The John Muir Trail: Day 20 (South of Forester Pass to Guitar Lake)

High desert plateau on our way to Guitar Lake.

Highlights of Day 20

Hiked through a beautiful high-desert plateau
Got to see Mt. Whitney’s badunk-a-dunk (and it looks BIG from the back side!)
Snacked at picturesque Timberline Lake, beside the last trees (or the first trees, depending on perspective) of the official John Muir Trail. (The trail from Whitney Portal to the Mt. Whitney summit isn’t technically part of the JMT.)
Set up tent for the last time (on this trip)

Trail Journal

5:10 pm – Guitar Lake

I can’t believe it’s our last night! We’re getting set up to eat dinner & spend the night at Guitar Lake, below the switchbacks on the western face of Mt. Whitney. Mt. Whitney looks MASSIVE from here–far larger than it appears from the eastern, more commonly traversed side.

There are so many more people here than I’m used to seeing. It’s been a shock all day–the last couple days, actually–seeing more people who came in from various surrounding trailheads. They look so clean! And they smell like an absolutely cloying cloud of deodorant and soaps. (I’m sure we probably smell equally strong to them. 🙂 ) Their trail manners are also not as great–not so good about yielding to uphill traffic, lots of blocking trail, etc.

I think it’ll be a shock when we re-enter society…