160 Miles on the John Muir Trail, 1992
FRIDAY, JULY 3 -- DAY 5
I'm up early at 5:30am this morning, to hopefully tear down camp before the mosquitoes begin swarming. I set my alarm, but I have a better, natural one when the thrush begin their constant, melodious singing at first light. I slept warm enough, except for my feet again, and the thermometer shows the overnight low and current temperature to be 31°.
A another clear, calm dawn -- I love this perfect Sierra weather! I pack things up damp, fetch my food from the tree (no bears) and cook oatmeal. Apparently I did beat the mosquitoes, because I am unbothered by them all morning. At 7:00am, I'm ready to start. Its still cool, 33° , and I start in nylon windbreaker and long pants. I'm glad that I stopped at last night's campsite, because nothing enticing comes along in the first mile of walking. I'm also glad to have yesterday's wet stream crossing behind me because it would be COLD this morning and I would have wet boots -- they are mostly dry now.
Its warmer now and I am now able to do without my nylon windwear. The mosquitoes are just beginning to fly. In a half hour, I arrive at lovely McClure Meadow, which is quite large and has scenic mountains beside it. This is a somewhat civilized area with many campsites and a nearby ranger station. McClure Meadow is much larger than Evolution Meadow and also more scenic. Robins and ground squirrels play in the grass along with the ever-present juncos, which seem to be the most common bird in the Sierras. I hear thrush, but don't see them -- come to think of it I haven't seen one yet, even though it is very common to hear them. McClure Meadow is quite long and I walk beside it for 20 minutes, passing more campers at its eastern end.
I pass by a towering monolith called "the Hermit" as I climb a mercifully easy grade, following Evolution Creek upstream, but staying well away from the creek itself. There are some hazy, non-threatening clouds approaching from the south as I climb out of the valley towards higher Evolution Basin on a long, steep, agonizing grade that has reduced me to walking for 45 seconds and resting for 15 seconds. At 10:00am, I reach the northwestern edge of Evolution Basin and, WOW -- was the climb ever worth it! I'm at a stunning alpine meadow with a massive, towering ridge on its east side, comprised of huge peaks, rising 3000' above me within about ¼ mile -- a very steep rise! I take a picture of this meadow with its dominating backdrop, but only after waiting for a far-away marmot to come out of the shadows and into the picture. I'll remember to look for this little critter in the picture later.
Next, I come to breathtaking Evolution Lake, also at the foot of the same high towering ridge, which includes 13,691' Mt. Mendel. This is so stupendous my eyes can hardly drink it all in! No wonder this was Muir's favorite place: it really is spectacular! There are robins here -- I wouldn't have guessed them to reside at this high altitude -- also ground squirrels, juncos, and some kind of sparrow with a distinct black and white striped head. The cheerful-sounding little bird from Marie Lakes is here. His song is much like the call to the post at the dog races. I'll call him the post bird until I find out what he really is. I startle a young ground squirrel who jumps out onto the trail right in front of me, panics, runs up against my boot and stops. I stand still for a second and he regains his composure and scampers back off the trail.
I stop for a snack break at a gorgeous place overlooking Evolution Lake. This is a scenic spot with a small waterfall and one lone tree in the foreground. I love this place! It is the most scenic yet and this basin is going to last for miles, so there's more to come! I've had goose bumps for an hour straight! This is absolutely spectacular country and I find myself wondering if Muir enjoyed it as much without the benefit of trails to follow, or did he perhaps enjoy it even more because it was wild and unspoiled. Trails are convenient -- crosscountry is harder.
I resume my journey and climb up and around the west side of also beautiful Sapphire Lake, which is aptly named and deep blue. A front has moved in and the entire southern half of the sky is overcast with monotone white clouds, while northern half is blue, kind of spoiling some of the photo opportunities. I hate to hurry through this spectacular area, but I will because even though the clouds are not presently very threatening, I'll push to get over Muir Pass in case it worsens. Besides, if the entire sky turns grey, there's not much point in dawdling. There is a ring around the sun, reminding me of a weather rhyme from Backpacker magazine:
"Ring around the sun, rain before the day is done"
Or is it: "...rain before the night is done." Whichever, its got me only mildly worried because the clouds really just don't look very bad ...at least not yet. I sit on a rock and contemplate the names of the nearby features: Mt. Darwin, Mt. Mendel, Evolution Basin. How did they get named and why?
I push on, getting a little tired now, past an unnamed lake at the base of Mt. Huxley. Then up to Wanda Lake which, along with Helen Lake on the other side of the pass, was named for Muir's daughters. On the shore of Wanda Lake, I meet and have a lengthy conversation with 2 guys who are camped here and are part of a 20-person trail crew that is re-routing portions of the JMT through Evolution Basin. They have been here for two weeks of a 2½ month tour of duty! They live here, at least for this summer. One of them has a nastily sunburned face that is raw and blistered. They say that it is pretty nice staying here, but there are certain drawbacks like mediocre food and worst of all, bathing in the cold lake. They say that they drink the water without treating it, and that marmots will come down the hill and dig up the ground where humans urinate.
