Hiking the JMT: Muir Trail Ranch to Evolution Valley (Day 13)

Evolution Valley

Highlights of Day 13

Opened2 buckets of food/supplies we shipped to Muir Trail Ranch (our last re-supply point!)
Ate our first “fresh food” in over a week, in the form of a peach fruit cup from our bucket
Saw a small brush fire on a ridge near Muir Trail Ranch
Chatted with other hikers at Muir Trail Ranch and signed the MTR hiker log
Set up camp at an absolutely gorgeous location in Evolution Valley

Trail Journal

Bucket day at Muir Trail Ranch!

Today was BUCKET DAY!!! We picked up our second and final bucket full of food & supplies (sunblock, toothpaste, etc.) from Muir Trail Ranch. From here it was a matter of cramming everything for the next 10 days into our 2 bear canisters. We had to ditch the Nutella, the Mountain House Beef Stroganoff (hooray!), and some Clif Bars, but overall we did pretty well!

Sorting & packing all of our food & gear took a while (we had only been hiking with 1 bear canister up to that point, so our overall volume increased quite a bit), so we didn’t get back on the trail until noon.

One section of trail had so many birds singing and calling that it sounded like a rainforest! It’s interesting how dynamic the sounds of nature are when you’re unplugged from music, sounds of traffic, alarms, etc. The sound of a cascade or rushing water as we come around a ridge is so dramatic and builds so much anticipation! The sounds of my feet crunching the trail with each step and the chink of my poles as they hit rock, or the more subtle thuds as they hit wet earth, have become the metronome by which I measure my days. The sound of my breathing in ears, the whoosh of the breeze through the trees, the buzz of flies, bees, and mosquitoes as they rush back and forth past my face, the chirping of birds after a rain storm, the sound of thunder rolling across the mountains–all of these have become integral to my existence these past days and almost weeks. Now when I hear an airplane rumbling its way through the sky, it sounds so out of place! I can only imagine how overwhelming it will feel when we return to “civilization.”

A beautiful day in Kings Canyon National Park–one of my favorite parts of the JMT.

Tonight we are camping in Evolution Valley, just north a little ways from the McClure Ranger Station, right where the trees finally open up to show a gorgeous meadow with water running through and two peaks towering over everything to the south. It was beautiful! It’s probably one of the most photographed parts of the trail, and I completely understand why.

My favorite part about this part of the trail, though, is all the wildlife. On our way there we saw about a half a dozen deer–one from less than 10 feet away! We also saw TONS of fish in the stream. I tried to count how many were rising and/or jumping per second, and it was impossible to count, there were so many. My best estimate is 20-30 fish rising per second. Amazing!