Heart Lake via John Muir Trail(edit)

Day 7 was another welcomed "rest" day. Less than 2000' of ascent, 12 miles, and a mostly empty bear can made for a relaxing day. I stopped for a break at Marie Lake, just before Selden Pass, which everyone I had met passing me had gushed over. I was not disappointed by the praise. It was a stunning place to rest and have an early lunch. Selden Pass was pretty uneventful, although like every other pass, it was met with sweeping views of amazing high sierra scenery. The descent took me past Sallie Keys Lakes and descending down a long series of switchbacks almost 3000' into the valley. It was hot and humid coming down and I really felt badly for the hikers I passed going the other direction. Once I hit the cutoff trail that leads to Muir Trail Ranch I was pretty well beat. I stumbled down the last mile of trail before the ranch and made it into camp around 3:30. After retrieving my resupply bucket and procuring some additional supplies, I packed my bear can as best I could and set up camp in the backpackers area. Muir Trail Ranch is the halfway point of the JMT and is famous for its hot springs. After a week on the trail, I was dirty, sore, and exhausted and the hot springs were a welcomed sight. There are several hot springs to choose from, one being fairly small but having the advantage of being clear, the other two that I found were larger and with mud bottoms so the water was murky. I decided on the larger of the three, which is where I happened to meet a mother/daughter duo that I would end up spending the better part of the next 11 days with. We spent a few hours chatting before they left to start dinner. I was really enjoying the soak so I decided stick around and enjoy it in private. I camped next to two guys in their 50's or 60's who were on a week long buddies trip. This was their last night and they wanted to get rid of the rest of their food so they invited me and a few other hikers to help. Before we could finish cleaning up after dinner, the wind started picking up. Everyone scrambled to get their gear packed away and into the relative safety of their tents. As I was zipping up my tent, the wind picked up to what felt like hurricane strength and the sky just opened up. It dumped rain for the next several hours and by the time it was all over, most of the campsites were flooded. My neighbors were laying in pools of water with all of their gear completely soaked through. I was fortunate in that I picked a tent site that drained fairly well. All of my gear in the tent was dry with the exception of my backpack. Even so, it made for a long and sleepless night.

Can make it a little further

10m