Goal for the day: Muir Pass (11,975 feet)

I got a nice look at Venus rising with the crescent Moon before dawn. The crescent Moon also allowed me to get some decent photos of it, Venus, and the mountains in the same shot (usually the brightness of the moon washes out the photos I try to take of it and mountains before dawn).

Sunrise wasn’t as nice as I hoped, but there was a little light play as I ate breakfast and packed up my gear. Maybe the angles weren’t quite right.

Saw some more deer on the way up from McClure Meadow.

The first challenge today was to get to Evolution Lake. and that involved switchbacks. The switchbacks were a little worse that I had hoped, but not nearly as bad as the switchbacks the day before. Not sure how I feel about that? 🙂

The trees were thinning out as I approached Evolution Lake, revealing the mountains all around me. But not Muir Pass, that was hidden around a number of curves in the trail. That’s probably just to piss me off when I finally saw it and the path to it. 🙂

Halfway to Muir Pass. Time to press on.

Even without switchbacks, the long trudge past Evolution, Sapphire, and finally Wanda Lake was hard.

By the time I hit Wanda Lake around 11,426 feet, it was mid-afternoon and the skies were growing darker and darker. I started to hear thunder in the distance. Similar to the day before, but at the same time the skies looked more sinister and I could see rain falling in the distance beyond where Muir Pass should be.

Hiking along the edge of Wanda Lake I saw my first flash of lightning… somewhere. Couldn’t pinpoint where, but I saw the flash out of the corner of my eye and then heard the thunderclap.

It was only a mile to Muir Pass, but the clouds would hide the view anyway. Plus being at a high point in a lightning storm is a bad idea. I was already too high for comfort in the storm that seemed to be brewing.

That didn’t stop a single hiker that raced past me towards the pass. He was obviously trying to outrun the storm. I didn’t think that was a good idea.

Out of fear of getting stuck in a downpour without any cover (this was well above tree line) or being in the middle of a lightning storm before I got up and over Muir Pass, I decided to setup my tent in a nice spot along the east side of Wanda Lake. A natural rock knob protected one side and a wind barrier built of stone (by hikers who came before me) protected another side. The wind was blowing pretty strong, so that seemed the safest place I was going to find.

So I setup my tent, making sure to secure the rain fly with some of the large rocks nearby. Tent pegs may not be enough based on how conditions were deteriorating.

And 30 minutes later (yes, again), it started to rain along with some thunder. That’s just about when I would have gotten to Muir Pass. The timing on the rain seems suspicious. It’s like it’s being nice to me to wait to start the rain until after I have my tent up. So, fifth straight day with rain. Maybe I should have kept my rain pants.

I was safely in my tent as thunder, lightning, and rain echoed all around me. My tent’s rain fly flapped in the wind, but stayed in place. I only looked outside a few times and even took some quick pictures with my iPhone (in it’s waterproof case). Oddly, I had the thought that I wished my rain fly was transparent so I could see what was happening all around me.

Eventually, the rain stopped and the storm moved on and I was able to come out of my tent and look around. Things seemed to be clearing up, so I went to the lake’s edge to get some water for dinner and the night. I felt like I needed to jump in to clean up and relax, but it was too cold to do that.

Looking around, I discovered that I could actually see the Muir Hut that was on Muir Pass. Initially it just look like a pointed rock, but using my camera’s zoom lens it was obviously artificial. On the map it was marked for emergencies, so maybe I could have taken shelter there if I had gone up to the pass.

So close and yet so far. I had no intention of taking my tent down and going up to the pass at that point, so I had dinner.

That turned out to be a good decision.

While there was some blue in the skies, there were still a lot of dark clouds and interesting cloud formations as sunset approached. At sunset another, bigger storm came through. My tent kept me dry and safe.

When the walls of my tent started glowing a deep red (almost purple) color, I poked my head out. Wow… The skies to the west were on fire. It was a surreal sight and I snapped some quick photos using my iPhone (so most of them are a little crooked).

I’d never seen the sky like that. During sunset or during storms (or both). But then I’d never been through a storm like this at 11,426 feet.

As the storm raged around me, I went to sleep thanks to my earplugs. Around 2 am when I went to water the rocks, the skies were crystal clear.

Without doubt, that was the worst storm I had ever had to endure during any of my backpacking trips. I’ll have to thank Big Agnes for my Fly Creek HV UL2 tent and how well it kept me dry and safe during that particular night.

9 miles hiked, 7:15 hours, 2,400 feet climbed
127 total miles hiked on the JMT

Highlights:
• Switchbacks going up to Evolution Lake weren’t as bad as the ones the day before
• Bad lightning storms at Wanda Lake left me sheltering in my tent at 11,500 feet instead of reaching Muir Pass
• Despite the storm (or because of it), saw some remarkable colors at sunset
• Daily goal failed 🙁 (but at least I survived)