are the Great Western Divide.
The flat top mountain on the right is Table Mountain.

Just before the trail drops off of Bighorn Plateau you get an excellent view of the path ahead.  Forrester Pass, with its distinctive "V" notch is flanked on the right by Diamond Mesa.

Looking north from Bighorn Plateau.  The mound in the foreground is Tawny Point.  Behind it to the left is Diamond Mesa.
The notch to the left of Diamond Mesa is Forrester Pass.  Tyndall Creek runs through the valley on the left.

The view from Bighorn Plateau is incredible, especially if you venture to one of the local peaks.  I had originally planned to climb Tawny Point, but settled instead for the bump just south of the trail. In the picture below Mount Whitney is just to the right of my head and Mount Barnard, 10 ft shy of 14,000 is the mount to the left of my head.

Panorama shot from Bighorn Plateau.  Click on the image to get the full panorama.

This magnificent old Lodgepole Pine gave me shelter during a much needed rest.  It was here that I met Dave from Clovis. He and his wife and 5 of their 8 kids were hiking the JMT northbound as I was and were planning on exiting within a day of my planned exit.  His kids on the hike ranged in age from 10 to 28.  I first ran into his wife and various groups of his kids at the Rock Creek crossing, then again on Mount Whitney, and then several times along this stretch of trail.  I would continue to see them until Sapphire Lake, on the other side of Muir Pass, about 75 miles away.

An old Lodgepole Pine on Bighorn Plateau.

The crossing at Tyndall Creek is one of the big crossings of the trail.  A brief search on youtube will reveal some questional judgement.  When I got there however it was pretty tame.  Still over knee deep and noticeably faster that any of the previous crossing.  I did empty my pockets for this one, just to be sure.

Tyndall Creek Crossing

I was surprised at the lack of timidity of deer all along the trail.  I was within 100 ft of deer on several occasions.  It is odd to note however that the does were less timid than the bucks.

Black Tailed Deer

As I approached Forrester Pass, the weather was dynamic.  I saw blue sky, black clouds, grey clouds, white clouds in all directions within 20 minutes.

Forrester Pass shrouded in clouds.

Marmots work in groups to gather food.  The feeding season for them starts mid June in a good year and ends usually by October.  The rest of the year their homes are covered in snow and they are hibernating.  In order to make the most of their 3 to 4 months of eating, they have one sentry to keep an eye out and the rest of them gather food.  As you walk along the trail in marmot areas you constantly see the sentry scurrying off to alert the others of your approach.

A marmot acting as sentry on a rock.

There are some established campground in the lake basin below Forrester Pass, however they were all occupied.  It took some roaming, but I found a flat-ish, level-ish spot and prepared for what I expected to be a cold, wet night.

Camp 6.  12,100 ft elevation.  Just south of Forrester Pass.

All pictures of Guitar Lake to Tyndall Creek
All pictures of Forrester Pass