Day 66 - More Yosemite. 959.9 (17.4)

I had to wait for the post office to open before hitting the trail.  I wanted to send home my heavy jacket along with an extra pair of shorts and some maps I was carrying.

Mr. Clean and I hit the trail. around 9:45am. We made it to Glen Aulin (pronounced: Allen), a pack camp along the Tuolumne River, for lunch around noon.  One of the better lunch spots I've had so far on the Trail.

The next 12 miles were filled with forest walking (no views) into large meadows that released the filling of claustrophobia the dense forest can cause.  The meadows made me feel happy I was there.

After a couple creek fords, the trail climbed 1,000 feet over a little more than 1 mile (very steep incline).  With a lot of scattered snow piles, it kicked my ass.

Pushing a little further, Mr. Clean and I made it to Miller Lake... our campsite for the night.
 

Day 65 - The Last Pass on the JMT, Donahue. 942.5 (16.4)

An absolutely stunning day.  With Donahue Pass being the last pass for a couple days, I woke up with a little extra vigor.  It's easier to pack up knowing town is waiting for you as well.

Donahue Pass is the beginning of the Yosemite Wilderness (where National Park rules start to take effect). On the decent down from the pass, I passed a lot of JMT hikers.  Most of them were on day 3 or 4 of their 25 to 30 day journey.  The Yosemite Valley is the most popular starting point for the JMT mainly because everyone wants to finish at the top of Mount Whitney rather than having to climb it at the very start.

The valley after Donahue Pass is some of the flattest trail thus far on the PCT.  The aqua duct walk after Hiker Town (Day 32) may be the only section similar in flatness. 

As I got closer to Tuolumne Meadows, it became apparent we were in a national park and it was summer! Lots of people visiting from all over the world.  It felt a little strange, after having spent nearly 3 weeks in remote areas and small mountain resorts, to be surrounded with people in a hurry to go see the next thing in the park.

I relaxed with the group at the general store and bought lots of snacks and some beer before wandering over to the camp ground.  There were a few people already set up in camp when I arrived.  By the time it was sunset, there were easily 30+ people setup and we had a huge campfire in one of the pits.