After spending the night at Upper Palisade Lake and sleeping soundly due to the level of exhaustion, I was up and hiking before 7. My goal was to get up and over snow-covered Muir Pass (11,955') and camp down near Evolution Creek. I cruised for the first half of the day as I went downhill--from well over 10,000' to under 8,500'. But then, it was back up to nearly 12,000'. It was beautiful. Muir Pass is the last big pass before I stop for a resupply at Vermilion Valley Resort--still 40 miles away. It's also one of the toughest passes on the trail, especially in the snow! I started my ascent at about 1:30 and immediately noticed the thunderheads building to the east. I kept going because they have a tendency to burn off within an hour or two. Sure enough, the high pressure system prevailed and pushed it aside. (By the way, I had to bust out the rain gear this morning and then had to put it away almost as soon as I put it on.)
After about four miles, I encountered a couple other hikers who were contemplating going on to Muir Pass. We all decided to head on together. Soon after we left, we were climbing through snow. Ugh. Slow progress. But we made it slightly before sunset and are now camping in the Muir Hut at the top of Muir Pass. The sunset and moonlight is amazing. I'll have a photo of the sunset for you at some point.
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