Day 68: De Colores

Rocky outcrop above Agnew Meadow - Lyell Fork below Donahue Pass
Mile 815 - 831 plus 2 miles side trip to Agnew Pass Lakes
Total 18 miles

I woke up already in bright day, on a cool mountain morning with moist mountain dew on my tent walls and with a view of sharp mountain peaks called "the Minarets" on the other side of the deep valley. To warm up I quickly pack and set off hiking, following a contour and crossing numerous little streams. The steep slope is full of colorful flowers. The song comes on my lips:

De colores,
de colores se visten los campos en la primavera.
De colores,
de colores son los pajaritos que vienen de afuera.
De colores,
de colores es el arco iris que vemos lucir.
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores
me gustan a mi!

The world, people, people's characters, are not black and white only, but they are colorful, and the eyes of the ravens and jays flying above recognize even more colors than my eyes.

 

The trail goes into dark green forest; past rocky outcrops; and across more little streams. I have to take a "restroom" break off trail, dig the cathole, then get back on trail. The trail is very close - is that a switchback that I haven't noticed? Next time I should do the cathole further off-trail. I follow the path uphill, and reach colorful little lakes.

Fish can be seen swimming in the water, and a duck is swimming on the lake.

At the third of the lakes there's a trail junction. It is only at the junction that I realize that I'm not on the PCT. But the side trip to the little lakes was still worth it! I go back one mile again past the little lakes, and enjoy views of snow capped peaks. Some fungi (probably not edible though) grow under pine trees along the trail.

After a little climb to a saddle, the PCT reaches the Thousand Island Lake. This glacial lake definitely has the largest number of islands seen in lakes along the trail. If we count all the big rock boulders above water, it could well be 1000 islands. The lake water is cool but not cold. And there's a breeze and so the bugs are away. A perfect time to take off all clothes, jump into the lake and swim over to one of the islands a few hundred feet from the shore. And the swim is a great exercise to put in use some muscles other than my legs and hips and stretch the rest of the body :-)

From the lake the trail goes uphill, crosses creeks comfortably on bridges or logs, and climbs again above the tree line. PCT hikers meet and greet hikers walking the JMT (John Muir Trail) who are mostly going southbound from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney and who started their hike a couple of days ago.

The sun is getting lower and many hikers are already setting up their tents on the bare rocks above the creeks; I and a couple of other hikers decide to walk on in the glorious weather and climb over Donahue Pass, a couple of miles away. Snow fields appear again above the tree line, and the air feels thinner and colder. The top of the pass is at 11,000 feet (3250 m) elevation. The Donahue Pass can be well considered as a member of the "G8" of the PCT high Sierra passes together with Forrester, Glen, Pinchot, Mather, Muir, Selden and Silver.

The pass is also the gateway to the world famous Yosemite National Park: land of glaciers, waterfalls, huge granite domes and the home of bears. Special permit is required for overnight travel in the park. As a PCT thru hiker permit holder I have the privilege to camp along the PCT route through the extensive Yosemite wilderness.

Chic and stylish-coated marmots hold guard on the park entrance. And there is a few hundred feet stretch of snow-hiking too. Luckily the weather has become cooler, and so the snow is still firm enough to carry the hikers.
The footprints in the snow lead us a bit astray; Fortunately one hiker ahead of me finds out and then we find our way back to the trail. The trail looks like a little stream more than a footpath; but it is well maintained with big rock stairs. According to the map, the large expanse of snow to our west is an actual active glacier - the first glacier seen from the PCT!
Finally below the tree line, I find a good hidden spot to camp on pine needles.