Thru-Hiking the JMT: Mono Creek to Rosemarie Meadow

Day 11 on the John Muir Trail…

With our packs on our backs, our bear canisters filled and our bodies rested from our zero day, we settled up at VVR and took the ferry back to the east end of Lake Edison.

John Muir Trail Day 11

Distance: 11.5 miles
Cumulative Distance: 104.65 miles
Total Ascent: 3,843 ft
Cumulative Ascent: 28,143 ft
Harrison Map Sheets 8 and 7

From the ferry landing on the northeast shore, we hike about 2 miles to rejoin the John Muir Trail near the Mono Creek bridge. We followed the signs toward Seldon Pass, and about 100 yards past that we saw an impressive bridge.

On the other side, Bear Ridge loomed over us, taunting with its gnarly switchbacks. In the next 3.5 miles, we would climb over 2,000 vertical feet. It’s a good thing we were rested. We trudged uphill most of the morning, only stopping to catch our breath, or to adjust the duct tape on Joan’s feet.

Climbing Bear Ridge

Bear ridge is steep-sloped with a lot of switchbacks. Everyone talks about the 99 switchbacks on Mt. Whitney, but there were 60 switchbacks up Bear Ridge (I counted them). It’s steep, but at least we were shaded by the forest.

Once we crossed Bear Ridge we descended through a beautiful grove of Aspen trees (at about mile 5.7), rustling in the wind. The sounds and light patterns were mesmerizing.

Finally, we reached the beautiful Bear Creek at mile 7.3. The JMT parallels Bear Creek for the next three miles, alternating along the way between cascading white water and a tranquil stream.

At mile 10.4 we reached the crossing. This is a “boots off” crossing. We took our time walking across. The river rocks are slippery, so we slowly slid our feet across the bottom of the creek and used our trekking poles to steady ourselves. The crossing wasn’t bad for us, but we’ve heard stories about it being pretty harrowing, depending on the snow levels of the previous winter.

From the Bear Creek crossing, we hiked another mile to our camp for the night at Rosemarie Meadow. We had the entire beautiful area to ourselves, since most people opted to camp further up toward Seldon Pass.

Camping near meadows often is an invitation for mosquito trouble. We all coped in our own ways. Jeffrey holed up in his tent until sundown. I put my pant legs and long sleeves on… and repellent on the exposed areas. We ate our dinner, cleaned up, filtered water and settled in for the night.