Walking in John Muir’s Footsteps
The ghost of John Muir accompanies every hiker through the High Sierra and, if you agree with Muir, a bond with nature that we all share. In his autobiographical book, My Boyhood and Youth, Muir claimed that his passion for nature derived from a “natural inherited wildness in our blood,” which he believed exists in each of us. In this short piece, Stargazer touches on that shared connection between man and nature.
We will talk about Muir more in future entries including sharing some of his writing. Writing which has done much to shape our attitudes about nature and our responsibility to protect it.
By Albert “Stargazer” Wallace
My hike from Silver Pass to Tuolumne Meadows in the back country of Yosemite was one of my most memorable sections of the PCT. This is John Muir country. Muir was the 19th century geologist and botanist that wrote about and documented the glacial origins of Sierra Nevada mountain topography. His writings brought these mountains to life and helped to establish them as one of the great natural treasures of America. He was a founder of the Sierra Club and was its first president.
I camped across the valley from Mt. Ritter and Banner Peak at the end of a 19-mile day and 3,200 feet of climbing including Silver Pass. I had passed the Reds Meadows bus stop in the morning. No ride to Mammoth Lakes for me in order to keep to schedule and resupply at Tuolumne Meadows. It was a two day hike further north up the trail. There was a box of food waiting there at the US Post Office.
Alpenglow on Banner Peak and the right Banner Peak
The night air was crisp and cold. I breathed effortlessly for so high an elevation. My alarm was set for 5:00 am. It was summer solstice, June 22, and the longest day in the year. 5 am was very close to day break first light. I was asleep by 8:30. My journey required a serious attention to detail, a never ending focus on trail miles. It was a regimen that would make a 10th Infantry Division army drill sergeant proud. This unit trained for fighting enemy at high elevation during the Second World War. My pack weight was equivalent to carrying an M-1 military rifle from World War II, ammunition and other military issue high elevation gear and traveling on skis.
The camp site was high above the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. The views to the west were breathtaking with the ice covered peaks framing the scene. This is a mountain first summited by John Muir in 1872. He wrote about his two day trek up the icy peak equipped with a piece of bread and no equipment. My tent was on a bluff east of the San Joaquin. Rising early I watched the rose colored glow on Ritter and Banner in the morning daybreak sunrise and snapped a photo with my iPhone. John Muir described a similar scene this way: “This was the alpenglow, to me one of the most impressive of all the terrestrial manifestations of God.” This was an adventurous hike through the most beautiful of nature’s gardens. My whole body and being was continuously in awe of this wondrous paradise I was privileged to briefly inhabit.
I passed scenic Thousand Island Lake which is the headwaters for the San Joaquin River Middle Fork. It rests at the foot of Mt. Ritter. I lost the trail and hiked half mile around the lake as if to count the thousand islands, caught my navigation error, retraced my steps and was back on the trail to Island Pass. The trail led me down to Rush Creek that feeds into salty Mono Lake. Then it was a 1,500 foot climb to Donohue Pass the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. I passed down through ancient glacial moraines and snow fields on the north side of the pass and into a beautiful tree lined graceful valley which holds the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River. The Lyell Fork holds the most serene meanders. The river seemed to be in no particular hurry. Watching the clear graceful meandering flow, I became peaceful and serene.
This hike was like fire and ice: endless work and military self discipline, overwhelming beauty and serenity simultaneously. I walked in John Muir’s footsteps and experienced the alpenglow sunrise. Muir understood the subliminal connection of man to nature.