Our 2007 John Muir Trail Attempt (Day 13 and 14)
Day 12 examined our jaunt from Marie Lake to Muir Trail Ranch.
Day 13: Muir Trail Ranch to A Bit Past Hutchinson Meadow [Pictures]
Distance: 11 Miles
Elevation Changes: 8,000 - 11,000
Today was our last day on the official John Muir Trail, a trail we had traveled for over 120 total miles, more than 23,000 total feet of vertical ascent, and over 19,500 feet of total vertical descent. Yet we were still two days from civilization, although the remainder of our trip was trail we had traveled last year in our week-long backpacking trip on the Classic High Sierra Loop. The path we were on today and the next would take us from the depths of Muir Trail Ranch
(about 8,000 feet) over Piute Pass, at 11,400 feet, and down to North
Lake, at 9,350 ft. Needless to say, these last two days were going to be hard.
The first part of the first day was the most exhausting because here the trail follows a sheer ridge line up Piute Creek, with a lot of steep up and down over rocky terrain. The following picture depicts this rocky path. You can see the Piute Creek below, and the rocky, steep ridge we are on. The trail follows along this ridge for about 4.5 miles, some points several hundred feet above the river, and at other times at the river's edge.
Although the trail was tough, it marked a return to the scenery I enjoy best - open skies, surrounded by mountains and rocks.
Today's portion eased up a bit once we reached Hutchinson Meadow. Hutchinson Meadow is a stretch of forest and streams along this trail that are a popular camping site. During normal conditions, the meadow is a haven for mosquitoes. Last year when we hiked through this area the cloud of bugs was so thick that we donned mosquito nets and long sleeves and long pants to reduce the number of bug bites. This year being so dry, however, there wasn't a bug to be seen. Many of the streams that criss-cross the meadow were only crossable with water shoes last year. This year, though, they were either completely dried up, or shallow enough to just walk through leaving our boots on. Here is a view of one such stream in Hutchinson Meadow this year. Note that there's just a trickle of water in the stream bed.
And here's the same stream from last year's trip.
From Hutchinson Meadow, the ascent to Piute Pass is long, but gradual. We knocked out a few more miles, rising above the tree line, before calling it a day.
Day 14: A Bit Past Hutchinson Meadow to North Lake [Pictures]
Distance: 8 Miles
Elevation Changes: 11,000 - 11,400 - 9,350
The last day is usually the easiest. Yes, your body is tired and your feet sore, but your brain knows that soon (soon!) you will be standing in a hot shower, getting cleaned up and ready to go eat high-calorie food at a restaurant. This enables your brain to dampen the soreness and provides sufficient motivation to push at a fast clip than usual.
We woke up and got out of camp around 6:15 AM and made it to Piute Pass by 8:30 AM. After a short break for breakfast, we started our four mile, 2,000 ft. descent to the North Lake trail head. This trail winds down past Piute Lake, the Loch Leven, along the Piute Crags, and down to North Lake. All but the last mile are above the tree line and offer nice views of steep mountainsides and pristine lakes.
As we continued on our way, it became clearer and clearer that we were nearing civilization. We saw a number of day hikers and those doing one or two-nighters. People with dogs, people carrying chairs, people who had clearly shaved and showered recently, who didn't smell. And most of these people we met were blown away when we told them we had started from Yosemite. That we had been thus far walked 138 miles and had just two miles left to our final destination.
We made it down to the North Lake trail head a little after noon, and immediately found a hiker who was heading out of North Lake and was kind enough to drop us off at South Lake to pick up the car. By early afternoon we were all back in Bishop, checked into a hotel, and scrubbing the dirt and grime and sweat that had accumulated over the past 14 days.
UPDATE: Read the hike wrapup.