Day 16

MTR Hot Springs to South Fork San Juaquin River camp site

Song: https://open.spotify.com/track/2BuhGnXpqMQ8BvOUZpmaVl?si=x3CYb9DLTqia5WCJj8irrA

The night was miserable. Being a lower elevation meant that it was warmer and more humid. I spent most of the night alternating between extremely hot and sweaty, to cooling off too quickly and getting cold and clammy. I checked the weather and it was 54 degrees that night. My sleeping bag is rated for 15.

Despite the horrible night of sleep, I was actually in a good mood. The sun had just started to come up. I unzipped my tent grabbed my phone with headphones and decided to go look for a spot. Something made me want to climb upwards.

After slowly picking my way up a rock side for about ten minutes, I arrived at a secret campsite that overlooked the main one I was camped at. A family of deer were grazing near me. A few of them lifted their heads to look at me but didn’t run off. The sunrise was slowly happening and it just felt so peaceful.

I put in my headphones and listened to Broken Vessels by Hillsong.

The idea came to me, almost a continuation of the morning before— how it feels in our culture … it feels like we learning about people we don’t know more than the people we do. How it’s easier to welcome a conceptual stranger rather than be curious about a person you speak to every day.

I also find it interesting when I meet people who follow Jesus and watch them get more passionate about the political environment than what God is doing. It reminds me of Elijah’s meltdown in the woods when God reminds Elijah that He still has been working even if Elijah isn’t seeing it.

I have a hard time debating real people for sport.

It reminds me of the times I have had to sit through conversations about getting more women into electrical and computer engineering and not a single female student is asked to share her experience. It’s a room filled with well intentioned male professors speculating why more women don’t want to join their program.

I’ve also began experiencing a phenomenon where someone I don’t know well begins to use debating current events as a way to bond. Example: She sends me the latest social justice issue that she is incensed over and wants to know my take on it. If we have the same opinion then we advance in the bonding scale. If we do not then she sends over more until we align on something. My heart rate increases mush thinking about it. I think there is a part of me that resists it because it feels like using the people named in these causes for personal gain. Almost in a name to be seen as the most “insert compassionate or rational here” we risk objectifying the real humans in these crisis.

But my brain can’t hold that much space for that many people… so I have to choose where I hold energy.

It’s not that I don’t care when someone I care about or love brings up a topic like, “can you believe Trump is doing this? What do you think about it?”

I think for me … it’s that it’s disordered for me. Like… “I want to know what’s going on with you and your life before we discuss people we don’t know and don’t have the ability to impact today.”

I feel that you can know where someone intellectually stands on every single issue… but if you don’t know what makes them cry or how to make them smile… you don’t know them well. That could be my Meyer’s Briggs type coming out there.

Not sure that makes sense.

The sun fully came out and I could see Marilyn out of her tent. I didn’t know what time we were going to the hot springs but I didn’t want to hold her up. I made my way down and noticed the professor was packing up. Behind him, there was another older man setting up his tent in the same spot that the professor’s Z-packs tent was.

I said hello to Marilyn. She smiled and nodded in the direction of the log. The other man had sat in the exact place the professor had been sitting. It was like a find and replace.

We both quietly giggled, made our breakfast and planned for the day.

We would pack mostly up and go to the hot springs. Then, afterwards we’d come back, finish packing and go and pick up our resupply. Marilyn also had a horrible night of sleep and didn’t want to stay at the camp site. We would hike so we could be able to be closer to Evolution creek and be able to cross that the next morning.

We gathered our things to go to the hot springs. We both had a general idea of where they were but I grabbed my beacon and maps in case.

We got to the river crossing. The river looked faster than last night, but I didn’t want to over think it. Marilyn went first and I followed behind.

The river was fast moving and it was hard to see the rocks underneath. It came to about my knees. Shuffle hands, step, shuffle hands, step… I found myself wishing I was using my trekking poles instead of the rope. The trekking poles at least had a solid plant I could put weight on, the rope did not. I looked up and Marilyn had already made it across, I was still half way. Shuffle, step, shuffle … wobble… collect myself… shuffle…

Once I crossed the center of the river, it got easier and I was able to move quicker. I got to the other side.

We had heard that there was a lake (called mermaid lake by the hot springs). Marilyn has heard a rumor there were actually three pools a muddy, a clear and one between two rocks. We wanted to visit all of them.

Moving between the trees and avoiding the barbed wire marking private property we ended up in the field of grass.

We instantly became very popular with the mosquitos, since neither one of us had put on spray because we knew we would be jumping into pools. Slapping the mosquitos and navigating through the grass we eventually need up at mermaid lake.

The lake was so still and so glassy that we actually missed it at first. It was reflecting everything around it and we didn’t see the water. After backtracking we noticed a few ripples and laughed about our mistake.

Marilyn got in right away. I hesitated. It’s a silly reason but … I didn’t have water shoes and hated how the mud felt on my feet. Eventually I got in wearing my shoes. I dog paddled out to the middle of the lake … realized that there was no bottom I could reach and decided to paddle back. The lake was cool, but would have little random warm patches, that in a public pool I would have been suspicious of, but since we were in a hot springs area, I assumed was just spots of hot water.

I climbed out and my shoes were soaking wet. Maybe I should have just jumped in without them.

Marilyn got out and we went to get into the main hot spring, but we noticed a man in the distance walking between two spots in the grass.

“I bet you those are where the other springs are,” Marilyn said.

We decided to go and check them out.

Sure enough, there was a tiny hot spring pool between two rocks. Only two people could have fit inside of this one. You could just barely see a sign that was worn off above in the trees. We decided to get into this one first.

