We awoke to another beautiful morning. Mountains surrounding us, the golden hue of sunrise started reaching its fingers through the night sky. This morning, we were no longer hikers, we were recruits of Lieutenant Ripley from the Alien movies and we were facing a remorseless cold blooded foe (the mosquitoes), however we had no flamethrower . . . only our ability to attempt to outrun them. We packed up as quickly as humanly possible and hauled butt down the trail.

The descent was fast and we soon found ourselves overlooking Rosalie Lake. Fish leapt from its depths making small rippling circles on the calm surface of the lake. There were dozens of them, momentarily disrupting the mirror lake. Pines stood lakeside but also climbed the granite face on the far side of the lake. We would have loved to stay longer but the mosquitoes wouldn’t allow it, we were again on the move!

We climbed the small hillock behind the headwall and were soon descending towards the slightly larger Shadow Lake. We looked up and saw another NoBo PCTer swiftly bombing down the switchbacks. We waved and said good morning. He slightly acknowledged our presence as he skated by. You can hike the whole trail with headphones in and your eyes on the ground, but I don’t think you’ll see too much.

We reached Shadow Lake, it was another beautiful lake and we took it in as long as we could stand the mosquito onslaught. We headed to its inflow stream and started up the trail, following it up towards another saddle. Shadow Creek raged with glorious waterfall after waterfall after waterfall! I watched the white water swirl and buck against the large rocks, sometimes forming recirculating calm pools, other tines diving down towards the lake in a hurry with a flash of white. We climbed on sure to keep moving to minimize the mosquito bites. The trail twisted as it climbed and was lined with Indian paintbrush and purple flower tundra at its sides.

It was warm and the sound of cicadas only seemed to reinforce the hot sun beating down as we climbed. Regardless the landscape was still as beautiful as ever, and we finally popped out just above Garnet Lake. Small clear streams fed it from its sides and at the east end a small wooden bridge spanned its outlet flow down canyon.

We climbed another saddle and started to drop towards Ruby Lake, then Emerald. Emerald’s lakeside rocks blasted with color, reds, browns, oranges, so much more variety than the previous granite lakes had provided. We even saw our first two mallard ducks on the trail, floating happily and gobbling up snacks from the lake’s bottom. A short climb brought us over the saddle and we finally feasted our eyes on the huge Thousand Island Lake. We stopped for a much needed dip and some lunch to replenish our hungered stomachs. The water was cold, but not as bad as some of the higher lakes, you could even take a stoke or two before running for the shore. We sat like lizards on rocks, well wrapped up lizards as the mosquitoes still hadn’t let up their barrage!

We finished lunch as the wind picked up and we started the climb to Island Pass. Clouds started mounting and a distant sound of thunder had us wondering if it would actually rain. We pressed on, finally finding the unremarkable Island Pass that seemed just like any other hill we had climbed before, only this one had a name. We descended down into a lush creek-laden meadow.

 

At last, the long walk up Donohue began. The clouds rolled in, and the wind picked up, which we were grateful for in the afternoon heat. The creek crossings left us thirsty for a rest but our work wasn’t done. We climbed on up, up, up into the alpine leaving the trees behind. Crystal clear runoff from snowmelt crossed the trail from time to time and sometimes the trail itself became a creek. We labored on, seeing a few backpackers in the distance. It gave us a little motivation to get moving, step after step we climbed, a light rain spattered on us for a brief moment, cooling us momentarily, but we pressed on, having no stop in mind but the top of the pass. We hit snow patches and finally after hours of work, we found the view down Lyell Canyon from Donohue Pass. Lyell was the final stretch home to Tuolumne, and we took a moment to soak it in.

We filtered water for our dry camp and hiked down to find a nice spot for putting up our mosquito refuge and a well deserved hot meal. We hadn’t hiked as many miles as we had trekked on previous days, but this one seemed to really have gone to work on us and we were glad to rest. Nevertheless, we found a beautiful sandy pad with a great view from our camp for the night. I hope I don’t dream of mosquitoes . . . .

• Hike Stats – Total Miles: 16 
  • JMT Miles: 16 (Mile 172- 188)