THE
MAIN EVENT
The
centerpiece of our summer vacation was a seven day
backpacking trip in the John Muir Wilderness and Kings Canyon National
Park. We had a permit to start our trip
from North Lake. My original plan was to
drop Christy and the packs off at North Lake and leave our car at South
Lake. A regional bus would take me to
the valley below North Lake, and I would walk the road back up to rejoin
Christy. On day one, we would backpack
over Piute Pass into Humphreys Basin.
From there we would descend Piute Canyon to the San Joaquin River, where
we would join the John Muir Trail. We
would then hike my favorite stretch of the John Muir Trail, through Evolution
Basin and over Muir Pass. We would
finish the trip hiking out through Bishop Basin and over Bishop Pass to South
Lake.
Unfortunately,
Christy decided that her knee wasn’t ready for a seven day
backpacking trip with multiple passes.
We decided to downsize our trip.
Our permit required us to start from North Lake on August 3rd. We discussed our options, and decided to
backpack in over Piute Pass and basecamp. We’d spend two full days and three nights in
Humphreys Basin, deep in the John Muir Wilderness, before hiking back out over
Piute Pass and returning to North Lake on day 4.
When
we picked up our permit, we were told that there wasn’t any parking near North
Lake. This was inaccurate. There are actually two parking areas for
hikers / backpackers a few minutes from the North Lake Campground. They were full when we arrived, and we had to
wait a bit to get a spot, but that was a lot better than doing the long road
walk up from the valley below. Once we
were parked, we loaded up our packs for the hike upstream along the North Fork
of Bishop Creek.
We
started out hiking through the peaceful North Lake Campground. Before long we crossed into the John Muir
Wilderness. We hiked through deep
forest, enjoying abundant wildflowers.
There were two creek crossings on long, narrow foot logs early on. I balked at them, as my pack was heavy and my
balance was off. Instead, I waded each
crossing. The climb was grueling, as
well. Much of the trail is stone steps,
which were tedious. Fortunately, the scenery
was beautiful, and the pink heather was lovely in the subalpine and alpine
areas above Loch Leven. The area around
Loch Leven provided small waterfalls and swimming holes, spectacular views back
to the east, and a great spot for lunch.
We
climbed on to Piute Lake, where the heather was even more abundant. From there, we tackled one more climb to
Piute Pass. The final stretch was across
a huge snowfield, but the snow was soft and the footing wasn’t
treacherous. We were both pretty wiped
out when we reached the pass. We stopped
for a break and debated our camping options.
My original plan had been to press on another 3+ miles to Desolation
Lake. A shorter, easier option was to
head southwest on an unofficial trail to Muriel Lake.
Christy
suggested, strongly, that we just camp there.
After that climb, she wasn’t terribly interested in hiking any
farther. The area near Piute Pass is
well above treeline, and exposed. Conditions were good, but I was worried that
the wind would get cranked up that night.
Still, there was a good campsite there, and it offered a great view of the
surrounding mountains and Summit Lake below.
We took it.
After
setting up camp, I took an evening hike over to Muriel Lake. It’s a beautiful alpine lake below Muriel
Peak and Mount Goethe on the Glacier Divide.
There was one group camped there, but it certainly wasn’t crowded. It would have been a nice place to camp, but
our spot just below Piute Pass turned out to be ideal.
I
returned to camp just in time for one of the most amazing sunsets I’ve seen. The sky lit up, as the clouds were
illuminated by the setting sun. Then
those colors were reflected in the lake below. Summit Lake turned yellow, then peach, then orange,
and then finally blood red. It was
breathtaking, and the show went on for at least 30 minutes. I took many, many photos, but Christy got the
best one. It featured our tent, glowing
orange in the fading light, with the orange waters of Summit Lake in the
background. It’s only fitting that she
got the best photo, since camping there had been her idea!
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