When I left Mammoth to continue my hike, I did a detour to stop by the Iva Bell Hot Springs that were about 13 miles from Mammoth. My hike there took me lower in elevation and into a pretty warm canyon. Thankfully, it was by a stream, so that made up for it being so hot. I stopped by the hot springs for a couple of hours, enjoyed one of the tubs, and relaxed. Except for the algae covering the bottom and floating on the sides, it was a nice break.
I continued hiking for a few more hours and camped for the night. The next morning I was "lost" (I knew the general area where I was but because of bad signage for at trail intersections, I took some wrong turns) as I tried to get myself to the John Muir Trail (JMT). It wasn't a big problem because I knew I was in the right general area but I took a different path to the JMT than I had planned.
After I got on the JMT, I went over Silver Pass and began to make my way towards Indepence, CA which was seven days away. My first day on the JMT was uneventful and somewhat boring because it was the part of the trail that isn't very scenically exciting. The next day was better because I stopped at Muir Trail Ranch (MTR) to eat leftover food that other backpackers left. Essentially, I was excited to eat things that I didn't have to carry. As I got close to MTR, the smoke from the Rough Fire rolled in. It was so thick that you couldn't see anything but it made it so you couldn't see more that the mountains that were immediately around you. The smell wasn't to strong but it made it so the scenery was worse. Also, the sun seemed to give a reddish tint to the world after the smoke rolled in around 10 or 11 in the morning.
I made it to Evolution Valley this day and the ranger left a note on a trail sign telling all hikers to seriously consider continuing on. Because the smoke didn't bother my lungs or really have much of an effect on me, I decided to continue my way down the trail, but the ash that fell on me in the afternoon did give me pause.
Continuing on from Evolution Valley the next day brought me up and over Muir Pass, and its cool hut on top, and down into LeConte Canyon. Just like yesterday, the smoke rolled in around 11 am and made it difficult to see down into the canyon. I talked with most people I passed about the smoke and decided to continue on to Independence, even though it was suppose to get worse the closer I got.
After about two hours of hiking, I stopped for some water, had issues with my water filter, and was surrounded by ash the size of the circle from a hole punch. This is what made me turn around. The size and amount of ash and the problems with my water filter. I turned around and hiked back to LeConte Canyon where I could take the Bishop Pass Trail the next day and get out of the Sierra.
The next day I hiked over Bishop Pass, and saw a dead mule on the trail, and hitch hiked my way back to Mammoth from the trailhead. The Rough Fire and its smoke ended this hiking adventure and its smoke even made it very hazy in Bishop, which is maybe 100 miles as the crow flies.
I was sad to end but felt it considering the conditions, I made the right choice. After getting to Mammoth, I head to my parents house near Sacramento and will hang out there for a week or two as I wait for my orientation for nursing school on September 15.