While talking to these guys, the sky clears somewhat and we are treated to excellent views of super-blue Wanda Lake with dazzling white mountains behind it. This may be the bluest lake that I've ever seen. I fetch water from Wanda and continue on my way. Unlike those two trail workers, I treat my water with iodine -- I'd hate to have to cut my trip short due to some kind of intestinal disorder, so in my mind its not worth the risk of drinking it untreated. Besides, for some reason the iodinated water tastes pretty good here in the Sierras, why I'm not sure, maybe because the water is so cold.
Hazy, white clouds begin dominating the sky again as I continue my trek to Muir Pass. Its surprisingly warm at this high altitude (11,600'), about 65°! I'm well above treeline now and walking through a bleak, barren boulder field. I pass Lake McDermand and then have one last, tiring slog to the pass, arriving there at 2:30pm. There is a man and woman here and of course the famous hut, Muir hut. It is in fine shape, with a good door and glass in the windows.
I spend a half hour, taking pictures and looking around. The hut is open and would make a welcome shelter in poor weather, although spending the night is discouraged due to trash and human waste problems. As I start to leave, five hikers arrive from the south. They are part of a group of eight from my home town of Phoenix, of all places. I take a group photo for them and then head down the south side, now entering an even more bleak and barren landscape that looks like something from the moon. The mountains on this side are brown instead of white. With the overcast sky, the barren landscape appears as a strange new world. It feels very isolated and a little spooky.
I pass by Lake Helen and encounter the first member of a group of fourteen Sierra Club hikers on a national hike that involves a lot of crosscountry travel. They will camp at Lake Helen tonight and head off-trail for the Ionian Basin tomorrow, skipping Muir Pass. There are no trails that way and what they are doing seems pretty hard-core to me. I kind of envy them in a way, but I confess to liking trails and I know I wouldn't want to travel in a group that large.
I continue down the steep, rocky grade and after an hour, I come to the last of the fourteen Sierra Clubbers. When I arrive at an unnamed tarn that I had picked as a possible stopping point for tonight, I find that someone already has the one obvious campsite, so I'll go on. Below here, I enter upper LeConte Canyon and some of the most dramatic scenery yet. This is a sharp, deep valley bordered by monstrous peaks, easily rising 3000' above the canyon floor! The peaks are white and distinct and very much like some of the prominent peaks in Yosemite Valley. This a spectacular canyon, but with the overcast sky, its just not very photogenic. I need sunshine for pictures!
"These beautiful days enrich all my life,
They do not exist as mere pictures...
but live always."
- John MuirI continue the long, difficult descent and , Voila!, at 4:00pm, the sky lightens with a hint of sunshine and blue! I may get some pictures yet! I would like to stop and finish this descent in the morning when the light would be more favorable for photography. I pass a few campsites, but deem them unsatisfactory and keep going. Maybe that is a mistake, because miles later, I still don't have a campsite. Soon its 5:00pm, then 5:30pm, 6:00pm and I'm still looking! It gets later and later and I'm delving ever deeper into the LeConte Canyon. I would like to stop early enough to have the warmth of sunshine on my camp, but that's becoming a remote possibility as the sun lowers ever closer to the high peaks on the western edge of the canyon.
I hear marmots and catch a glimpse of a wild turkey or maybe its a grouse. Still descending, I come to a meadow, but I don't know if its Little Pete or Big Pete, since I've lost track of exactly where I am. There are a few good campsites here, but they are occupied. I continue on and pass a couple of more unsatisfactory sites. I'm starting to get desperate and have to stop soon -- I had intended to stop hours ago. I've put on a lot of miles so far today and now my right leg is starting to hurt where the top of the boot cuts in, above the outside anklebone. I need to STOP! Finally at 7:00pm, I come to an acceptable spot at the junction with the Bishop Pass trail. This is really not a great campsite, but if I skip this one, I may end up searching for a place in the dark! I'll take it!
My tent is still damp from this morning's condensation and there's no sun here, so I have to wipe it dry with my towel. Its late and I hurry as I set up the tent, make my bed, filter water, wash and cook dinner. Its almost dark when I finally sit down to eat. Tonight's meal is spaghetti and it is very good. There are mosquitoes here, but not as many as last night near Evolution Meadow. I hang my food in near darkness at 9:00pm and then sit and check the map to see just exactly where I am. Holy Cow! I'm at the trail junction by LeConte ranger station and I've walked 19 miles today! I feel it too -- I'm tired, have one small blister and a new pressure point with my boots. I hit the sack and am serenaded to sleep by a chorus of frogs singing in the nearby stream. The sky has finally cleared and the temperature is 48°.
Day 4
Day 6