From JMT mile 133.5 to 145.3 Total: 11.8 miles hiked 8/13
On the fifteenth day of my John Muir Trail trek I hiked from Le Conte Canyon to upper Palisade Lake, leaving from Little Pete Meadow, hiking downhill along the Middle Fork Kings River to lovely Grouse Meadow, followed by a long climb to the famous Golden Staircase along Palisade Creek. It was a long hot hike but a fun one.
We didn’t really need to, but we woke up early, in the dark at 4am, like always. That’s what we get for going to bed so early. But it didn’t matter. It was a lovely morning in Le Conte Canyon. Being the first ones on the trail is always satisfying, as you get to hike past other backpackers who have barely crawled out of their tents. Shameless slugabeds is what they are. When you are already hiking at 5:30am, everybody else is a slugabed.
We cruised down the trail toward the Le Conte Ranger Station and the side trail to Bishop Pass. There was a big group of tents down there. Most of the hikers were still asleep. We saw one or two tents with headlamps on inside them. And then we were gone, like ghosts in the night.
The lower section of Le Conte Canyon was much more wooded than the excellent high region we hiked through yesterday. But it had its good points. The hiking was easier, to begin with. It still had some fine examples of waterfalls and waterslides. And the mountains that lined the sides of the canyon were quite impressive, especially in the early light of dawn.
It took us about an hour and a half to reach lovely Grouse Meadow. Ever since my son and I hiked past it back in 2020, I’ve wished that I could camp there. But the timing was never right. I’ve now seen it three times in the early morning, and I keep wondering why I never pushed myself a bit further to reach it the day before. Dawn and sunset hours are always magical in a meadow. Sometimes you can get sparkling frost on the morning grasses, even in Summer. And there are usually several deer hanging out, feeding on meadow plants. The only bad part is rarely shown in photos: The mosquitos. Maybe this is why I’ve avoided it each time. This year, in mid-August, there weren’t any bugs in evidence. Which was good, because we stopped for a long break.
My goal was to take a ton of photos and videos, capturing the reflections and lighting on the calm waters of the river, as it meandered back and forth across the meadow. There were a few beaten paths through the tall grasses that previous campers used in order to reach the river, to get water for drinking, and possibly for swimming in.
Keith’s goal was to catch as many Golden Trout as possible. I’m happy to state that both of us achieved our goals. I will only show you a few of the many pictures I took, and only one of a trout that he caught (and released). They were small fish, but he enjoyed sneaking up on them and tricking them with a dry fly.
We put on our packs and kept hiking. About a mile later we arrived at the low point of our hiking day, the junction with the Middle Fork Trail, which headed down to Simpson Meadow, then up and over to Roads End. That was how the rangers at the Le Conte Ranger station entered the backcountry. But we had other plans. It was 8am, and it was time to start climbing. Since it was only going to get hotter with every passing minute, we started hiking right away. We had about five miles and 1500 feet of climbing to go before we even started the Golden Staircase. It was a mellow grade, but we still had to do the steps. I predicted that we would be roasting in the noonday sun on the staircase, but we’d just have to deal with it.
At first the hiking was easy. We walked along Palisade Creek, which was flowing slowly here in this flat region of canyon. Keith did a quick bit of fishing, but didn’t take off his pack. Then we moved on. There were tall pines, and an aspen grove, and places where the trees got knocked down in 2023 due to avalanches from the record snowfall. The trail crews finished cutting the fallen logs late last Summer, so now it was a pleasant hike. Off in the hazy distance to the south was the headwall of the valley. I pointed it out to Keith. That’s where the staircase was built. The lakes we would camp at were above that by a mile or two.
Sometimes were were near Palisade Creek and other times not. It was getting steeper now, and the creek flowed over granite slabs. It was starting to get a bit warm. We decided to take a break and filter some more water for the climb. This was Keith’s chance to jump in the creek, fully clothed! He was nuts, but he swore it felt great. He hoped that the wet clothes would keep him cool on the staircase.
Once the trail left the final grove of pines behind, we were out in the hot sun for the duration. That’s when Keith was happy he was soaking wet. I paused for a minute and unzipped the lower legs of my hiking pants, and converted them into shorts. I applied some sunscreen and I was ready to go. I hadn’t been in Shorts Mode since my first day on the trail, when I hiked out of Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. I can truthfully report that it was good then, and it was good now. We hiked onward, climbing steadily, through scrubby manzanita plants and up stone steps. But at least there were more views, without all those pesky trees.
The canyon narrowed as we approached the headwall. The creek was louder as it cascaded downward. And the trail got steeper than ever. Soon we were in the lower waterfall region, where the creek made it way down below the headwall and fanned out like all the talus piles we saw leading down from side channels up above us. The trail came right up to the biggest and best waterfall of all. Yes, I took too many photos and videos. Even Keith took a few. It was loud and strong and wild.
