August 19, 2012 –Rose Marie Meadow to Piute Pass Junction
Mileage: 13 Elevation: 8050 feet
We rose to more clouds!
We tried to dry things out a little, but the weather would not
cooperate. Finally, we packed up wet and
headed out. We climbed past high and
exposed Marie Lakes as we headed up Seldon Pass. The sun came out at the pass and we spent
some time there drying our clothes.
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| Marie Lakes and Seldon Pass |
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| Don at Heart Lake |
Then, we dropped down to Heart Lake and on to beautiful
Sally Keyes Lakes. The trail then
crossed Senger Creek and descending thousands of switchbacks to our second
cache at Muir Trail Ranch. The ranch
turned out to be a cluster of very old buildings and a stable open only in the
summer. There was a bell to ring when we
arrived at the gate to announce that we needed to pick up our cache. Many other hikers were there sorting food on
old wooden tables under awnings to protect from sun and rain. The area was well organized with places to
sort garbage and recycling, plus catalogued bins for overbought food and
supplies to leave for others. Patt was
in charge of the operation with Jake, from London, England, assisting her. Mary and Justin, a young pediatrician and
professor from Bend were sorting food also.
We had met them at Rose Meadow the night before. Turns out they have the same permit schedule
as we do, so we will see them along the way.
After reloading our packs we hefted our incredibly heavy
loads of food for the next nine days and headed up to a hiker camp at the
entrance to Kings Canyon National Park, where Piute Creek meets the San Joaquin
River. Really great camping, clean and
dry, but crowded. We were able to finish
drying our gear out and have a relaxing evening with NO RAIN!
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