Piute Bridge 2021

Wilderness: John Muir Wilderness
Trail System: Florence Lake Trail, John Muir Trail
Latitude: 37.22504
Longitude: -118.83354
Elevation: 8,068 feet

Day 1
Unfortunately, we were not able to take the boat ferry across Florence Lake due to the lake being empty. This added an additional 4 miles to our initial trip. The plan this year was to do a loop which took us to the Piute Bridge, up to Italy Pass and then back down exiting near Edison Lake. This would have been a total of about 40 miles in total.
This was the first year back on the trail since my back surgery. It’s also the first time we have tried a walk through. Normally we have a base camp and visit surrounding areas throughout the week.
On the first day however, I was not able to get as far as we had hoped. We ended up stopping about 2 miles short of the Piute Bridge. It was also very smokey due to fires in the state.

Day 2
The goal today was to get to Honeymoon Lake which was a few miles past Pine Creek Pass. The air had cleared up and and most of the smoke was gone. From Piute Bridge, it was a very steep climb towards the pass. After getting about 4 miles up the trail, my body stopped cooperating and made me discontinue my trip. I was now starting to get back pain and already had multiple blisters on my feet. After discussing with the group, we decides to slowly hike our way out and enjoy sites along the San Juaquin River.
For day 2, we decided to camp at the Piute Bridge for the night.

Day 3
No smoke filled the sky this day and the sound of the river in the morning was extremely therapeutic. We decided to hike back to Florence Lake and camp on the back-end of the lake.
Once we got to the lake, we rested our feet and made some food. There is a bridge near where we camped. The guys caught several nice sized fish from the creek coming into the lake.

Day 4
The smoke was back in the air which made it look very foggy. Visibility was pretty bad as we hiked the last 4 miles around the lake to get out.
Even though we were not able to complete the trip as originally planned, it was still nice to get into the forest and forget about the responsibilities and distractions that come with city life.

Trip Data

Temperatures

Days = 50 to 65 F
Mornings = 32 to 42 F 
San Juaquin River = 52 F 

Fitbit 

Saturday Steps – 31,844
Calories – 2207 
Heart – 132 max, 40 min 

Sunday Steps – 21,082
Calories – 1461
Heart – 107 bpm max, 42 min 

Monday Steps – 29,772
Calories – 2064
Heart – 143 max, 46 min 

Tuesday Steps – 15,811
Calories – 1096
Heart – 139 max, 47 min