Day 67 - Gladys Lake campsite to Lyell Fork ford

The original plan was to make a shorter day, and stop a bit before Donahue Pass. But we knew it would be an easy pass to hike, and early on during the day we decided we’d go over it, and camp on the other side.

In the morning we were still hiking on the JMT alternate, passing along several small lakes and seeing many hikers going southbound. During one of our climbs, we came across an older lady, who seemed to be in the verge of panic. She said she hiked ahead of he husband a long while ago, but that he was a much faster hiker, and he hadn’t passed her yet. She asked if we saw him ahead of her, which we hadn’t. She was really worried about him.

Only after we finished a long climbing section and had a snack, we bumped into him. We gave him the message that she would be waiting for him in Shadow Lake, and felt relieved for her.

The trail went on, and we finally reached the junction where it reunited with the PCT. We had lunch over there, by Thousand Island Lake and then headed out to the second part of our day. The climb up to Island Pass was really not noticeable. Just another short uphill. From there, the trail went down to a nice stream, where we had another break, before starting the climb up to Donahue Pass.

Most of the climb was easy, and we crossed many small streams. The final approach up to the pass was short and a bit steep, but nothing we hadn’t done before. There was also no significant show during the climb.

At the pass we finally entered Yosemite Wilderness, which isn’t quite the park, but it’s getting there. The climb down was also snow-less, and quite easy. We finally reached the Lyell Fork, and were happy to see that there was an easy path across, and no actual fording needed.

We found a nice camp spot here for our tents, and have just finished dinner. Many other hikers are also camped around here, some going north and some going south.