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  • Tuesday, October 2, 2012

    John Muir Trail Photos, Day 8: Italy Pass

    "I used to write a blog about my trips too," a fellow hiker said. "But I kept using the same words and embellishments to describe everything: beautiful, breathtaking, breathtaking, beautiful. I just got bored writing about it."

    I run into that problem sometimes too, but the fault is ours and not the fault of the English language. I just have to try harder when describing the breathtakingly beautiful Italy Pass.

    This was when Lightfoot had to get off the trail for his brother's wedding. We hiked out on the Lake Italy Trail. At the lake, we went our separate ways. I climbed over Italy Pass and headed toward the road to Bishop to resupply.

    My favorite moments on the John Muir Trail were when you reach the crest of a mountain pass and peer over to the other side. It's like climbing the stone wall surrounding a secret garden. You have no idea what it will look like, except that it will be grand and, for lack of a better word, beautiful.

    You reach the top of Italy Pass at an altitude of 12,500 feet. The granite slope blocking the view slowly drops away and reveals miles of land on the other side, waiting endlessly for another set of captivated eyes. The white rugged terrain seems barren at first. Then you make your way down and find it full of exquisite alpine lakes and cascading waterfalls.

    I've only recently finished the hike, but not a day goes by that I don't wish I was setting up camp on Italy Pass.
    Stopping for water on Lake Italy Trail
    Lake Italy Trail Approaching the Lake
    Our Lunch Spot
    Lake Italy
    Steam Engine and Lightfoot at Lake Italy
    Italy Pass
    Italy Pass

    Creative Commons License
    A Backpacker's Life List by Ryan Grayson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.