Walks A Ways: PCT Day 46

PCT Day 46, 27 June 2022 (Monday)

"But Wait, There's Muir"

Start Location:	Wilderness Campsite Near Middle Fork Kings River	Destination:	Wilderness Campsite Past Evolution Creek
PCT Miles Day 46:	21.8	Cum PCT Miles:	852.3
Non-PCT Miles Day 46:	0.5	Cum All Miles:	920.6
PCT Miles Remaining:	1,800.3
Elevation Gain Day 46:	3,886	Cum Elevation Gain:	152,323

Today probably had the most adventure yet out here on the PCT. First was hiking up and out of the Kings River canyon. It seemed like every time you got another look at the river, it just got more scenic. But the whole day was like that.

Next, was a much harder than expected hike up to Muir Pass, another high pass at 11,970 feet. What made it hard was that it had much more snow than any pass yet. Between the snow and a lot of rocky sections, the trail was a bit hard to follow at times. Also, some of the snow sections were quite sketchy.

The snow was getting soft, and I was post-holing regularly. The danger was that the snow is melting from underneath and when you stepped thru, you didn’t know how far it was to the bottom. It was basically snow bridges. What I had to do was poke the snow in front of me with my trekking pole, and if it was firm then I could go forward, and if the pole just kept going down, then I had to find another place to step. I didn't take any pictures in these really sketchy areas because I was afraid I'd drop my phone in the snow and lose it.

It was very slow going, and took a lot of effort. It was the first time on this hike that my legs were beginning to feel a little like Jell-O. It took six hours to go the first 8.5 miles today; that is an extremely slow pace. Because of the sketchy snow sections, it was hands-down the hardest pass yet. With no, or much less snow, it would've been a relatively easy pass to get up. However, the rewards exceeded the effort. And while this was the hardest pass going up, it was also the easiest going down. I guess that’s fair.

Another noteworthy thing today was that there was finally a creek crossing that could not be rock hopped. Evolution creek is well known to be one of the most difficult and dangerous creek crossings in the Sierra when the water levels are high. Even though the water level today was not dangerous, it still came up to about mid-thigh, and you could feel the force of the current while crossing. On the plus side, my shoes, socks, and feet got a good cleaning.

Despite the slow start, I still got a fair number of miles in today, and I’m about 8 miles ahead of my plan.

Whale Rock

Middle Fork Kings River on the way up to Muir Pass

It just keeps getting better, Middle Fork Kings River

Unnamed lake, looks like a large infinity pool from here

More snow crossings on the way to Muir Pass

Some ice still left on Helen Lake, named for one of John Muir's daughters

One last stretch of snow before the top of Muir Pass

Muir Hut at the top of Muir Pass. It serves as an emergency shelter if you get caught up there in a bad storm. It's actually roomier on the inside than it looks like from the outside--like the Tardis on Dr. Who--and it has a fireplace.