JMT: The Mountain as a Teacher

Lake Virginia, John Muir Wilderness. September 2015.

Here we are a Lake Virginia, a lake nestled between two passes along the John Muir Trail. After two days and nights of torrential downpour, snow, wind, and unidentifiable falling snow chunks, we have finally reached a point of rest. And by rest, I mean frantically pulling out all our wet supplies and pinning them down to the granite so that, (a) it does not get swept away in the wind blowing over the weathertop and (b)it dries before the next looming storm arrive at our campsite.

PCT: Backpacking Chores

Mott Lake, Pacific Crest Trail/John Muir Trail, California. August 2015

Among all of the camp chores, pumping water seems to be the most skillfully avoided. I’m not carrying a water pump, I’m still good from yesterday, I’ll just set my Nalgene out in the rain, I have to go to the bathroom, and we had— you know—chili last night. In contrast, if the question is, who wants to build a fire? or who wants to start making dinner?, there is an emphatically different response.

Mono Lake, California: A Different Kind of Lush

Mono Lake, California. August 2015.

Immediately after stepping out of the van at the edge of Mono Lake, I felt uncomfortable. Every survival instinct in my body was ringing an alarm, warning me away from the stagnant land. The lake itself had a salt content so high that that no carbon based life form could survive in its waters.