The climb to Muir Pass was full of false summits and lakes. Everytime I thought I would get to Helen Lake, a major point before the pass, I was actually just at some unnamed pond. There were frogs at said pond, and it was really cold, being fed by all the melting snow. Dave, another fellow hiker (and hottie), decided to go for a swim in the frog pond. He complained how cold it was, then dove in and lost his sunglasses. Luckily, I had picked up someone else's glasses, and offered them to him.
The rest of the climb consisted of fording cold rivers and clambering over rocks and scrambling up snow. I finally got to Helen Lake, but didn't stay long since I had stopped at the frog pond. It was lovely, but I was cold and wet, and just wanted to summit. I thought of doing it nude, so HNP wouldn't be alone, but I was staring at my feet too much and summited without even realizing. I was exhausted from climbing up snow, and really hungry. I made lunch, took my picture in front of the hut, tormented the marmots living up there. They were eying our food, so I didn't mind freaking them out.
The descent from Muir was the most gorgeous section in my mind. You first come upon Wanda Lake, which is huse and covered in chunks of ice/snow. The water was crystal clear, and such a beautiful shade of green blue. I wanted to sit down and just stare at that lake, surrounded by mountains covered in snow. Absolutely beautiful.
I then went down and came upon Sapphire Lake, which was also breathtaking and crystal clear. Climbed down more to Evolution Lake, again beautiful. Then I came upon Evolution Valley, and went into McClure Meadow, which had Evolution Creek lazily flowing through it. Crazily beautiful.
Camped with a young man by the name of Z Seven who was SoBo-ing the John Muir Trail (JMT). He had camped at a great site, and we offered to build a fire (to help with mosquitos). It was a great ending to an extremely rewarding day.
0 comments:
Post a Comment