JMT Day 2 Cathedral Pass and Lakes

Destination: Upper Cathedral Lake Starting Location: Sunrise Creek

Today's Miles: 9.00 Trip Miles: 22.00

Today was our first big climb, I think at least 2000 feet. The beginning was harder.

 Had a little scare when I reached for the GPS once. It was gone. I found it about a quarter of a mile down the trail! We got to see some great views! 

Today was the first sight of snow on the trail. It didn't cause many problems. 

Morning hiking took awhile but we finally made it to Sunrise Junction and had lunch in a beautiful meadow, Long Meadow!

Next we made our way toward Cathedral Pass, a relatively gradual pass.

Columbia Finger

Near Cathedral Pass

We reached our destination at 2:23 pm, Cathedral Lake. It's a very nice lake. I thought about swimming but chose otherwise.

Arriving early in the day gave us time to relax and enjoy the wilderness. Around 2:30 is our typical ending time. I can easily see how people could hike this faster if needed. Sometimes you can, however, experience more while hiking it slow!