Muir Pass: Mile - high 830's - 850's

Muir Pass, at 11,974 ft, was a lot of fun to go up........ not so much going down.  Going up the south side in the mid-morning, the snow was nice and firm as we went over snow fields and followed lake outlets up to the pass.  It was so beautiful with a relatively gentle grade.  We arrived to the pass where there is the John Muir Hut and chatted with some hikers and the local marmots.  We decided to head out around 10:30 and that is when all of the real fun began!  The north side of Muir Pass was really gentle so that meant it got a lot of sun which meant really soft snow!  It was a really big snow field so for the next 2 miles we post-holed consistently to our knees and sometimes to our hips into streams of snowmelt under the snow.  Now we knew what thru-hikers had to deal with in heavy snow years and we wish that on no hiker!  We were doing about 1 mph versus our normal 2 - 3 mph.  We were glad to experience that element of the hike that other hikers have endured but our shins and calves weren't too pleased!

Not even terrible beasts.........

........nor soul crushing cold could keep us from Muir!

By the way Possum has his hat tipped I would say that we shall continue up!!

Focus..... Focus!

We have made it!!!  The Muir hut at the top of the pass

Mr. Johnathan Muir.......

....... and Possum have a pondering thought in common.

Whoa!

When you REALLY want a cold-drink then you just have to go straight to the source my friend.

-- sorry that we didn't get more pictures coming down from Muir Pass but we were a little bit busy keeping upright.

Evolution Creek as it came into the valley from the high lakes.

This is the Evolutiom Creek ford which can sometimes hit hikers at mid to upper thigh.  As you can see our ford wasn't that bad but what you cannot see is the swarm of mosquitos invading Possum's personal space!  Since he was a little slower crossing the river and had to focus on not falling in the creek, the mosquitos could keep up with him and attack his cherub-like face like fighter planes attacking King Kong on top of the Empire State Building.  Even with the beard they were relentless!  Almost Awesome had a different 2-prong technique of prematurely flinging herself in the creek BEFORE crossing so as to confuse the hoard as she crossed and also act as a bath.  The results from her attempt were inconclusive.

This was a rowdy waterfall

"Mom, where does our drinking water come from?"

Eleven day High Sierra adventure

Before we started hiking the PCT we had been discussing the idea of hiking a 204 mile section of the High Sierra without a resupply. Add in a day trip to summit Mt. Whitney and we just created an 11 day excursion where we have to carry all of our food and have no contact with the outside world. Now this is no Everest climb or South Pole expedition but to date it was our longest time out without a resupply.  Our previous longest outing was 6 days and we wanted to do this just see what it would be like. The High Sierra route of the PCT (which just so happens to be part of the John Muir Trail) does not even come within 7 miles of a road making it a great place to immerse ourselves in nature. We also get to see some of the grandest scenery on trail, climb the highest peak in the lower 48 states, and climb and desende 7 passes over 11000 feet. When planning. Most people hike 15 miles round trip off trail to hitch an additional 30 miles to resupply and get a taste of town. Going uninterrupted through this section comes with a different price. The weight of the food and bear canister that is required is ridiculous!

A good average is 2 pounds of food per person, per day.  We were able to squeak under that number and each had about 20 lbs of food plus the weight canister. The picture above is only about half the food carried from the beginning. The other half wouldn't fit in the bear canisters. :-) Starting off, this made our packs weigh around 32 pounds. This was QUITE different from what we were used to.

     The  terrain is also super intense in comparison to the ridge walking and skirting we did in the desert.  Here, we go through range after range of huge peaks. Hiking up the range to a low spot in the range called a pass just to descend thousands of feet to cross to the next range and repeat the process. Due to snow pack and the grueling nature of the hiking doing more than 20ish miles a day and more than 1 pass is unusual. This happened to be a VERY low snow year so we could stretch those numbers.

The low v in the middle is Forester Pass. Forester Pass is the highest pass we climb on the PCT at over 13000 feet.

Snow travel is another change for us in the High Sierra. We are having a record breaking low snow year, but that does not mean that there is no snow to contend with at all. Each pass has a climb and descent with snow features. Timing the snow firmness correctly is important for safe and speedy snow travel. Because there is so much less snow we opted out of carrying any special snow gear like ice axes and micro-spikes.

Here, Possum is descending Glen Pass, which had a fare bit of snow on the north face in the afternoon so that it was soft enough for us to safely sink our steps.  It was still quite nerve rattling!

   There is lots of water, which is a nice  change from the desert, but it adds the element of icy fords.  This experiment of an extended nature immersion has had its ups and downs but we are so glad to have done it. We are exhausted and looking forward to the food, showers, and rest that the trail town of Mammoth has to offer! 

      A lot more Sierra pictures on the next post!