Day 10 - August 20th

Early morning hike in high sierra is a must do! It was a spiritual hike or whatever you want to call it. I would not dare to call this is "paradise" yet if i have to, this might be it. The air is the most pristine and its quietness, tranquility and the only sound you would probably hear is the water stream nearby. Occasionally you got lucky to see a herd of deer.

We enjoyed 4 milles hike with 1500ft descend to Woods Creek. This is where the "suspension bridge" that hikers were talking about. We did have fun crossing the bridge and felt like floating in the air. From this point on, we gradually climbed for the next 9 miles to Glenn Pass (11,926ft) with 3500 ft elevation gain. We passed beautiful Dollar Lake and Arrowhead Lake. One particular lake caught our attention was Rae Lakes. One of the most popular hikes in the Sierras was name after this lake: Rae Lakes Loop (45 mile hike). It was very pleasant hiking along the shoreline of this lake and you could even camp here too. The weather was getting warm again so we could not resist but to take a swim at this lake before a stiff climb of less than 2 miles with 1700ft elevation gain to Glenn pass. The freedom in the wilderness was that you could go slow, fast, eat sleep swim or did pretty much where/whatever you like. Today's swim was the must for us before we tackle this pass. It was so refreshing and gave us the boost of fresh energy that we definitely needed.

The view from the top of Glenn pass was beyond spectacular. The climb was hard but somehow i always looked forward to the moutain pass because the view from the top never disappointed me. Being at the top gave you a sense of accomplishment and self rewarding. We also had a chance to blow our whistle again (8th time).

It was late in the afternoon and we had fun hiking downhill for the next 3.5 miles to our designated campground (Lower Vidette) with 2,500ft descent. We bumped to other hikers along the way. My instinct again this time, they all might end up at the same campground that we were planning to camp so we better moved fast. We were the first two people arriving at the campsite so we could cherry-pick the best spot. The creek was about 20 ft from our tents so we were very pleased. I was not sure why but i felt great today even after a long day hike. I guessed that I was very happy because everything went so well beyond my expectation and the scenery along this section of the trail was gorgeous. While we setup and prepared our Dinner, we got the visit of couple deers. How cool was that? We camped at Lower Vidette - mile 181 of JMT.

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