Our 2007 John Muir Trail Attempt (Day 3)
Day 2 detailed our trek from Half Dome to Sunrise High Sierra Camp.
Day 3: Sunrise High Sierra Camp to Tuolumne Meadows [Pictures]
Distance: 8.6 Miles
Elevation Changes: 9,320 - 9,700 - 8,700
As with yesterday's hike, we started today's hike early, waking at 5:00 AM and getting on the trail by 6:20 AM. The Sunrise High Sierra Camp sold a hearty breakfast, which was tempting, but wasn't served until 7:00 AM, so we decided to pass. It was a wise decision because today's hike ended at a developed area, Tuolumne Meadows, where many of the amenities closed in the late afternoon or early evening.
From Sunrise, the trail started with a gradual elevation to Columbia Finger, which was visible from Day 2's hike (it's the far left peak in this picture). Most of the hike to Columbia Finger was through meadows on a gradually increasing trail. There were a few stretches near the Finger which had some steeper switchbacks, but nothing too taxing. After circumnavigating Columbia Finger, we descended to Cathedral Pass, which is a broad stretch of land between a rather nondescript peak on the left and the more stunning Cathedral Peak on the right. Cathedral Peak is named as such because it has several vertical spires along its double-peak that resemble the spires in Gothic churches.
North of the pass are two lakes: first Upper Cathedral Lake, where we stopped for breakfast and a short break, and then, further on, Lower Cathedral Lake. Once past these lakes, the trail descends for the next five miles or so down to Tuolumne Meadows. Usually Tuolumne Meadows is a very scenic spot with bubbling creeks, lush greenery, and wildflowers, but this year is was dry and brown. This area is the most developed site outside of the Yosemite Valley. Tuolumne Meadows includes a visitor center, a post office, a general store, a backpacker store with assorted hiking supplies, and a grill with hamburgers, fries, soda, and ice cream. There's running water and flush toilets in the public bathrooms as well as a developed tent cabin campsite with showers. In wetter seasons, the campsite allows backpackers to use the showers for a nominal charge, but this season the showers were only available to guests.
And if Tuolumne Meadows' amenities aren't sufficient, there's a free shuttle service from Tuolumne Meadows to (and from) Yosemite Valley, which is where we started our trip. So it is possible for one to spend three days hiking from Yosemite Valley to Tuolumne Meadows, and then to then take the shuttle back to Yosemite Valley to do laundry, have dinner, and run any other errands. Once the errands have been completed, they can jump back on the shuttle, return to Tuolumne Meadows, and resume their hike in the morning.
Some hikers start the JMT at Tuolumne Meadows, which has two main advantages: first, since it's not as popular as a starting spot as the Happy Isles trailhead in Yosemite Valley, it's much easier to get a permit; second, starting at Tuolumne Meadows shaves three days (or two, if you're faster) off the total trip length and saves you from the tough climb out of the valley. But starting the JMT at Tuolumne Meadows automatically puts an asterisk next to the accomplishment because you really didn't do the entire JMT. Such asterisks may be overlooked if you have a good excuse: one hiker we met on the trail who started a day after us was scheduled to start at Happy Isles, but there was a fire the day after we left, and they closed the trailhead, so he had to start at Tuolumne Meadows. (And this was the first thing he mentioned when he told anyone he started at Tuolumne. 
)
We reached Tuolumne Meadows around 2:30 PM and headed first to the Visitor's Center to determine where the backpackers campground was located, how to get to the post office (where we had a resupply package waiting for us), and so on. At the Visitor's Center we discovered that there was vacancy at the developed tent cabin campground, and ended up reserving two cabins. We then took the shuttle to the grill and enjoyed some hamburgers and fries and soda before reboarding the shuttle to the developed campground. We spent the remainder of the day doing laundry in the bathroom sinks and showering. The showers are a little disappointing in that they only dispense water for short bursts lasting 3 seconds or so, but the water is warm enough and it feels great to wash the layer of dirt and dust that has accumulated over the past three days.
We were in bed by 8:00 PM, tired from our long day but rejuvenated from eating at the grill and having laundered our clothes and showered our bodies. Moreover, our spirits were especially high because tomorrow's planned route is known to be one of the easiest and most scenic of the entire JMT. I'll continue with Day 4 in a future posting... for now, let me leave you with a view of Cathedral Mountain taken from Tuolumne Meadows in the late afternoon.
UPDATE [2007-10-16]: Read about Day 4.