John Muir Trail: Day 2

South Fork of the San Joaquin River to Darwin Creek, Evolution Valley

Miles: 9.3 mi
Vertical feet: 1950 ft
Number of packs of lost horses passed: 2

Blisters on the hips aside, I woke up on Monday morning excited to be on the JMT. I was headed into Evolution Valley, an area known for its beautiful meadows, gorgeous views, and a whole chain of mountains named for famous evolutionary thinkers... Mendel, Darwin, Lamarck, and Spencer. Of course, Wallace gets screwed again and misses out. Pausing after pack-up to take a quick photo of my camp site, I headed south up the South Fork of the San Joaquin River to its junction with Evolution Creek. The river itself was a deep shade of green as it swirled around the metamorphic rock of the sunny valley. It is amazing to think that the waters flowing through this valley will eventually flow through the Central Valley before being pumped south towards LA so we can grow alfalfa in our arid climate.

Leaving the waters of the San Joaquin behind, I began the 25 switchbacks (I did actually count) up into the hanging Evolution Valley. Evolution Creak tumbles down this same slope in a beautiful series of falls and rapids like the one in the photo above. On the way up, I was passed by a pack of horses headed down and a few minutes later by their handler chasing after them. Once the runaway horses were recollected, they all beat me up the hill, leaving me wishing I had packed a horse to go along with the still ridiculously heavy pack on my back.

Stopping for lunch at an quiet bend in the creek, I took advantage of being off trail to jump in for a swim and to laze around on nearby rocks on the warm sunny afternoon. It was one of those days when everything in the world just felt right. I sat watching the small trout swim through the creek for over an hour before finally getting up and bushwhacking my way back to the trail. Entering Evolution Meadow, I took off my boots again to wade across the shallow sandy creek and passed several elaborate campsites as I climbed toward the ranger station in McClure Meadow.

Always looking my best while hiding out from the rain in camp at Darwin Creek. I got into camp pretty early as there was a significant climb ahead of me and I was not too excited about camping above treeline when there was a storm approaching. Unfortunately, I used the extra time to do some laundry which refused to dry over the following two wet days. This was also the only night that my tent decided to leak, although the wettest part of my sleeping bag was the foot which I had covered in a garbage bag to try to keep it dry. Once again condensation proves to be much greater than a couple of drips.