Daily Miles: 18.1
Total Miles: 206.1
I switched shoes when I was in Bishop. I had sent a tougher shoe there in anticipation that the trail runners I had started out with might have been a little too thin to deal with some of the hiking in the Sierras. Overall so far, I think this was a good decision however there are pluses and minuses. Through almost 150 miles of desert I had only had a couple small blisters on my toes. I have never gotten blisters on my toes before and with a few blister bandages they were held in check. Through 3 days in my thicker Merril Moab Ventilators, I was already developing blisters on the bottom of both heals, and in the joint below one of my big toes. Managing them is tough when you are fording rivers all day but today was the main reason I switched on account of all of the rocks, snow and fords that were necessary. The trail runners would not have held up.
I beat Walking Home out of camp this morning and in just over a mile down to the middle fork of the Kings River I was graced with seeing 8 different deer. I'm used to deer being so jumpy back in NY. Here, they have virtually no human contact and aren't afraid of us one bit.
They just stood on the side of the trail as I walked on by. I almost felt bad disturbing them because they seemed so peaceful.
As I got down to the river it was a mighty torrent, and I knew crossing it was going to be a challenge. As I started to take my shoes off a hiker on the other side of the river yelled and pointed upstream. About 100 yards up, a tree had fallen across the river making a bridge. In an attempt to keep my feet dry for as long as possible I walked up to it and crossed. Whenever crossing a river either by fording or on rocks or a log it is always bsst to undo your belt strap on your backpack. That way if you actually dump in the river you can dump your pack. I have heard of hikers who have fallen in a river and been dragged along by their pack in the current because they weren't able to get loose from their pack.
After making it over, I took a quick break and was able to direct a couple other hikers who came up to the river upstream to the log I had crossed on. Their names were "Hawkeye" and "Cookie Monster." They were both British and seemed thankful as well not to have to get their feet wet yet either. In fact, from what I have seen, there is a very large number of international hikers out here on the PCT. A much higher percentage than in 2008.
After a few hours of climbing towards Muir Pass, we finally hit the snow fields. The one thing this pass is known for is its false summits. Every time you think you see the pass, you get there and realize there is a whole lot more to go. I said I wouldn't get fooled by it but in the end I undoubtedly did. It was amazing as we neared the top hiw much snow was still there at the end of June.
Pushing through another false summit we got to what finally was the actual final chute up to the pass, and whoever had set the footprints through the snow postholing this year wasn't kidding around as they sent the tracks right up the chute. In the picture below, the pass is the V-shaped opening near the top right of the picture, and if you zoom in really far you can see the footprints leading off from where this was taken all the way to that opening.
In retrospect I probably should have taken out the ice axe as a safety precaution but I was able to make it to the top of Muir Pass without it and see Muir Hut which is located there to celebrate the life of John Muir. It is also used as an emergency shelter for those who choose to stay there.
I had heard the way down had even more snow than the way up even though it was much more graded. So I didn't stay too long and headed down over much longer snow fields. They went on for over 3 miles before they started to make way for rock and dirt. The valley going down was not devoid of great views either.
Finally I made it down to just below Evolution Lake. There was one last semi-long ford and as my boots and feet were completely drenched already from all the snow I didn't even stop as I walked up to it. There was a large block of campsites right after the lake and I was able to take an amazing picture while eating dinner of my tent with the sunset off the mountainside behind it.
Today was difficult but so amazingly worth it.
Patch
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