Tues. August 23      Miles today: 21.4         Total so far: 1,763.8         Sierras Section H

We got a good start this morning, full of enthusiasm about our “goal of the day”, which was going over famous Muir Pass.  Eventually we stopped for breakfast (and to collect water) at the bridge over Dusy Creek.  The creek was roaring furiously over its smooth granite bed, and poor Bill almost came to disaster while trying to get water–he slipped on the wet granite and fell in.  I was over with the packs, organizing the breakfast stuff when I heard him yelling for help.

I ran as fast as I could to the creek and saw Bill lying in the roaring creek, braced against a rock, trying not to be swept away.  He was not far from shore.  And was he concerned for his own personal situation–No!  He wanted me to first rescue his WATCH, so it wouldn’t get wet!  He managed to get it off and throw it to me.  Then I ran and got a trek pole (no handy tree branches lying around) and he managed to get out of the roaring water by holding on to the trek pole while I pulled on it.   (Bill now has great respect for slippery wet granite!)

After breakfast (fortunately the sun was well up and quickly dried Bill off!)  we went on upcanyon, following the Kings River.  Sometimes the trail was steep, and sometimes it went through green, forested flats.  On one of the steep parts, we met a large group of llamapackers.  Nice for them–the llamas carry the packs, but they are sloooooow.  As we continued the climb up toward Muir Pass, we couldn’t resist looking ahead, trying to guess where the trail went next.  Pretty soon we were above timberline again, and running into SNOW, which meant “snowbank crossings” plus innumerable snowmelt creek and mudhole crossings, too.  There were sections where the whole area was just running with water and mud.

But finally we reached the top of 11,955 foot Muire Pass and there was the famous stone hut, with a congregation of hikers gathered around it.  What caught my eye, though, was a fat marmot peering down from the top of the chimney.  I whisked out the camera to get a picture of him, and the little rascal whisked around and stuck out his rear end!  Rude, rude.  We looked inside and there were stone bunks and a bricked-up fireplace.  Back outside there were lots of hikers to talk to, and we did for awhile, but eventually we moved on to find water and a place for lunch.  Everything was just rocks, and snowmelt.  The best “water hole” we could find was a place where water was literally running across the trail, so that’s where we stopped.  I think we shocked a number of other hikers who saw us take that water and cook with it–and no filtering first.  So far we are doing just fine without the filter.

We continued on past many lakes–Wanda Lake was large, pretty, wildflowery and BUGGY, but we met lots of hikers who were headed there to camp.  Everybody is always asking us where WE plan to camp, and we just tell them, “When the sun goes down, we find the nearest flat place and that’s our camp.”  This seems to horrify the JMT hikers, who seem to have their itineraries all planned out.  In fact, when we meet hikers here on the JMT/PCT, the standard questions everybody asks us are: “Where’d you camp last night?” followed by “How bad were the mosquitoes?”  (People are obsessed with the mosquitoes.)   Finally we reached upper Evolution Creek.  The crossing there is a set of huge stepping stones through some pretty deep water.  Bill commented that it would be a tricky crossing if there was a lot of snow and ice. Then came a walk around gorgeous Evolution Lake.  I hate the name, though, so I’ve renamed it Creation Lake!  It is one of the most beautiful lakes we’ve seen so far.

At around 5:00 pm, we were heading downcanyon, following the creek, when whom should we meet, leaning on a rock and having a snack, but the PCT-hiker-famous “Billy Goat”!  We introduced ourselves, and Billy Goat introduced his friend “Two-Stick Ken” who was hiking with him for this section of the PCT.  We swapped stories of our PCT adventures so far,  while Bill and I ate an early supper.  We had a great time, and lingered for quite awhile.  Billy Goat encouraged us that two nasty fords up ahead were running only knee deep, but warned that the mosquitoes were “pretty bad”.  Hmmm.  If even Billy Goat thinks they were bad, maybe….but we were determined not to get TOO mosquito-obsessed!

