John Muir Trail – Day 6 Muir Pass

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After waking up in beautiful McClure Meadow we packed up early and headed for the high peaks. We climbed past Evolution Lake, above treeline, and then into the moonscape around Wanda Lake at 11,500 ft. This was one of the most exposed hikes I’ve ever done and the sight distances were incredible. Because it was so rocky the only way to make out the path above was watching to see other hikers creeping up like ants.

Eye Spy two marmots on the rocks!

Up, up up all the way to Muir Pass at 11,955 ft and the famous Muir Hut, …

John Muir Trail – Days 4 & 5

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After Heart Lake we passed lovely Sallie Keyes Lake, through some marshlands and streams, and then down many, many dry switchbacks. From Selden Pass it was 6.6 miles and over 3,000 ft down in elevation to Muir Trail Ranch. I planned our itinerary around having a resupply point in the middle of the trip so we only had to carry 4 days of food at a time, and had mailed two 5-gallon buckets to the ranch a month earlier. We expected to catch up with friends on the other side of the pass but it turned out all they could …

John Muir Trail – Days 2 & 3

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For most of day 2 we hiked along the Mono Creek. We didn’t have views of the mountains for most of the day since we were deep in a marshy basin, but eventually reached the John Muir Trail after about 10 miles. We made great time since we were trying to outrun mosquitos all morning, so we took a long lunch break and jumped into the river.

Balancing the desires of 5 women was interesting, with some of us preferring to hike hard and fast and cover as much ground as possible, and some of us wanting to go slow …

John Muir Trail – Day 1

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From August 27 to September 3, I arranged a section hike of the John Muir Trail with 4 girlfriends from around the country. At the end of 8 days we had covered 78 miles and 20,100 ft of elevation gain and 19,425 ft of elevation loss. Our highest point was 12,060 ft and our lowest was 7,700. Two women bailed in the middle but we all had an incredible time. Life has been a whirlwind since then but I’m finally making time to share the trip with you.
The motivation for this trip was a conversation I had with …

My First Run-in with Altitude Sickness

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I’ve been a little busy the last 3 months, so here is the first post of hopefully many to get caught up on my adventures!
My partner/boyfriend/best friend Ben left in early May to work in Alaska as a commercial salmon fisherman for the summer. Now you all know that I’m not shy about doing things on my own, but this summer I did a few questionable things. I’m still not sure if this is a sign of my increased confidence and backcountry skills, or wether I was being reckless. Either way, this was a day …