With 2015 being the 4th and most drastic year yet of an ongoing California drought, we thought it would be a good time to do a mid-May trek on a segment of the John Muir Trail (JMT) in the High Sierra. Seven of us left San Francisco in two cars, and about 5 hours later we arrived at Lake Thomas Edison with a leisurely 6 day, 30ish mile adventure planned. Of course, there was word of a winter storm on the way, but we were determined to get on the trail and crest some mountains.
After an hour or so of moving cars around so that one was at both the start (Lake Edison) and stop (Florence Lake) points, we set forth on the Bear Ridge Trail towards the JMT. About 5 miles in we decided to stop for the day as it had been a long day including the driving.
When we woke the next morning, it began to snow.
The wintery mix was coming down with full force by noon. It was turning our adventure into a real adventure! We pressed on through the storm.
Setting up camp for the night short of Marie Lake, we were anxious to get a fire started. The camp was nice a level with a winding creek nearby which provided us with water.
The next morning we got on the trail early as we were all anxious to get to Marie Lake.
The snow began to fall again, and we found ourselves wading across rivers in a wintery mess. It seemed crazy, but was also exciting and fun.
The snow grew deeper as we approached Marie Lake.
On our way to Marie Lake during a snowy spring
Once we reached the lake, we saw that it was completely frozen over. Ready to be done hiking for the day, we set up camp along side the lake anyways.
Marie Lake -- frozen over
Late into the night, we got what would be the only nighttime shot of the journey.
The High Sierra during a snowy spring near Marie Lake
The next day, we moved along up the snow covered Selden Pass. We post-holed all the way up.
The John Muir Trail covered in snow
Snowy approach to Selden Pass
Winter on the Selden Pass -- John Muir Trail
Looking back at Marie Lake from Selden Pass
Once at the top, the view was amazing. This would turn out to be one of my favorite views in the Sierra.
Atop Selden Pass
The crew atop Selden Pass
Descending down the southern side we passed Heart Lake.
And came upon Sallie Keyes Lakes, where we'd make camp for the night.
It was too cloudy for nighttime photography, so we improvised with lights in the lake.
The next day we made our way towards Muir Trail Ranch and Blaney Hot Springs.
A river stood before us and the hot springs. We sent a party over to locate the springs, but they came back having not found them some time later. We'd decided to hike all the way out that day now as it started to rain. So not wanting to waste any more time, we quickly gave up on looking for the hot springs and got back on the trail.
We passed through several giant and awesome meadows. One of which featured this structure.
The final stretch was the rolling terrain around Florence Lake. By this time we'd been hiking for 15 miles already that day and were ready to reach the vehicle.
Once we finally reached the cars and began driving out, it began to snow again. Kaiser Pass Road is quite a feat in a 2WD truck under snow, and so one half of our party (my half) go stranded on the pass for one last night in a blizzard. Three of us slept in my truck, and made our way out early the next morning when conditions were better.