Two consecutive days on the John Muir Trail gave one hiker the full package: an alpine sunrise worth the whole trip, and a mountainside that nearly broke him. The account, published on The Trek, covers the stretch between Deer Creek and Mono Creek in California's Sierra Nevada — and it's a useful preview for anyone eyeing the JMT.

Day five was all uphill. Carrying six days of food — a genuinely punishing load — the hiker climbed past Purple Lake and the striking blue water of Virginia Lake, reconnecting along the way with a Pacific Crest Trail hiker nicknamed Orange, who was catching up on messages home to Germany via his Garmin inReach (a good reminder that much of this route has zero cell coverage). The day ended at Nüümü Hu Hupi Lake, about 1.5 miles below Silver Pass, after 15 miles and more than 3,500 feet of climbing. Dinner was carnitas-and-bean burritos, eaten while coyotes yipped across the basin.

Silver Pass itself delivered the next morning — big views, no signal, and trail camaraderie, including a fellow JMT walker bailing to Mammoth Lakes with a knee injury. Then came the descent toward the bridge over Mono Creek, and the part of the report nobody paints pretty: Bear Ridge. The hiker's verdict is unambiguous. Steep, exposed switchbacks over rock and scrub, baking in the sun, with no scenic payoff — the one section of the trail he outright hated. He had planned 15 miles that day and stopped at 13.7 because of the pain.

Why does this matter if you're planning a Sierra trip? Because online hype skews toward the famous passes and omits the drudgery. Bear Ridge sits on the approach to Vermilion Valley Resort, the popular resupply and stopover spot for JMT thru-hikers, so many people skip it entirely by heading to VVR. Section hikers and backpackers should know what they're signing up for: heavy food carries in this stretch, long waterless climbs, unreliable phone signal (satellite communicators are standard kit out here), and the reality that even a beautiful trail includes days you just endure. The old hiker adage quoted in the piece — don't quit on a bad day — is the right mindset to pack alongside your bear canister.

If the JMT is on your list, this stretch between Mammoth Lakes and Vermilion Valley Resort makes a solid multi-day section on its own: Silver Pass for the views, Mono Creek for a lazy lunch, and Bear Ridge as a proper test of your legs and vocabulary.