The sounds of bliss was audible from both of us. It was like the heat was soaking directly into our sore muscles. The springs was a bit muddy and random pieces of foliage were floating around us, but I didn’t care. Sitting in hot water, seeing the sun do alpenglow on the mountain in front of us and flowers as witnesses? I hope they have hot springs in the Garden because it was heavenly.

We soaked there for a long while. Pondering questions like what it would have been like to be the first people to find hot springs.

Then we got out to try another one. I had to put on my soggy shoes.

We found the clear springs. Marilyn jumped in but I decided it was too tepid for my tastes. I also didn’t want to take off my shoes.

Then we went to the main hot springs that already had four people in it. They were leaving as we got in. Both Marilyn and I saw the older couple had soap with them. Ugh. Regular bar soap, to presumably take a bath. Sights like that always make me sad. If everyone brought soap into the hot springs no one could enjoy it. Plus it’s sulphuric infused water anyways… you are going to smell.

Luckily the couple didn’t use the soap while we were there, but I have no doubt they returned to the springs to do what they wanted to.

Marilyn and I swam around in the larger springs before I looked at my watch.

“Marilyn, it’s getting close to 10:30 so we may need to leave so we can get resupplied.”

We took a few photos and then headed back to the river. Several hundred mosquitos followed us, but let up when they saw us go into the moving water.

We crossed safety and made it back to camp to get dressed and pack up.

Around 11:30 I was done packing and headed out to the Ranch. While we were at the hot springs, the big group had departed. They left the fire ring they built. Not wanting someone else to use the ring, I took some time to dismantle it. In the end I made a rock stack about 5 high.

Something my friend Katie and I started to do when we see illegal fire pits is to the ale time and dismantle them. Sometimes people think the rule doesn’t apply when they see a pit, or feel it’s okay as long as it’s inside of an existing one. Dismantling them helps the rangers from having to dismantle them themselves. It, like picking up rouge trash, is just a way that we can help a bit.

I resumed my path to the ranch.

I walked in and there was a new bustle of activity. I dropped my pack and went to get my charging devices. Both battery packs were full and I swapped out my head lamp and GPS. I felt bad that someone had plugged in their own battery pack into my charger and I needed the port for my devices. I looked for an available USB port and plugged their device instead and hoped it worked.

I then went to pick up my bucket.

“Swanland, it’s a green bucket with googley eyes on it.”

The woman laughed, “we saw that and it was memorable. We can’t wait to make it into a garbage pail.”

I laughed and was glad the googley eyes worked.

I had to find a spot where I could spread out and pack my resupply. Marilyn had already claimed her bucket and she was working on her food. I waited until a table opened up and began.

First I got rid of all of the oatmeal and peanut butter. My stomach is over that. That meant I needed to replace those breakfast options with new ones. I had been eating a pro bar for breakfast every morning … so I would do that but then I needed to replace the mid day snack. I took my oatmeal to the buckets and swapped it out for soup and a few more Lara bars. I kept doing the trade in and trade out process walking between the group buckets and my bucket until I had something that looked good. Then I had to get I into my bear can.

There are definite stages to the resupply process at MTR and you can tell who is in which based on what direction they are looking. If it’s down, chances are they are strategizing how to solve getting way more food than their bear can is rated for.

For me I needed to have eleven days in the can. I poked holes to remove air, packed it side ways rolled things up, squished and collapsed things … and I could only get ten in. Ugh.

I had sent myself my ursack (a bear proof sack) as a backup but didn’t want to use it if I could avoid it. It looked like I needed to use it in order to get everything in.

I checked on Marilyn. She was close to being done and felt her bear can was going to make it. Both of us were worried how heavy our packs would be. I estimated my bear can weighed at least 15 lbs.

I did a once over, repacked my pack, opened up a crystal light packet, ate some communal gummie bears, refilled my water to 1

And a half liters and went to weigh my pack.

I struggled to get my pack on the scale. Once I did, I stood back and read it.

44lbs.

“Did you add three?” I heard a voice say.

The scale slowly turned in the wind and I could see the words, “add 3”.

Poop. My pack was 47 lbs.

That was also with mailing home several Items of clothing, throwing away a single flip flop and cleaning out my trash.

*sigh*

Marilyn finished packing and came out of the store having picked up a new fuel canister. Her eggplant pack was on the scale. 32 lbs.

“Big mama there,” she said.

I laughed. “If yours is a big mama, mine is massive mama.”

“We can call yours “baby beluga’, “ she countered.

I looked at my pack. It was grey with aqua stripes. It definitely weighed like a small marine animal.

“Okay, it’s baby beluga then.”

We laughed and at 2PM headed out.

Hiking with a pack that is about a quarter of your body weight is slow going.

Both Marilyn and I trudged up the hill to find the JMT again.

We would see how far we could get. Hopefully we could get right before Evolution creek.

Hiking out we left the John Muir Wilderness and entered the Sequoia Kong’s Canyon Park.

Neither of us had started so late in the day on the trail and it was a strange sensation. We were hiking well past 5PM when the sun started to go down.

We passed the big group. They were trying to stay together as a “tramily”

(Trail family). We decided to veto camping near them and look for our own site.

Half an hour later we found a little site by the river. I wanted to go backwards and look over on the other side. What we found was a gem of a campsite. It was a trail maintenance site. This meant there was a bear box and flat nice campsites. Since I had a whole extra day of food that couldn’t fit into my bear can… the site of a bear box was extremely welcome.

We decided to make camp and eat a little bit of the weight out of our pack.

Both of us were exhausted and as soon as we finished eating, went to bed.