That was also the last spot to get water before the Golden Staircase began. We didn’t need any, so we hiked onward. Although the total climb was closer to 1000 feet, the staircase itself was maybe 700 feet. That’s only including the multitude of short switchbacks largely made of stone steps. The last two times I was here I descended this stretch of convoluted craziness. I remembered talking to others, toiling and sweating their way up the slope. Now my position was reversed, and I was the hot and sweaty one. As such, the staircase felt different this time. It felt as if it came in three sections, each surmounting a different hazard on the headwall. I have to tip my hat to the trail builders. Only a maniac would have thought that they could put a trail that both horses and humans could use up this crazy slope.
Back and forth and back and forth we went. We paused whenever we felt like it. Time went by. We drank water to stay hydrated. And when we chanced upon some shade, we used it to the fullest. In fact, there was a small grove of pines part way up, and they made me think we were at the top, but they were a lie. Of course there were more switchbacks, and more steps, and it never seemed to end. Keith’s clothing had already dried out long ago, and now it was soaked with sweat instead.
As you might expect, perseverance paid off. We finished with the switchbacks! The staircase was conquered!
But our joy was short-lived. The trail didn’t stop climbing. Oh, no. It kept on grinding uphill at the same steady incline, as remorselessly as ever. At least the steps themselves were mostly gone. I told Keith to take a final look down the canyon, because we were about to make a turn. This turn was interesting in that, long ago, the glacial ice had to make this turn as well. It was difficult to imagine so many megatons tons of solid ice to make a series of zigzags like this. But the rock around us testified to what happened all those years ago.
The turn also gave us a view of the Sierra Crest. I got out my Peakfinder Earth app and identified the peaks. Middle Palisade was the fourteener, but there were others, like Norman Clyde Peak, Excitement Peak, and Disappointment Peak. These were summits for rock climbers and serious mountaineers, not hikers like us. Still, I could dream about climbing them. The views from up there must be amazing.
After a couple more waterfalls, we made the next turn to the south and entered the Palisade Lakes Basin. There were two main lakes in this basin, one at 10613 feet and one at 10679 feet elevation. We were feeling pretty whupped after the Golden Staircase, but I told Keith to wait until we reached the lake before we took a break. There were Golden Trout in these lakes. That’s all he needed to hear. He started catching them right there at the outlet, where the water was flowing. That’s where it’s the most fun to use a dry fly. He was good at placing it in the creek at the right spot, then letting it drift past a likely hole where a trout was lurking. Trout are hunters, a bit like kittens, and when they see something tasty drifting by, they can’t help themselves and have to pounce. Keith pounced back.
Eventually, Keith caught every fish in the area. It was time to get going. I took a few more photos, then we hiked onward. We only had a mile or so left to hike, to reach the campsite I wanted. It was high above the second, or upper, Palisade Lake.
The trail climbed upward on some glaciated slabs, away from the shoreline. We finally got a view of Mather Pass in the distance at the head of the basin. We would be climbing over that tomorrow morning. For now, our goal was to get ourselves a good campsite and simply enjoy the views.
We made it to the campsite and there was only one other hiker there, a nice young lady named Sabrina, from Germany. She had the best shady spot, of course. But we weren’t worried. We wandered around, comparing locations, and both of us picked a spot nearby. Mine was in the sun at the moment, but it would be shady later on. It was only 3pm, so we had tons of time to lay around and relax. We set up our tents, and then I went off to get some water. There was an excellent creek nearby, so we didn’t have to go all the way down to the lake. I also noticed a deep pool just below the trail, and I pointed it out to Keith. While I was filtering water, he was soaking in the icy water yet again. When I saw how refreshed he looked later on, I began to wish that I, too, could tolerate that kind of cold. But that isn’t about to happen.
Other hikers arrived later on, and people found some imaginative places to pitch their tents. Everybody was very friendly, and we all hung out together, yakking about the trail. We gave news to the northbounders, and vice versa. Keith and I used our satellite devices to text our wives, and that duty was done. I had my tracking turned on while I hiked, so Vicki could see where I was from home, on a web browser. Very convenient, and keeps the worrying to a minimum. After a nap, we woke and cooked ourselves some dinner.
Eventually, the sun went down behind the ridge to the west, and the air grew cool. The big pile of cumulus clouds to the south began to dissipate. I got a weather forecast and it mentioned a 30% chance of thundershowers tomorrow. Oh boy. But we’d worry about that later on.
Our big plan for tomorrow was to summit Mather Pass, then head down along the South Fork Kings River, and climb up toward Pinchot Pass, where we would camp at Lake Marjorie. I told Keith that it should be a fairly mellow day, with no deadly hot climbs like today. Both of us were glad of that.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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