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Tuesday, September 9, 2008  (Day 5)

	Starting Location:	Tyndall Creek crossing	Daily Mileage:	12.4
	Destination:	Bubbs Creek Trail junction	Trip Mileage:	46.0
	Weather:	High 68 / Low 40 / Partly cloudy

Last night was the coldest night so far, though 40 is still great sleeping weather. With the short hiking day yesterday, I'm ready to knock out some miles. We broke camp and started our day. The trail roughly follows Tyndall Creek for the next few miles. This landscape is dotted with rocks and boulders and is simply beautiful. There are several small lakes in the area that can be used for a campsite if needed. Tho this area is exposed and would be rough camping if the weather turned for the worse.

We reach the base of the mountain and begin our climb up to Forester Pass (13,100'). At 13,100', it is the highest point on the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail. This is one of my favorite passes on the JMT and I was excited to be climbing it. The switchbacks on this climb are incredible. I was very impressed with the trail builders/maintainers. A short distance up the climb, we came to a boulder with a plaque set in it. We stopped to read it and it is a memorial plaque for Donald I. Downs, a trail construction worker who was killed at this spot, just a few weeks shy of his 19th birthday.

We continued up our climb and it was going much quicker and easier than I anticipated. I arrived at the summit sign and dropped my pack to soak in the views and snap some photos. A short time later Doodah Man arrived at the summit. We took each other's photo on the summit and continued on our way. The descent down the North side of Forester Pass is easy and well-graded. We hiked a short distance and ran into a group of ladies who were out for a two week trip and they had llamas carrying their gear. It was very cool seeing this for the first time. Llamas can carry up to 80 pounds each and cover up to 8 miles per day. They are not solitary animals, so you have to rent at least two llamas, so they have a companion during the trip. As we continued our descent, we encountered our second pack train on this trip.

We turned the corner and were greeted with one of the most beautiful valleys I've seen. I couldn't believe we were going to be hiking through the heart of this incredible area. It had everything to offer... jagged peaks, thick tree growth, boulders and rocks... simply beautfiul. We soon crossed the Center Creek crossing which has a large campsite and bear box. We then entered the Vidette Meadow region which leads up to our destination for today, Bubbs Creek Trail junction. There is ample camping opportunities with many campsites and several bear boxes in Upper Vidette Meadow, Vidette Meadow, and Bubbs Creek Trail junction.

We arrived at the large campsite at the Bubbs Creek Trail junction and dropped our packs. I would scout down the trail and see what the campsites looked like near the bear box. It was a short 200 yard hike down the trail to the bear box and I felt the other campsite would be a better option. So I returned and we went about setting up our camp. There was only one other person in the area and he was camped at the other end of this campsite. He was an interesting character. Definitely one of the more memorable guys on this hike. Very laid back and entertaining. He talked a lot but in a cool way. We enjoyed sharing the camp with him.

We didn't do much in camp tonight. Sat around talking and relaxing. As the sun was going down, I grabbed a book and settled in to read for a few hours. It was close to 11pm when I heard a lot of voices in the distance. A short time later there was a string of headlamps coming down the trail towards us. A group of 10 hikers were hiking late into the night.