Stats for the day: started at Muir Pass (11,960') at 7:30 - ended at Wahoo Lake (11,320') at 5:30. Total ascent 2832'. Total Descent 3404'. Total Distance 12.4 miles. 6 hrs 8 mins walking.
3 hours of good sleep, 9-midnight. The flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder wakes us. It is a ways off, but approaching fast. Ahead of the storm comes the wind, whipping our light weight Tarp Tent wildly. The full moon illuminates the inside of the tent dimly, but plenty for us to see the fabric flailing in the turbulent wind. The drenching rains add a new dimension just as the storm passes directly overhead, with lighting and thunder nearly simultaneous. We grab the tent fabric and steady it as gusts of 50 mph buffet the tent. 30 minutes pass in this situation before the storm moves on. Gary gets up in the lull and tightens the guy cords and straightens the tent. 45 minutes later another one passes overhead, a repeat performance of the first.
3 hours of good sleep, 9-midnight. The flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder wakes us. It is a ways off, but approaching fast. Ahead of the storm comes the wind, whipping our light weight Tarp Tent wildly. The full moon illuminates the inside of the tent dimly, but plenty for us to see the fabric flailing in the turbulent wind. The drenching rains add a new dimension just as the storm passes directly overhead, with lighting and thunder nearly simultaneous. We grab the tent fabric and steady it as gusts of 50 mph buffet the tent. 30 minutes pass in this situation before the storm moves on. Gary gets up in the lull and tightens the guy cords and straightens the tent. 45 minutes later another one passes overhead, a repeat performance of the first.
Of course, this is what we came for! Scary? Absolutely! We camped at Muir Pass with the hope the stormy weather was done for the day, so we expected to get a good night's sleep. But the unexpected turbulence of three thunderstorms passing directly overhead interrupted our slumber and created an adventure we will always remember.
With little sleep we embarked on today's journey. We are still trying to make up a day. We were supposed to be at Evolution Lake instead of Muir Pass, 5 miles ahead. But, the trip to South Lake and Bishop two days earlier to pick up food and new shoes for Gary had set us back a day, one we have been trying to make up.
We packed up our damp or wet gear and headed down from Muir Pass. The weather is broken clouds with the threat of more thunderstorms. We start passing all the people that dared not cross Muir Pass yesterday due to the lightning. Before we leave the trail at about 11am we will have passed 40 JMT hikers.
6 miles after leaving the pass, and traveling through beautiful Evolution Basin we leave the trail at the first switchback and head cross country, traversing between 10,700 and 11,000 feet for about 2 and a half miles before turning north towards Snow Tongue Pass. About 2PM we reach a lake that is about 1.5 miles and 1000' below the pass. Tired from hiking and lack of sleep we sit down in the heather with out backs to a sun warmed granite wall and within 5 minutes we are all asleep.
We had been debating whether to scale the pass this afternoon or wait until tomorrow morning. We had already done 10 miles and were pretty tired, but the nap revived us and we decided to push on to the pass. If we made it, we would be back on schedule. We were to camp at Wahoo Lakes on the other side of the pass according to the itinerary.
With our new found energy we scaled the pass in about an hour and fifteen minutes. The other side of the pass was supposed to be a bit dicey, and it did not disappoint. A 300' nearly vertical drop down a gully with loose rock, dirt and blocks of granite. Gary started down, I followed with Andy behind. Being as careful as possible not to knock loose any rocks, keep our balance and manage the weight of our packs we slowly descended the face, finally touching the snow extending up into the gully and plunge stepping the final elevation.
Another half hour descending rock fields and heather and we are at 11,300' Wahoo lake, a barren rock lined body of water in the bottom of the cirque. I slip on the heather and fall, tucking my right leg under me as I go down. The right knee does not like to bend when it is tired and this sudden compression hurts tremendously. Visions of a injured knee quickly fill my head, but as I start down again I feel it is sore, but not injured. I ice it before dinner and take a couple ibuprofen and it seems okay.
We are exhausted. This is the fourth day in a row of pushing time and distance combined with significant elevation gains and losses, all with newly resupplied food for 11 days (meaning heavy packs). We stagger around the meadow finding suitable places to sleep (the weather has totally cleared and there are no mosquitoes) out, then cook our meals and are in bed by 7:00 (except for me who is lying in his sleeping bag typing out this blog). Time to sleep. Goodnight.
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