Miles hiked: 19.25.
Had a fitful night sleep, probably owning mostly to the altitude but also the hut getting really warm then sort of cold. Having been mostly awake from about 3 onward, I was a bit surprised to be woken up by voices outside just before 5. The sunrise was just starting to redden the eastern horizon and I quickly gathered my coffee making supplies and dashed out to near the edge of the steep eastern edge of the peak where a half dozen people were already sitting. I took my place and boiled water and enjoyed a magnificent sunrise. There were some good clouds out east, and these put on a perfect show. But what interested me the most was looking north, west, and south to watch the range of light do its thing. So many mountains and just a huge amount of rugged country! Some of it calls to me to come explore, while some of it looks forbidding and downright scary. I spent about 2 hours enjoying he view and talking to a few other PCT and other hikers. A couple next to me quietly got engaged. It turns out it wasn't a total surprise; he had given her the ultimatum that he wouldn't propose until she finished the JMT. Pretty doggone romantic.
Around 7:30 I packed up my bed and started back down the hill. Now there were plenty of people to pass, in contrast to last night when I didn't see anyone from a bit above Guitar Lake to the summit. There were lots of day hikers from Whitney Portal, and also some of my new thru hiker friends. I got a bit more water at Guitar Lake then strolled down to the ranger station to retrieve the food I left there and finally eat last night's dinner (didn't want to carry the water up the mountain). I compared foods with an older Korean man. He said he is doing 3 different 4-5 day trips along the JMT this summer. I said that sounds like a good summer and he said that since he's retired every summer is like that. He said that now the JMT is his job. Not too bad.
I finally got walking around 1:30, the big dinner heavy in my gut forcing me to start slowly along the few miles to rejoin the PCT at mile 767. Once back on the trail proper, things picked up nicely. The trail wrapped around a Lodgepole pine-forested ridge, traversed a bit, then dropped down to Wright Creek. There I met Huarache, Pocahantes, and Brother John. Brother John is Huarache's brother, named John, joining him on the trail for a week or so. Good trail name. More fun hikers I hope to hang out with more if schedules align. We leapfrogged the next few miles, climbing up through more forest past the lower end of the Wright Lakes basin which looks like a good place to go back and explore, hen up onto the stunning Bighorn Plateau. This is a high Rollin meadow of sorts, bare of trees, and with a little tarn at one end sparkling in the sinking sun. I had heard of and seen photos of this place before, and it was a place I was really looking forward to seeing. It didn't disappoint! Such an amazingly beautiful place, with that big open ground and huge mountains and deep canyons all around.
Next down in to Tyndall Creek, a raucous little river tumbling over rounded granite. I considered staying here for the night, but since it was only 6:30 and I'm on a bit of a schedule to meet Libby at Vermilion Valley Resort, I decided to continue on a few more miles. The Tyndall Creek valley open d I to another big, broad, gently sloping meadow several miles across. It rivaled Bighorn Plateau and along with it ranks as some of the most spectacular parts of the Sierra I've been to. The setting sun warmed the basin and high peaks all around it, and I was in hiking bliss.
A little after sunset, as the trail climbed up through rocky country past a few wide shallow tarns, I found a small bivy site tucked up and hidden away in rocky outcrop. I set up camp and made dinner while a magical alpenglow show played on a big peak to my south east that's just off my maps. What a day!
Birds:
Gray-crowned Rosy-finch
Rock Wren
American Pipit
White-crowned Sparrow
Mountain Chickadee
Hammond's Flycatcher
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Brown Creeper
Oregon Junco
Clark's Nutcracker
Stellar's Jay
Northern Flicker
White-breasted Nuthatch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
Cassin's Finch
American Robin
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