Sierra Nevada – Day 3 Muir Pass
Monday july 18th third day on the trail and this is what i come up to once i leave camp it is 6 15 in the morning and i’m giving myself about five hours to reach near pass and take my time good morning yeah i just came up from down there
And you can see the trail switching back this is where i was going to spend the night last night this is called star camp uh stunning it’s a shame i didn’t make it but it was another 600 feet of elevation gain and i was trashed and yes i have to cross right here
I’m at about 11 000 feet this beautiful deer buck is completely ignoring me i just crossed the middle fork of the kings river nobody talks about it but yeah got my shoes wet early this morning don’t ever say i didn’t show you anything interesting that’s a deer buck but
Say that fast three times dear buck buck dear buck butt Look guys there’s not a lot of oxygen up here but he’s gorgeous and i’m gonna keep moving on up Good morning mrs shadow it is eight o’clock and i’ve been on the trail for about two hours and i’m coming up on treeline and there is a deer bug right up there next to the lake hopefully he won’t scurry away he did hear me coming there’s a waterfall right up there
I think that mountain is called the hermit but i’m not sure but the color on this lake oh my goodness no i’m not gonna pinch myself there he is oh there’s two [Applause] they’re so used to seeing hikers up here that’s three bucks in the morning three bucks hi baby you are handsome
Handsome and healthy yes oh my goodness oh my goodness all right onward and upward this is john muir’s favorite flower i’m not sure of the name but they look like little bells oh my goodness so beautiful snowmelt is on every time i think that i’ve come to a beautiful spot
He gets prettier there’s a pika oh my goodness this whole area is full of pikas i don’t know if you saw that one they’re beautiful i haven’t seen a marble yet sometimes and that from the is nevada yeah i just crossed a very harrowing lake helen outlet
And yes my feet are wet again there i go helen lake and unless i look at my map i really don’t know where near hud is i thought it was over there but i don’t think so there’s the trail there’s a lot of snowmelt they they said this year was
A little snow year but in the sierra i beg to differ but there’s still a lot of snow lake levels are high yeah the trail is a river yeah looks like the storms are brewing coming this way and i am at 12 000 feet so [Applause]
I won’t be able to stay up here for very long because that is coming and i don’t want to get hit by lightning i’m on top of the world but it’s not over yet [Applause] uh i’m here i’ve got no words now there is the little tip top of mir hunt
And up there is a nasty storm and then is the rest of the sierra nevada i think that’s wanda lake mcdermott is before it like dermot i think and then wanda lake is the one all the way out and i’ve gotta go all the way down to sapphire lake
All right so let me just recap for you what i’ve been through the trail going up to mere pass was literally a stream of water and loose rocks the trail coming down from your past is a river of snowmelt finally i’m on a dryish portion of the trail my feet have been wet
Since 6 30 this morning so that’s five and a half hours that i’ve been hiking with wet feet we’ll see what the outcome of that is and the woman that was up at the hut her trail name is chocolate i know she’s very swedish looking she must love chocolate
She said that she goes quickly downhill you can see her all the way down there this is what john muir called the range of light and i keep trying to cry but i am amazed and i feel very lucky that everything worked out in my favor well let’s say almost everything not
Everything did some things ended up being very bad but i’m here and i’m here now as elf would say i’m here in this amazing place that more than likely i will not come back to so i’m trying to soak it all in i’m trying not to cry because i can’t
See through my tears and this kind of reminds me of what i did when i did paiute pass and i saw humphreys basin oh just the overwhelming complete overwhelming feelings and i haven’t even gotten to evolution basin yet wait till i see that and this is helen no wanda lake
Helen lake was on the other side of meer pass this is wanda lake so in case you didn’t know john muir named these two lakes after his daughters and they are lucky because this is magnificent and so is that storm up ahead it’s warned the lake it is enormous this trail [Applause] is
Magnificent i’m literally skirting the lake this is so awesome so i just turned the corner away from wanda lake and evolution basin comes into view with these storms i’m positive i’m gonna get rained on today i’ve been lucky in the last two days i’ve been able to set up camp oh look at
Mr marmot mr marmot why’d the marmot cross the trail to get them your pass i know that was bad there he goes dude you’ve got the best house in the neighborhood sweet this one’s gonna be nasty hopefully i’ll be able to make it to sapphire late before it hits if you ever
Get a chance to eat a honey bun on the john muir trail at about 11 000 feet do it yummy
LeConte Canyon to Helen Lake, Muir Pass, down to Wanda Lake and Evolution Basin