August 15-Water, water everywhere!

Miles Hiked: 17.69  Total: 140.57
Elevation Gain: 4824 ft

“But in every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.” ~John Muir

STEEP TRAILS - pub. 1918

[John]

Lake near Muir Pass

Determined to get over Muir Pass, this turned out to be out the day we hiked the farthest. The morning was lovely, ascending from the south fork of the San Joaquin up into Evolution Valley. I was intrigued by the ability of trees to eke out a living high among the steep granite rock of the canyon and much enamored by the falls as we approached the infamous Evolution Creek crossing.

We completed the crossing around 9 AM.  It was a bit deeper and faster than Bear Creek, but still posed no problem, other than my having to stop afterwards to change out of my wet socks.

This was one of the prettiest days. McClure Meadow was stunning and I could understand why the northbound guy we met at MTR the previous day told me he sat in front of a tree the previous afternoon watching the sun set across that meadow, and the simple beauty of the place brought tears to his eyes.

It was a really hot day, but we kept trekking beyond the many lakes in the Evolution Basin, eventually reaching that little lake below Muir Pass late afternoon. After a week’s hiking, Christi seemed to have found her legs and kept leading me onward throughout the day. In contrast, I was feeling the heat and draggin’ my ass.

Snow field leading up to Muir Hut at top of Muir Pass

We stopped for one of our "yummy" couscous dinners at that lake below the pass, then headed up, reaching the summit around 7 PM. After taking in the view and leaning on a northbound PCTer who was waiting for his hiking companion to snap some photos of us in front of the shelter, we tackled the snow and ice on the darkening south side of the pass, intending to descend as much as possible before it got too dark. Once again, we ran into Karen and “kids,” who were also on the way down seeking out a campsite.

Man, there was water flowing everywhere – on the trail, around the trail and anywhere else you can imagine! There were supposed to be some campsites around Helen Lake, but the whole area was flooded with water gushing everywhere. It was cold, and the ground was icy, snowy or soaking wet, and I was determined to find somewhere dry to set up camp.

Beyond Helen Lake a little after 8 PM, I noticed some higher ground with small trees so we headed there, found a little flat spot, donned our headlamps and set up our tent. I enjoyed the symphony of multiple waterfalls and streams throughout the night, but, again, didn’t sleep well, experiencing some of my “altitude apnea.”

[Christi]
OMG...again! Muir Pass. Today we intended to hike to Saffire Lake where we planned to camp in order to hike over Muir Pass the next day. We got to the lake about 3pm with lots of daylight to spare and no place really to camp.  Campsites we'd seen had already been taken. So we decided to go ahead and hike over Muir Pass. Good idea?

Muir Hut at top of Muir Pass

Hmmm....

On the way, we stopped at a beautiful pristine lake and ate dinner.  I'd all of a sudden become ravenous and needed food. John wasn't very hungry but ate a little. I wonder if it was the altitude that finally got my appetite going. We made it to Muir Hut at the top of the pass at about 6:30pm. We asked a PCTer who had arrived there before us to take our photo at the Muir Hut which is there for wayward hikers in need of shelter.

The light rapidly fading and the air increasingly cold, we needed to get to a campsite quickly. However, we hadn't considered that the first available sites would be 2+ miles away. We also didn't expect the amount of snow on the descending side of the pass.

We hurried down the snow-cupped snow fields as fast as possible but by 8pm, the light was well and truly gone.  We HAD to find a place to setup our tent and get out of the cold.John, suggested we head up an embankment where there were trees and just pitch the tent. Good idea...except many others had already had that thought and were already snuggled into their tents, all warm and cozy. We persevered and eventually found a spot just big enough for our tent nestled between trees and one of the ubiquitous granite outcropping.

We donned our headlamps and quickly setup our tent and got into our bags for a well needed rest.