Midnight Lake...

Yep, still part of the aww-inspiring John Muir Wilderness.

Standing tall behind this alpine wet spot is Mount Darwin at 13,831'. Ain't it a beauty?

Here's a bit of Sierra granite history for you. Way back in 1895, Stanford professor Theodore Solomons punched in a route from Yosemite to Mount Whitney. (Much of it became the John Muir Trail). Teddy was rolling along, naming stuff along his merry way, when he noticed six gnarly light-colored peaks raising up from a basin.At that moment,  he decided "what the heck!" and christened them after the proponents of the new (at the time) scientific concept of Evolution. 

In parts of the US, it's still a new found idea! 

Evil-lution, I guess. 

I've been called a lot worse things than a descendant of a monkey. I can live with that.

Onto Mammoth Lakes mañana, so long Bishop, CA.

Enjoy your weekend

For years, I've been...

stating the Europeans make Americans look like a gaggle of "Sissy-La-Las." Those folks on the eastern side of the Atlantic are hard-as-nails tough.

Over there, no one would think of rolling around atop a scooter in a supermarket. Everyone walks and they are really good at it.

Great Britain yields the toughest of the tough.

I know this because I've been hiking and backpacking with Jonathan Deeks for years.

Jonathan embodies the True Grit of the Not-so-United Kingdom. 

He has the survivor/leadership gene of Sir Ernest Shackleton.

He's an explorer and adventurer in the mold of Captain James Cook and Doctor 

David Livingstone combined. 

Jonathan has the stamina of Robert Falcon Scout. 

He makes me look like a statue. He possesses an inhuman amount of crazy energy. He doesn't even require coffee (drugs) like me. Truly amazing.

He's smart too.

Alas, the trips with Jonathan will be coming to an end. 

Soon, he'll be trading cactus for peat.

He and his delightful wife Donna will be moving to Ireland. 

The same Donna Deeks of foodie blogger fame.

( http://www.redmountainrefuge.com/ )

We've had a great run and it's a shame it's over on this side of the Atlantic. 

Thank you Jonathan for putting up with my strange and weird Yank ways. 

Cheers and best of luck to you and Donna on the Emerald Island. 

John Muir Wilderness, California...

"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." John Muir

Jonathan and I didn't spend a week in JM's wilderness but pretty close. We ventured over 60 miles in six days of "Can you believe this?" scenery. This is a chunk of the US that is larger than life, like the man it was named after. There's 581,000 acres to get disoriented in. (A clever way of saying, getting lost). John's wild area contains more higher ground (over 10,000 feet) than any place else in the US. There's 57 granite cathedrals/synagogues over 13,000 feet. 

My beloved Colorado mountains seem like the Flint Hills of Kansas compared to the Eastern Sierra Nevada. I love this place and I'll spend more times in the playground of the pikas in the weeks ahead. That is, when my swollen knees stop throbbing and I regain the weight I lost from the 6 day effort. I think real food and a steady diet of IPAs will help.

I'm not complaining though. 

From Bishop, California.

Good Night Mr Muir and thanks,