Muir Pass

The typical Sierra routine: I got up at 5:30, slogged up a 3,000 foot climb, lost the trail, and walked over rotten snow for 10 straight miles above treeline before dropping into another lush valley to camp by a river. It’s been pretty much the same every day this week, and today was no exception.

Muir Pass is more gradual than its neighbors, which means more time spent in snow on the approach and descent. But at least I wasn’t alone – there were 17 PCT hikers sitting on top when I arrived, some of them lounging inside a stone hut dedicated to John Muir. Perhaps the most exciting moment today was when one of them began an epileptic seizure at 12,000 feet, but fortunately it passed quickly.

In late afternoon I forded Evolution Creek, 40 feet wide and hipbone-deep but moving sluggishly in a meadow. Looks like I’ll reach my next resupply point, Vermilion Valley Resort, day after tomorrow. Can’t wait for a real meal and a shower – I haven’t changed my underwear in 13 days.