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August 9th to 11th 2009: North Lake to South Lake

Day 2

Anxious to put in another big day, I broke camp around 6 am and headed up to Evolution Valley.  I took off my shoes when crossing Evolution Creek, the only time I had to do so on the entire trip, and was glad the cold water only came up to my knees.  Around 8:30 am I reached the McClure Meadow Ranger Station and had a nice chat with Ranger Dave from Bonny Doon, a town next to Felton in the Santa Cruz Mountains where I grew up.  Dave recognized my Dirty Girl Gaiters and thought my home-made poles were from Gossamer Gear due to their grips.  He gets to spend 4.5 months a year at this cabin and gets paid for it!

6:29 am – Crossing the South Fork of the San Joaquin River.  I walked from morning to night in the outfit you see here, shorts and long sleeve shirt, and was comfortable the entire time.

6:49 am – Very excited to be headed up into Evolution Basin.

8:40 am – McClure Meadow Ranger Station along with Ranger Dave who thought he was standing out of the frame.

8:51 am – The view from the ranger’s cabin.  The peak in the background is the 12,328-foot “Hermit”.

9:55 am – Dirty Girl Gaiters are awesome.  This is the first time I’ve used them and I’m a convert.  Unlike traditional gaiters which have a strap that goes under the sole of your shoe, these have a latch at the front and velcro at the heel.  During my entire trip only one pebble made it into my shoes.  They also kept out most of the trail dust.

Evolution Valley was nice, but Evolution Basin is perhaps the most beautiful place I have ever been, the perfect combination of rock, water, meadows, and sky.  I’m very happy the pictures turned out so well, but the area must really be seen in person.

10:35 am – “The hills are alive…”

10:45 am – I’m officially in Evolution Basin, an area I’ve wanted to visit for many years, and loving it.

10:54 am – Evolution Lake, elevation 10,852 feet, the first of many spectacular lakes in the basin.

10:56 am – Walking around Evolution Lake.  Click here for a high resolution image of this photo.  I'm not sure how I managed to get so far away from my COTOB (camera on tripod on backpack) with only a 10 second timer.

11:48 am – Strolling through Evolution Basin.  Click here for a high resolution image of this photo.  This is without a doubt one of my favorite photos.

12:46 pm – Wanda Lake at elevation 11,426 feet.

1:38 pm – Just below Muir Pass, looking north at the trail and basin.  Note the lone hiker on the trail for scale.  Click here for a high resolution image of this photo.

1:41 pm – Help, I’ve fallen in a sun cup (just north of Muir Pass) and I can’t get up.

Around 1:45 pm I reached Muir Pass at elevation 11,955 feet.  At the summit I rested with a few other hikers but didn’t dilly dally too long as I had a date with Helen.  Helen Lake that is, just a few minutes south of the pass and 400 feet lower in elevation; the lake provided the perfect blue/green water for refreshing a sore, dusty hiker.  That short dip is perhaps my most favorite mountain swim.

1:44 pm – Muir Pass.  The woman in this photo asked if I was wearing a dish towel on my head and it I would like her to move out of my photograph, to which I replied "yes" and "no" respectively.

2:13 pm – Helen Lake, elevation 11,617 feet, on the south side of Muir Pass, the site of my most memorable mountain dip to date.  The water was clear, clean and cold and I kept it that way as I only added dust to it, having not used any sunscreen or DEET.  Click here for a high resolution image of this photo.

While the hike up to Muir Pass was very gradual with few switchbacks, the descent down the south side was extremely rocky and rugged.  Indeed, countless times I found myself first shocked by the audacity of the persons who decided to put a trail here and then awed by the work required by the trail builders to create the trail through the rock.  As was the case yesterday, descending from a pass meant entering the forest and more ho-hum terrain, and my trip into LeConte Canyon was no exception.  By the time I reached LeConte Canyon Ranger Station at 5:45 pm and elevation 8,750 feet I was wasted.

2:55 pm – The rugged descent down the south side of Muir Pass, below the 13,330-foot “Black Giant”.  Compare this the ascent from the north side, which can be seen in the photo above taken at 1:38 pm.

5:46 pm – Wasted after the long descent from Muir Pass to the junction to Dusy Basin / Bishop Pass.

5:56 pm – Inspiration from “pretty much the best little guy that their ever was…”, Gatorade and Cliff Bars as I rested, ate, drank, and studied the maps at the bottom of the trail up to Dusy Basin.

My extreme state of being both helped and hurt me.  First, about an hour before I reached the ranger station, I met a ranger who asked to see my permit.  Given my state of being (along with my light pack), I didn’t have to work hard to convince him that I had left North Lake today, around 2 am, instead of yesterday at 12:30 pm.  However, once I reached the sign that indicated the junction to Bishop Pass, where I would leave the JMT, I couldn’t find the junction.  At the junction sign, I looked high and low, went off trail, consulted my map, and cursed, yet the trail was not obvious.  After a good 5 minutes of frustration I sheepishly, but with considerable relief, realized the junction sign was located about 30 feet north of the actual junction.

Even though I was really tired, having put in my longest day ever, I decided to get a jump on Bishop Pass and began climbing the switchbacks.  However, instead of being intolerable, the climb wasn’t that bad since I was using my uphill muscles which had been resting during the descent from Muir Pass.  Plus, the views were spectacular.  From the switchbacks I could look down into LeConte Canyon and 12,018-foot Langille Peak on the other side.  Plus, to the right of the trail was a long, flat, stretch of rock inclined at 30 degrees from vertical, along which ran water from Dusy Basin.

6:26 pm – Amazing cascades during the initial switchbacks climbing towards Dusy Basin and Bishop Pass.  This section of flat rock at the slope shown was many hundreds of feet long, perhaps even near 1,000.

I planned on camping at the first place the trail crossed the creek, but found the site occupied.  This turned out to be fortuitous as I found a much better site, at least in terms of views.  By 7:30 pm I had my tent pitched then headed off to the creek to rinse off.  Mosquitoes forced me to make and eat my sandwiches in the tent, and by 8 pm my eyes were closed.

7:25 pm – A long day ends at a rocky campsite with view of 12,018-foot Langille Peak.  Without the freestanding pitching option utilizing my trekking poles, it would have been much more difficult to camp here.

Note that I took 22 pictures on this day.  You’ve just seen 20 of them. 

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