Day 52: Mile 825 to 838   (13 miles)

Woke up a little later then normal. Today was a slow day and rumors I had heard told me there will be a lot of snow climbing up to Muir Pass and then down the other side as well. Up until now, every pass is completely snow free on the South side and then completely snow covered on the North side. Not long into the day, I had a early lunch next to a small river and laid out on my foam pad. Not very surprising that I haven’t seen a single person yet today.

As the day went on and I was starting to make the big push for Muir Pass, I ran into Forrest and a friend of his who was hiking just a short section of the trail with him. I took a small break with them and then we started to make the climb up. It wasn’t very long before the snow appeared on the ground and got deeper as we went up. I haven’t had to hike in the snow this late in the day and it was very slushy and tough to walk in as it has been slowly trying to melt all day.

(Forrest and his friend working through a small snow section)

(Spent a good amount of time navigating through the snow)

Forrest was looking to get to a lake just before Muir Pass where someone was going to meet him. When we reached the frozen lake, I was surprised to see Steady was the person he was trying to meet up with. It was great to talk to her for a bit, but I was in a hurry to get up to Muir Pass and determined to make it to the top and maybe further. I looked up at the top in the general direction I was supposed to go, but with no trail, it will be interesting. With one mile to go, I started walking and it was a slow walk as I sunk deep in the snow with every step I took. I could hear water running under the snow all over and got to a point where I realized I’m going to get real wet and there is nothing I can do about it. Some areas I would sink up to almost my waste and in other spots where the water was running, the snow wasn’t as deep but I would step in anywhere from three to six inches of freezing cold water. It was slow going but I finally made it to the top and saw Muir Pass hut.

(Muir Pass Hut)

It wasn’t too late in the evening yet, but I felt it was a good chance to put on some dry clothes and cook up a good dinner. While cooking, Casper showed up at the hut and is from Eastern Canada. We talked for a bit and could see that we might have the makings for a great sunset. That alone helped me make up my mind that I wasn’t going to hike any further and I would stay the night inside the hut. This will give my shoes and socks a chance to dry out a little and sleep somewhere a bit warmer tonight.

Sure enough, we were treated to an amazing sunset and it set in a near perfect location over one of the higher peaks in the distance. Even though today was a slower day, a sunset like this always makes things better and wipes away any doubts of if I should of gone further.

Day 53: Mile 838 to 861   (23 miles)

I slept good last night, unfortunately my shoes didn’t really dry out much. I decided to take two Ziploc bags and cut them so my feet could fit in them the best way possible and then slipped on my shoes. Hopefully this will keep my feet from getting wet and cold. I left at the first sign of any light. I wanted to get an early start so I could walk across the frozen snow and not sink down. This worked out greatly for me as I had zero problems walking the next few miles down the pass on top of the snow.

As I passed a few frozen lakes and a couple of them really gave me a feeling that I was walking up by the North Pole or somewhere on the frozen tundra.

(One of the frozen lakes)

It wasn’t long before the lakes began to thaw out and show the reflections of the surrounding mountains. Once it got a little warmer out, I took a break at Sapphire Lake to have breakfast.

I noticed a lot of JMT hikers headed Southbound as the day went on. JMT is the John Muir Trail which is 215 miles long and spends a good portion of the time on the PCT. I noticed a lot of these hikers have huge packs and over pack on food. I got offered food by over half of the JMT hikers today because they have way to much. I give each hiker the snow report as they are about to climb all the passes I just climbed and they give me their trail report which doesn’t consist of anymore snow. Sounds like good news to me, even though I have enjoyed the snow overall.

I met Little Bear and Aqua Knot and I let Little Bear borrow my solar panel so he could charge his phone that was dead. We agreed to meet up at McClure Meadows later in the day and I would get the charger back then. After meeting up, it was time to move on again and get ready to ford Evolution Creek which claims it can be difficult. It wasn’t too bad and ended up only being knee deep and just really cold! Lots of fish to be seen!

Hiked a little bit further and ended up camping at Senger Creek with Little Bear and Aqua knot. It got cloudy this evening and has that feeling that its going to rain. I am only 17 miles away from VVR (Vermilion Valley Ranch) but I would have to take a boat or hike six miles around the lake to get there. I am thinking of skipping this resupply and making a run for Tuolumne Meadows since I can stretch out my food a little bit longer and get there, but we will see.