The Heart of the Sierra: John Muir Wilderness Backpack trip Part 1

Immediately following the trip into the Desolation Wilderness chronicled in my last 2 photo posts, I met up with friends Gretchen and Mark and we headed up the trail for 7 nights in the Sierra high country, on the North Lake to South Lake loop, an absolute classic of John Muir's Range of Light.

Weather forecasts were iffy, to say the least, and our night-before spent at a campground at 9000' seemed to suggest a need to be prepared. High winds made it a restless night, and we responded by packing extra clothes, pretty much all of which did get used, though the weather didn't get as ugly as feared.

Day 1 began with my daughter helping us set up our shuttle, since we'd be ending our hike a few miles from where we began it. We hit the trail for Paiute Pass about 9:40, hoping to make it over the pass. At 11,200' it was an ambitious goal for the first day, given that less than 48 hours earlier Gretchen and Mark had been at sea level.

The hike started at about 9300', which was in the forest with tantalizing views of the peaks all around.

Glimpses of the glories above.

 
We were moving pretty slowly, but figured even 1 mph would get us there. Gradually the trees gave way to the subalpine. 

Scenery like this is always an excuse to stop for a moment.

 

Of course Petey Possum came along! I'm pretty strict about extra weight, but Petey's not a luxury :)

The approach to Paiute Pass is a series of steps up the valley, with lakes all along the way. 

As we climbed we were aware of a whole lot of helicopter activity up one level from us. When we got there, we encountered a couple of SAR guys waiting for pickup, having checked up on a pair of climbers who'd called for help, but were in fact okay. Pretty soon the chopper came and took the guys away, completing what turned out to be a good practice exercise for them.

Evidence suggested to me that the trail was built by the CCC. Who builds steps like this now?

Somewhere in there we stopped for lunch by one of the many lakes, then climbed on through the afternoon. Our approach to dealing with the altitude was to take lots of longish breaks, as well as lots of short photo stops.

Nearing the top.

About 3:30 we reached the pass. The wind was fierce, which we should have anticipated (though most of the way up we'd been pretty sheltered so kind of forgot about how windy it had been the night before). 

Mt. Humphreys from near Paiute Pass.

Seeing the west side at last. Summit Lake, with the extensive Humphreys Basin spreading out beyond. 

About a mile past the pass, but not significantly below it, sits Muriel Lake. That was our target for the night, as I remembered it being really scenic, which it is. 

Muriel Lake (or a part of it).

It took some hunting, but we eventually found a pretty sheltered campsite, between a rock and a clump of krumholtz (these stunted clumps of trees). By then it was 4 p.m. and we had some work to do before sunset--in addition to setting up camp and fetching water, Gretchen had a leak somewhere in her sleeping pad. While I dealt with the water, she and Mark hunted down and stopped the leak!

Home sweet home. My tent is actually tucked in among the trees for maximum wind protection.

By time dinner was eaten and all battened down for the night, night was upon us, with a fairly glorious sunset.

The sun disappears in the west.

 

Sunset light on Mt. Humphreys

About 5 1/4 miles, 2200' of climbing. Because of the weather (and because somehow my fantastic UL down jacket got left at home so I was using some borrowed gear to stay warm), my starting pack weight was a bit over 30 lbs, higher than I wanted. I will say that all the warm clothing got worn.

 Day 2. Muriel Lake to Paiute Canyon.

This was a relatively easy day, begin pretty much all downhill, but mostly on decently graded trail. We started with a half mile cross-country to get to the Golden Trout Lakes cut-off, easy walking on the open slopes. 

First, though, I had to do my early-morning photo wander, which I did, despite frost in the low-lying areas. 

Luckily both for the photos and the photographer, the wind had died and it was pretty calm.

There were pikas in the boulder field near camp!

Morning light pours into the lake basin. It even reached camp before we were all packed up.

Heading out on a perfect morning. 

We had to cross the stream to reach the trail. From the middle of the water, there were perfect reflections.

  

We took our first break (Second Breakfast? Probably too early for Elevenses) at Lower Golden Trout Lake. It might have made a nicer campsite, but wouldn't have had the same sunset and sunrise light, I think.

Lower Golden Trout Lake

I had remembered the trail down (or up) this canyon from a 1991 trip as being a long slog in the woods. I think my memory was colored by the weather, which on that trip was wet, because most of the way to the French Creek Canyon trail it was beautiful! 

Halfway down.

 

At the junction--Hutchinson Meadow

The map suggested that we would need to stop not too far below Hutchinson Meadow if we didn't want to be committed to going a lot farther, so we eventually found a campsite that lacked stunning views, but was very comfortable, and completely sheltered.
 

We absolutely were not making use of the well-established fire ring, except as a place to put the cookstove. I'm not sure if fires were even legal just then, but they seemed like a generally bad idea. Here, Gretchen is watching the pot, thus preventing it from boiling and letting us eat dinner.

That wasn't our lowest point (elevation-wise), but it was our lowest camp as well as the least scenic. The next day we resumed our generally spectacular hike down to the John Muir Trail/PCT and up to Evolution Meadow.

Day 2 stats: 7 1/2 miles, 2300' down.

Next week (or maybe the one after):  Days 3-4, up the Evolution Valley.

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 ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2026 

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