Knowing we had a long Day 2 ahead of us, we started early with a 5:30 AM wake up call. Hitting the trail shortly after 7 AM I began the climb to Donohue Pass in the cool morning shade. I found the hike to be far easier than expected – I think my prior weekend at altitude helped me quite a bit on these first couple of days. I lingered in some beautiful alpine meadows and got the pass at the time I normally hit the trail, 9:30 AM.

Although it was an enjoyable day, there was a lot of time bled along the way, but starting early kept the day pressure-free. Andrea was feeling the affects of the altitude and took a tumble on the way down from the pass, twisting her ankle – this injury would unfortunately cause her to leave the trail the next day. Anna Marie and I got to Thousand Island lake an hour ahead of the rest of the group and had a windy but nice lunch break. We watched lots and lots of hikers go by, including a bit Boyscout group. Most hikers were coming from Agnew and staying at 1000 Island Lake – not many seemed to be heading South along the JMT towards Garnet, so we thought finding a campsite would be a ‘piece of cake’.

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