We've been hiking roughly in sync with Tim LaFlame and Cheryl McCloskey. The Bay Area couple began hiking together before they got married more than 20 years ago. This is their second hike of the JMT.

They camped beside us Thursday night at Purple Lake and they woke us up as they yelled and banged pans to scare away a momma bear and her cubs.

LaFlame said they hike partly to disconnect from society. "You get the feeling that your possessions own you. This is a chance to put everything on your back."

Another pair of hikers we passed, Derek and Kenneth Brookman from Scotland, said hiking the JMT was a lifelong dream. The brothers flew to San Francisco, stayed over in Fresno, and took a $170 cab ride to Florence Lake to begin their northbound hike.

Our crew climbed down to Fish Creek on Friday morning then scrambled over a snowy stretch of trail to 10,900-foot Silver Pass.