After a warmer night, with a nice campfire, no bears and few 'squitos, we again popped out of bed and again made it on the trail later than expected, around 7:45. Though we got out late, this starting time still made relatively easy work of the 2,000 vertical foot, five-mile climb to Donahue Pass. This is a very pretty climb, staying in forest cover for the first few miles, then breaking out into a series of "lakelets" below the Lyell Glacier before a final set of dry switchbacks leading up to the summit. Our only trouble on the way up was the thin air, as we were still in the process of acclimatizing.
To the south of the Pass, we entered the Ansel Adams Wilderness and dropped sharply into the canyon at the headwaters of Rush Creek. Though devoid of trees, the many wildflowers and grasses along the growing creek were beautiful, and made for a nice hike. We enjoyed a long lunch at the edge of the creek and soaked our feet in the cool water - a welcome relief for a our feet after a hot morning on the trail.
After lunch, we made the short climb up to Island Pass, a wide crossing of the ridge with some pretty little lakes. The scene just to the south of the pass was truly breathtaking. The stunning hulk of Mt. Ritter and Banner Peak ("Ritter 'n Banner" to their friends) rises so dramatically out of the surroundings as to dominate and captivate all things that surround it. The beauty and grandeur of these two peaks is so all-encompassing, that we would find ourselves gazing at them in wonderment from wherever we were over the next three days until they finally faded from sight.
Our goal for the day was Thousand Island Lake, also reputed to be a hotbed of bear activity. We reached the lake, and selected as our camp a beautiful bluff overlooking the lake and Banner Peak beyond. My floorless Chouinard "circus tent" requires a 9x9' footprint, which was not to be found, but the view was so amazing we decided to make due and sleep under the stars.
For the time being, the knee problem was not a factor, but Julian had developed a new malady which was perhaps even more painful: Several months prior to the trip, I had given up on buying conventional boots, as the three pairs of L.L. Beans I had worked with at the beginning of the year had caused the development of a bursar in my right foot. I spent the month of May in a foot brace, and in June went over to seek help from the boot wizards at Limmer Boots in New Hampshire. The boots I got were extraordinary, and, as he too needed new boots, Julian also elected to go with Limmers. However, the model he selected was a very high quality alpine boot that required an extensive break-in period, which, in part due to the knee problem, the boots just didn't get. When he finally took them off at the end of the day, his little toe quite resembled a plum.
Dealing with a badly-swollen blister (blisters in his case) is no small matter, and to relieve his pain, protect the toe and prevent infection, Julian would have to drain the wound, medicate it and then dress it. Draining was done via a needle from a Marriott Hotel disposable sewing kit, medication was either tea tree oil or Betadine and the dressing was some combination of gauze, lamb's wool (from a friendly volunteer ranger), moleskin, prewrap and athletic tape. Prophetically, Julian, who had never before this had a problem with blisters, had seriously raided the foot care section of his local pharmacy, so we had plenty of supplies on hand for treating the problem.
No bears that night. We noticed that night that having bear canisters actually promotes sleep. Its had never occurred to me until then how much midnight worrying I had done in the mountains whenever my food had been hung. Its almost like having a baby in the house: Part of you sleeps, while the other part waits for that cry (or in the case of bears, the "whump-whump" of two bags of counter-balanced food hitting the ground). OK, I'm a convert. Plus, they make great campstools and bongo drums.
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