Day 67 – 28 May 19. The Setup For Muir Pass

Today 26.2 km (16.3 mi), Total Distance 1344.6 km (835.5 mi). 11 hours 15 minutes (0630-1745)

I struggled with myself to get up early and compromised with a 10 minute lay in after the alarm went off. The temperature was around 0 degrees C and my fingers were numb as I was packing up. I had a hot breakfast ready for a long day.

I was on my way at 0630 and I was rewarded for my early start with perfect snow. I walked beside the footprints and was able to walk normally. It was a lovely feeling to be able to walk at my own stride length.

I continued along beside the lake and then the valley veered to the left and the tracks kept to the right side of the valley and then the steep descent started. On the steeper bits I went back into the footprints as they had slight indentations which made it easier to go down. I had put on my crampons as soon as the steeper hill started.

At one stage the tracks ended in a cliff but I could see over on the valley wall the actual trail zig zagging down the hill, I just needed to get to it. I climbed up the cliff which had nice easy foot and hand holds, then up a snow bank and then I was onto the trail. There were a few patches of dirt trail and the rest was snow.

Now down the steepest bit I continued descending down into a forest. It looked like some people had camped as there were now fresh tracks ahead of me. This was great as they had compacted the snow down and made it easy walking.

The snow had softened by 0900 and I was no longer able to stay on top. Instead I kept to the footprints which were a nice distance apart for a change.

There were a few dirt patches and at times I had to search to see where the footprints had gone. There were lots of swampy areas to cross but most of them had logs or stones to use to get across. After a while the actual trail was visible for short periods. As I got lower there was more dirt than snow and I was making good time.

My legs were feeling ok and I was feeling good, though it was downhill.
At one point I saw what I thought was a bear track. There was a big one and some smaller ones. The smaller ones stayed on the path of the footprints and were overlapping the footprints so it had come through after the people.

With less snow around there was more wildlife. There were birds calling and flying around which was nice. Also a couple of times I saw an orange animal with a bushy tail. It did not seem to move like a fox or squirrel. I was only seeing the fat but waddling away from me. I think it was a Marmot.

The trail continued dropping beside a river. There were some nice waterfalls and a couple of swimming holes, if it was warmer.

The day had started with blue sky but was now overcast, though occasionally the sun made an appearance.

There was a big waterfall at the bottom of the climb and it had a structure build above it, but I couldn’t work out what it was. Not long afterwards was the junction with Middle Fork Kings River.

Now it was uphill for the rest of the day. I was hoping to continue to have the mixed dirt and snow but unfortunately it was much more snow with only very occasional sort patches of dirt trail.

The gradient was not very steep and I was making good progress. The trail was keeping just above the river and it was neat seeing the power of the river. There were several thundering waterfalls. I saw another bear track.

I stopped for lunch and set my tent out to dry. The sun helpfully obliged by breaking free of the clouds for most of my lunch break and my tent was dry in no time. I had a bigger than normal lunch knowing I still had a lot more walking to do today.

I continued on and the trail continued to be mainly snow, with occasional short patches of dirt. I crossed over a bridge with snow still on it and the upper handrail badly bent.

Not long after was the junction with Bishop Pass. This route is one of the few exit points and is 13 miles to a road end and then a hitch or walk for another few miles to get to the town of Bishop. I had planned on going all the way through to Mammoth lakes so I continued but the people who had made such lovely footprints turned off here.

I still had footprints to follow but they were old and not compacted so it was a lot more effort walking. The good thing is that they were easy to see so I did not have to be closely navigating, just occasionally checking the footprints were going the right way.

From the junction there was less than half a mile of mixed dirt and snow trail and then it was back to completely snow again. The gradient also increased as the trail went up a valley with massive steep mountains on both sides. There was a few trees but it was mostly in the open. I was starting to get tired now so I stopped for another break.

The valley turned to the left and the trail veered across the valley to the right hand side to avoid some swamp and then the climbing really got steep.

Unfortunately the footprints I were following were not solid and I was having to stamp into the footprint, pause and then continue. If I did not do this the snow under the footprint would give way. I tried wearing crampons to see if it would help but it was actually worse so I just resigned myself to very slow progress.

At one point I looked up and could not believe how steep the climb was. Muir Pass is meant to be one of the more gentle ones but the climb to get to it is much steeper than any of the other passes. At one stage there was a cliff to get up and the trail went right up the cliff. I am not sure if it is a natural path or build for the trail but it was pretty cool.

The views back down the valley were fantastic, as were the views ahead.

At 1730 I decided I had done enough and started looking for a campsite with some water. 15 minutes and several steep hills later I found a lovely spot and set up camp.

There was a hole in the snow where the stream was so I tried carefully getting down to it but near the water the snow gave way and one foot went into the stream. Not really an issue as my feet were wet from the snow.

I did my normal night routine, enjoying a little of the sun before it disappeared behind the mountain. It is a little warmer tonight with the temperature at 6 degrees C at 2000 hours.

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