I wake up numerous times throughout the night. My tent was shaking violently in the wind. I thought to myself, "If I hear one crack of thunder, I am booking it to some cover". Luckily, the rain stopped and we awake to a calm, and eerie morning.
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| Weird morning in Evolution Basin |
We didn't bother making breakfast, we would just eat in the Muir Pass Hut, so we set off on the trail. Jeff way ahead per usual, and Erica and I hanging back at a steady pace. I think Erica and I both were feeling the effects from the long day of hiking yesterday and were eager for this day to already be over.
As great as the night hike was, we were paying for it now.
The trail climbed up past Wanda Lake, its' waters so smooth that it almost seemed abnormal. The trail then wound through some boulder fields and past Lake McDermand before starting it's final climb up to Muir Pass.
While hiking along the trail you can see the Muir Pass Hut from a few miles away, even though it is made out of stone, the man-made object sticks out pretty well. It's almost torture though, seeing it in the far distance, knowing you're only a few miles away.
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You can see the Hut just on top of the pass
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| Erica and I looking back down into Evolution Basin |
We hear the rain start to fall again, so we dawn our rain gear and set back out on the trail, wanting to get to lower elevation in case of a thunderstorm. The rain comes and goes as we descend from the pass, the scenery is very beautiful with large lakes cut out between giant granite peaks. We start to hit the treeline when the rain really picks up and the dark clouds come over the ridge.
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Erica and her rain gear descending Muir Pass
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| Trail descending Muir Pass |
It was very ominous because the storm clouds were rising over a peak called The Black Giant. Needless to say, I thought this was a bad sign. We tried to call ahead for Jeff who we could see off in the distance, but the rain was too loud for him to hear our voices.
Sadly, this was the last time I would see Jeff, as he sauntered off down the trail.
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| My last picture of Jeff. |
The rain got so bad that Erica and I booked it for some tree cover to set up our tents. We were literally sprinting over rocks and boulders to get to what looked like a safe grouping of trees. I saw another tent about 200 yards away that looked like Jeffs' tent, so after setting up my tent, I ran in the downpour to see if it was him. It wasn't, it was another hikers' tent. I returned to my tent and climbed inside.
About an hour later, the clouds dissipated and the sun shown ironically right over The Black Giant. I yelled out to Erica, that we have a good opportunity to get to lower elevation. So we packed up our makeshift camp and continued down the trail.
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| Erica preparing for the rain. |
In the meantime, the view of Leconte Canyon from our elevation were absolutely beautiful! No pictures sadly, due to the rain.
Not after 10 minutes back on the trail, the storm clouds are back and pouring down more rain. Erica and I decide to just keep hiking to our planned campsite in Big Pete Meadow. The wet trail was not easy to navigate, with slippery rocks and mud, one bad step could make this bad day even worse.
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| I love the rain! |
We get to Big Pete Meadow and sadly, Jeff was not there. We were both very tired from hiking in the rain, that we decided to just set up camp. I take about a 3 hour nap, and wake up to make some dinner. Erica and I discuss our next day plans, I would be leaving the John Muir Trail over Bishop Pass and Erica was debating on exiting as well due to fatigue.
I go to bed early tonight, but take a while to fall asleep because I am slowly realizing that my time in the wilderness is coming to an end. I was just trying to take in all of the memories and experiences I had. It had been 10 days but I had barely been keeping track, it had a been a great adventure thus far.
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