Hiking the JMT: Evolution Valley to Evolution Lake (Day 14)

Evolution Lake at sunset

Highlights of Day 14

Short hiking day due to ominous thunder clouds over Muir Pass.
Set up camp really early & had time to hang out.
Defended camp site against army of curious marmots.
Gorgeous sunset–the mountains looked like they were on fire!

Trail Journal

12:50 pm

We’re stopped for a lovely lunch at Evolution Lake–and waiting to see if these dark cumulus clouds are going to turn into an electrical storm before we cross Muir Pass.

Feeling a bit tired, because yesterday we had a late hiking day & didn’t crawl into our tent until after 10pm–late per backpacking standards! Most nights we’re in bed by around 9 pm, & up around 5 am or 5:30 for an early start. The thunder storms tend to come in the early afternoon, so especially on days when we’re up in exposed high elevation, the early starts are critical.

3pm

We decided to set up our tent here. We both really wanted to make it across Muir Pass today, but there’s a stretch of about 7 miles of completely exposed trail, and we don’t want to risk it with dark clouds on all sides & intermittent thunder. Maybe we’d be fine, but not worth risking.

We’ll rest up today and then leave early tomorrow to cross the pass and see how far we can get. We’re about a day behind our ideal schedule, but hopefully don’t get delayed too much more by storms.

Our camp site for the afternoon/night.

8:24 pm

Wow! Just as we were getting into the tent for the night, the clouds & sun were angled in just the perfect way to light all the mountains opposite the lake on fire! They blazed an unreal color of pink/orange for a few moments, then faded into evening blues and greys again. It was spectacular. Tried capturing it in a photo but wasn’t able to–the memory will have to suffice.

We’re getting up at 5 am to try to cross Muir Pass before another storm brews–wish us luck!

1:45 am

The wind is howling down the mountains and it’s been raining all night. Gadget just got up to make sure the trash bags protecting our backpacks from rain aren’t going to blow away–they’ve been flapping around like mad for the past I’m not sure how long. (Editorial note: rather than buy waterproof backpack covers, we opted to use large heavy-duty trash bags. They worked great, even with a few small rips here there that were easily fixed with duct tape.)

She said it looks like the clouds are starting to clear off, so hopefully we can get out of here in the morning. As pretty as Evolution Lake is, I’m ready to get the heck out of here.