John Muir Trail - Day Eleven

Before setting off on the trail the guys helped me adjust my backpack since the added resupply weight was giving me a lot of trouble. It made a world of difference! My backpack felt like part of my body and I didn’t need to continually adjust it throughout the day. Thankfully it came at the right time – heavy backpack and a day of entirely uphill hiking!

We started off with a steep climb up some switch backs. Luckily we were in the shade but each turn provided wider panoramic views of Kings Canyon and the opposing rock face which was cracked with waterfalls. About half way up the switchbacks we started walking along Evolution Creek which had stunning falls and cascades down the mountain. It made the steep slope a lot more enjoyable. We eventually reached the notorious creek ford [116.6 mi, 9190’], our first real crossing of the trip. I switched to sandals to avoid dis-lodging my duct-tape repaired shoe, although the creek was only just higher than my boots and not swift at all. Apparently the ford can be pretty dangerous earlier in the season and you have to go higher up to the meadow before crossing.

We continued along the creek through Evolution and McClure Meadows, slowly gaining elevation. The meadows were beautiful and green with the creek flowing through, surrounded by trees and peaks. We took a quick snack break at the McClure Meadow Ranger Station [119.1 mi, 9630’] which was a cute log building in the middle of the trail/meadow. Nice place to be a ranger!

We decided to meet for lunch at Evolution Lake, 1000ft higher and 4 miles away. The first section was a gradual climb through more meadows but then we reached very steep, hot, dusty switchbacks. The view was worth it though, slowly climbing to the height of neighboring peaks visible from the lower valleys earlier. To the east a group of spectacular cliffs and peaks appeared and we came upon Evolution Lake [124.5 mi, 10860’] below them. This might’ve been the best view of the trip. The lake was just barely below the tree line so there were a few small pockets of trees. We had lunch in the shade of one. For the first time at lunch I actually removed my boots to soak my feet in the lake. Small trout swam by and the water was crystal clear. There was another large group up there jumping from cliffs into the lake.

After lunch we followed the trail around Evolution Lake for a mile or so, then we hiked past Sapphire Lake and an unnamed lake. That section of the trail was one of my favorites – alpine lakes, jagged peaks, waterfalls and cascades… however it was HOT and very exposed. With my heavy pack I started to fatigue quickly in the sun with very limited shade. Luckily I had a good sun hat or I would’ve been toast.

Miraculously, we made it to the campsite at Wanda Lake [126.8 mi, 11380’] by 4PM. We had tons of time to bathe, explore, and cook. We even had our own little happy hour with our re-supplied alcohol cache! The water was the coldest yet, due to our elevation and the permanent snow fields on adjacent peaks. The campsite was quite full, mostly because of a very large group that came in together.

Unfortunately, we received some bad news from north bound hikers. At the time I honestly didn’t think it would be a problem for us, but the Rough Fire was 0% contained with smoke impacting much of the JMT. At dawn we started to see smoke pouring over Muir Pass.