Skip to main content

Day 165 - JMT Kings Canyon Evolution Valley

As we walked along the San Joaquin River towards Kings Canyon, after waking at 5:30am in order to get in miles before the smoke set in, we turned a corner and saw the sky alive. It was as if we were walking through a movie set, as if a pterodactyl could emerge from the haunted sky at any moment.  The shadows radiating off the mountains forecasted both beauty and danger. 

We crossed a bridge into Kings Canyon and were greeted at the border by a border guard, a deer. We stared at each other for a while and then he bounced away.  We continued.

We climbed slowly up, following the river, and enjoyed countless cascading falls with misty mountains in background.  Every step brought a new beautiful scene.  We made slow progress due to my constant photo-taking.

Turning left up a steep hill, we climbed towards Evolution Valley.  We saw a series of waterfalls in the distance, dropped our packs, and climbed down to the falls.  This fall was one of a half-dozen cascading down a thousand feet to the valley below.

After passing more serene waterfalls and skipping over rocks to cross a creek, we entered Evolution Valley.  We took a self portrait in the first meadow to mark our entrance to this colorful, delightful, supreme valley.

Not far down trail, we ran into Anton the Russian, a trail runner completing the 200+ mile hike in eight days, and Daybreak, a 75-year old seriously-fit hiker completing the last 300 mile leg of his 2650 miles Pacific Crest Journey.  Anton and Daybreak began discussing Putin and Russian politics, like the Ukraine invasion, and other topics, while Bob and I listened in and inserted our opinions.  It was a funny exchange deep in the woods.

Later we ran into Matt and Anna, who had hiked four miles backwards to pickup lost toiletries.  We hiked forwards with them and struck up a conversation about life in vans.  Matt and Anna lived in a van in Southern California, because the rent was so high.  We discussed our setups and strategies (cooking, bathrooms, et) and I quickly determined that van-in-the-city life is not worth the mobility or frugality:)  Bob and I continued up hill towards Evolution Lake, and discovered a tranquil, multi-falls along the way.  Water flowed down over 200 feet of sheer rock face-- a true paradise feel.

After a grueling climb, we made it up to Evolution Lake, and took another celebratory jump shot!  The wonder of this place was indescribable: just do yourself a favor and hike to Evolution Lake one day.

No words:

Two lady hikers, Sam and Sarah, hiked in late in the evening.  They were fitness-buffs and were attempting the JMT in eight days -- 25 miles a day.  They graciously gave us salami with pepper jack cheese and red wine, and we shared our pasta mix.  Then we marked the divine sunset with a series of funny photos.  Here was our "flying" photo.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Day 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole

We got our first glimpse of smoke far across the valley as we climbed higher. Up on a ridge after a morning climb, we followed a side trail to an open viewpoint beyond the trees. Selfie:) The smoke, while visible, seemed to give the mountains a blue glow-- like a highlighter to a sketch. You could still see the edges of the mountain ridges, the story of their creation. We could hike in this. But the smoke looked worse farther south. Or it was getting worse as time rolled incessantly forward.  On day two we had ran into a northbound hiker we nicknamed Speedy Steve. Speedy Steve had hiked 18 miles a day through eight consecutive smoke-filled days, including atleast three "very bad days" when he couldn't see the surrounding mountains, the sun glowed a haunting orange and ash accumulated overnight. On the way to Purple Lake we ran into three dirty, beat up, tired north-bound hikers with a similar story. They had to spend one night in an emergency hut at Muir Pass to avoid the...

Day 41 - Escalante Coyote Gulch

This one or two night Coyote Gulch hike was an easy test of my newly learned navigation skills.  Anxious to get started I awoke at 545 just as the sun was rising.  I followed an obvious landmark, a tall thin spire called Chimney Rock, northwest to Hurricane Wash (a drainage running into Coyote Gulch).  After a couple of hours of walking up over and around slick rock, I entered the famous Coyote Gulch.  The walls around me raised up, darkened and th water flow increased--like nature hinting at the scenic beauty ahead.  The normally crowded Coyote Gulch was fairly empty on this early Thursday morning, giving the canyon a very peaceful and quiet feeling-- fragile almost. Down steam, I ran into the famous Jacob Hamilton Arch and then thirty minutes further-- the Coyote Natural Birdge. Both were beautiful due to their see through the wall character, but both would be overshadowed in my memory by the Stevens Arch tomorrow. Pics.  By 1pm, I had hiked for six hours...

Day 42 - Escalante Stevens Arch

The Stevens Arch is so massive that legend says daredevil pilots would fly through it. I was excited to see it!  Having napped most of the afternoon, I awoke promptly at 545, packed up my things and hiked down to the Escalante River as the first morning light was pouring into the canyon. Hiking around more waterfalls and ledges and along the stream before anyone else was up was nice.  My written directions said to look for sandy hill to my right which led up to my only exit from the canyon-- the Crack-in-the-Wall. I ran into the confluence of the Escalante River, a point which my guidebook noted was passed my exit route, requiring a ten minute backtrack. This was fine though because I had tons of time and wanted to see the Stevens Arch.  I crossed the knee-deep Escalante River several times before the Arch came into view. Like a window in the Roman Colloseum, the Arch seemed almost engineered by man in this tall curving canyon wall. I hiked under the arch and couldn't eve...