The third of c.5 stages walking the John Muir Trail (JMT). This section was completed between 23 August to 26 August 2010; days eight to eleven of 21 days on the JMT. In summary this section went from Red Meadows, crossing the Madera-Fresno County Line, past Purple Lake and Virginia Lake, down to Tully Hole, over Silver Pass, downhill to Lake Thomas Edison, and walk out to Vermilion Valley Resort where we had a rest day.

Day 8: 23 August 2010. Red Meadows to Duck Creek crossing. After getting a few items from the store including the rare opportunity to get some fruit, we headed south. One of the locals kindly directed us to a shortcut to get back on the JMT. We first past through what looked like a relatively recent fire, but was surprised to read in the track book (Wenk 2007) that the fire had occurred in 1992. Recovery of vegetation here seems much slower than in the more temperate, wetter and lower altitude New Zealand conditions. Soon after this we entered the forest and slowly increased in altitude. We got some glimpses through the vegetation of red cones, cinder cones of volcanic origin. We continued onto the Madera-Fresno Line, where we refilled water containers, and I took some photos of white flowers. About an hour after this we had lunch by deer creek. We filled our water containers again as the track book suggested there was limited water on the next session. It was a very hot afternoon as we steadily increased in altitude. By the time we got to Duck Creek we decided since it was a fair distance to Purple Lake that we should camp here for the night. We had a good relax in the sun before setting up tents and cooking dinner. We camped near campsite 5.03 in Wenk (2007). Summary of Day 8: Distance travelled 11.4 miles. Key points: Red Meadows 7715 feet; Madera-Fresno 9220 feet; Deer Creek crossing 9,100 feet. Campsite 5.03 (9990 feet).

Day 9: 24 August 2010. Duck Creek Crossing to Silver Pass Lake. Another early start. Me, being a bit clumsy, managed to wack my nose with a tent pole first thing in the morning – which made it bleed. We soon began the steady climb up to Purple Lake. Through openings in the forest we got some spectacular views of the Cascade Valley and the mountains of the Silver Divide. We past through occasional patches of sagebrush scrub with interesting plants present including paintbrushes, Sierra angelica and various daisies. We soon made it to Purple Lake. Lots of trout could be seen in the lake, as well as fantastic reflections of the surrounding mountains. Here I saw the only wasp that I saw on the whole trail on a rangers button. Other plants present included monkeyflowers, mountain mule ears (a daisy), corn lilies and giant red paintbrushes. Shortly afterwards we continued increasing in altitude past a rock glacier to small saddle and then decended to Virginia Lake. Both Purple Lakes and Virginia Lakes were completely still with no chop, conditions could not be better really. We had a reasonable break at Virginia Lake and I took photos of a number of flowers including mountain paintbrush, Lemmon’s paintbrush, Sierra Gentians, alpine gentians, and little elephant’s ears. From Virginia Lake it was a sharp decent down a number of switchbacks to Tully Hole. Some other people were having lunch there and we continued to descend to Fish Creek crossing for lunch. This was probably a mistake as Tully Hole would have been a better and more scenic place for lunch. We then increased in altitude through mountain hemlock and lodgepole pine forest to Squaw Lake where we had another short break. We had views back to Mt Ritter and Banner Peak, as well as ahead to Silver Pass. I took photos of mountain hemlock and frosted buckwheat. We were thinking of camping around this side of Silver pass, but decided to continue onwards. We past several lakes and short patch of snow before Silver Pass itself. Here I saw alpine paintbrush for the first time. It was relatively busy with people on the pass. This was the last view of the peaks of the Ritter Range. The scenery to the north and south were equally spectacular. To the north we could see the Seven Gables. We decided we would camp at Silver Pass Lake, about another mile downhill. We set up camp near the south-eastern end of the lake. The water filter was now becoming very difficult to use and remained so for the remainder of the tramp. Day 9 summary c.12 miles. Duck creek campsite 9990 feet; Purple Lake 9925 feet, Virginia Lake 10,338 feet, Tully Hole 9520 feet, Fish Creek Crossing 9190 feet, Squaw Lake 10,300 feet, Silver Pass 10750 feet, Silver Pass Lake 10,420 feet.

Day 10: 25 August 2010. Silver Pass Lake to Vermilion Valley Resort (VVR). Yet another early start. We headed reasonably rapidly downhill, thinking about resupply at VVR. We past some spectacular granite country in the middle with steep granite faces and quick decent into the North Fork of Mono Creek. We past some impressive Jeffrey pines and Junipers and eventually found ourselves in white fir lake at lower elevation. We left the JMT to travel to Lake Thomas Edison and then onto Vermilion Resort. We were there well before lunchtime and we decided we did not want to wait for the 4pm ferry. We filled up our water bottles and then continued around the lakeside track to VVR. I was starting to have a bit of trouble with my left foot which was becoming very painful with any pressure. About 30 minutes into our walk we heard the ferry go past. If we had waited a bit longer we could have got a ride to VVR. This was a particularly hot day and I found this section the hardest part of the whole JMT, despite it really not being that challenging. I think it was mostly the impact of whatever was happening to my foot. We made it too VVR in the mid-afternoon and we set up camp near the store. We had a decent food, re-hydrated ourselves, and even had a shower and did some washing. We got a full meal (including a very large steak) and even a beer that evening. That evening we heard a bear being chased through our campsite by the VVR dogs - I was glad the dogs were around. The foot was still causing me some grief and I thought we would probably need a rest day. Day 10 summary c.12 miles (including c.6 miles not on the John Muir Trail). Silver Pass Lake 10,420 feet; Lake Thomas Edison 7700 feet; VVR 7700 feet.

Day 11: 26 August – rest day in VVR. This was a catch-up day. We got up and had an extra big breakfast. We then started to organise our food and gear for the remainder of the JMT tramp. Roy soon helped me find the problem with my foot. He helped dig a seed which was well embedded into my foot and it was also a bit infected – lucky him. We didn’t really do much all day except sort gear and food, rest, rehydrate, check the internet, send some emails, and go for the occasional short stroll. I enjoyed the mix of people at VVR, from the local workers to the other through walkers. By lunchtime my foot seemed almost completely better – although I still thought it was best to wait for the next day before walking a long way on it – since we will be away from help for such a long time. In the evening there was a pretty good sunset over, and I was surprised to find that my cellphone worked here, I sent a couple of messages to New Zealand. That evening we had a repeat of the same bear and dog interaction as the previous night. Day 11 summary. I didn’t do very much at all.