Finally we said goodbye to Billy Goat and Two-Stick Ken and hiked on to lovely McClure Meadow.  Wow!  It truly is spectacular!  It’s High Sierra at its best–dramatic rocky peaks, blue river, green meadows….beautiful, especially in the golden late afternoon light.  But we still had a ways to go before the second and final ford of Evolution Creek, which in early season is deep and very scary.  Not to worry–Billy Goat was right; it was just knee deep.  And the bottom was nice and rocky, not slippery smooth granite, so we just crossed shoes, socks and all, kept on going, and camped only about a quarter mile farther on where we spotted a flat place.  Billy Goat was also right about the mosquitoes–they were “pretty bad” but not outrageous, so we rigged the net tent and left our wet shoes outside to dry and our wet hiking pants draped over our packs to do the same.  It was a great day, and we had a good night’s sleep, after specially thanking the Lord for keeping Bill safe at Dusy Creek this morning!

Mon. August 22         Miles today: 20.9        Total so far: 1,742.4          Sierras Section H

Smoke from the forest fire was all around our camp last night, so pheweeeee did we stink this morning, and so did all our gear!  But wind in the night blew it all away, and a look westward showed no more fire.  It was a clear, 31 degree early morning, lit beautifully by a bright moon.  I LOVE packup by moonlight!  It only took about 20 minutes to finish the switchbacks and reach the top of 12,130 foot high Pinchot Pass.  We enjoyed the view of Lake Marjorie below on the other side before going down the rough trail to a spot by the lake for a chilly breakfast in the shadow of the mountain.  But it was fun watching the sunlight move down the mountain on the other side of the lake, then reach the lake, and finally us!

Off we went down the valley to a ford (on boulders and logs) of the South Fork Kings River.  After that, the trail followed the river up through a series of pretty meadows with lots of flowers, till we were above timberline again and the green ended as we headed up to Mather Pass, on a set of switchbacks that travel across a very steep mountain face.  I have heard that early season thruhikers climb straight up, using ice axes, and it’s pretty scary.  No kidding.  I was glad to have a trail and switchbacks.  I tried hard not to look down as we got higher.  It didn’t take long to reach the top, and there, hanging out at 12,100 feet, was a whole group from the Sierra Club, doing what’s called the “High Trail.”  One of them was a photographer busy with tripod and camera.  He must be VERY dedicated to carry such heavy equipment on a backpacking trip!   The rest of the group were all very nice folks, and we talked to them for awhile before heading down the very rough trail on the other side, which included some snow.  The guidebook said the descent would make your knees hurt.  My knees were just fine, but my feet–ow!  Those rocks were awfully rough.

Once down in the valley, we stopped for lunch by a creek cascaade with wonderful water and lots of wildflowers, including an alpine shooting star which is really robust and sturdy, compared to the delicate-looking ones back home.  Continuing on into the afternoon, we were headed down toward Palisade Creek, contouring above it on smooth granite with rock ducks to mark the trail.  Then came a long, steep, rocky, rough downhill in the narrow Palisade Canyon.  The creek was lovely but the trail was awful.  Part of it was the famous “Golden Staircase”.  I know it was a difficult part of the trail to build–so difficult that it was one of the last sections to be completed–but MAN did I wish they had not made the stone steps so high.  I guess if I had long legs like a basketball player I might have done better, but each step was huge.  I got so frustrated by how slowly I had to go that I almost cried, and by the time we were all the way down, my feet and my knees really hurt.   When we were coming out of Kennedy Meadows, one of the SOBOs we met was Cat’s Pa, headed for his “finish line” in Kennedy Meadows.  He is very tall, with very long legs, and even he complained about the “killer high steps” on the trail around here.  “Just about did in my knees” was his comment.

Well, even the roughest, toughest trails eventually smooth out, and so did the PCT.  We were finally down off the rocks and able to “turn on the afterburners”, so we hiked as fast as we could to the Middle Fork of the Kings River.  We got there by 6:50 pm, then climbed quickly up to Grouse Meadow, where we camped.  The mosquitoes were bad enough that we needed the net tent.   I had to spend some time talking to God about my frustration and almost-tears over getting down the rocky trail.  One of the things that bothers me the most is knowing that Bill could go MUCH faster down trails like that, and he is having to constantly wait for me.  On uphills, I do great, but downhills when you wear bifocal glasses (which makes depth perception all off)  and have a right ankle that will twist under at the slightest provocation, it’s hard.  “Help me be cheerful no matter what, PLEASE, Lord!” was my prayer tonight.