Day 16 - Fresh start

Grouse Meadows

 Big Pete Meadow to Deer Meadow 8200ft elevation. 

Today we traveled: 9.5miles. 1053ft elevation gain 1490ft elevation loss. 

JMT mile marker: 143mile.

Today we woke up fresh after a good night sleep. Around 5am I heard noise and I looked from the tent and it was a family of deer grazing just outside the tent. I’m not sure who was more surprised, them or me but we had a good staring contest. After coffee we packed and got on the trail. It was an easy clear path and slightly downhill - we were cruising. 

We stopped at the ranger station and consulted with them about Bob’s situation and if we should ditch the trail where and how to do it. The guy we talked to suggested we take an easy day or two to recover, work on hydration, food, salt and sugar and see how we feel. Bob felt so much better that we decided that was a good plan. 

The amount of miles we put our body thru is taking a toll and this made sense to us. We agree to take it easy for the next two days and see how we feel. 

We continued that easy path and stopped for breakfast at grouse meadows. It’s only fitting that we saw a grouse sitting on a big boulder right there.

Just before we packed out Rob, a fellow backpacker that we met at VVR, join us and we chitchat about what we’ve been up to since we last saw each other. He was able to give us some Advil and we were very happy about that. 

We felt good and ended walking a little more that day. 

We camped next to a a little creek and were able to wash up and do some laundry.  Being in lower altitude helped out and the mood was high. Bob was feeling better. Tomorrow we are planning to tackle the Golden Staircase. Another JMT infamous obstacle. Good night, Yifat