2 October 2024
Wanda Lake to Cartridge Creek
(18 miles, +1,000/-6,100 feet).

Yesterday was a tough 10 miles because it was all off trail.

But today was tough too! Even though we were on trail the whole day, we had to go nearly twice the distance. And the further we got from the John Muir Trail, the less maintained the route.

So it was a different kind of endurance hike!

We awoke to calm winds and lovely temperatures. We enjoyed coffee and breakfast in camp and then hit the trail.

The John Muir Trail hugs the northeast shore of Wanda Lake before starting its ascent up to Muir Pass.

By the time we got to Lake McDermand the sun started to peek above the mountain ridges to the east.

It was a gentle 400 feet up from there to Muir Pass, where we found the Muir Hut.

We enjoyed the pass and the hut for a bit, milling around until it was time to go.

Muir Pass is where the Middle Fork Kings drainage starts. It was cool to think we would be following the river all the way from 12,000 feet down to 6,000 feet today!

There was still some snow hanging around, but obviously nothing unmanageable!

At the famous “Whale Rock” we took a nice long break to get water and a snack. It was here that ended my 2021 PCT Thru-Hike attempt. I felt nostalgic.

It’s been a great year of hiking, and it felt so good to travel with the southbound thru-hikers a couple of weeks ago. Somehow, I finally feel at peace with this being the place I turned around.

After our break we agreed to meet at the Dusy Branch bridge. Just for fun I hiked as fast as I could, traveling the 2.7 miles in a little less than an hour. But I also stopped to take several pictures. I forgot how beautiful Le Conte canyon is!

We did lunch in the shade at the bridge.

It was another quick hour and a half down to the Middle Fork Trail where we turned off the JMT.

The Middle Fork Trail was gorgeous at first, a continuation of the granite and fall colors we have seen in LeConte Canyon.

But as we travelled farther and farther from the JMT, the trail maintenance got more and more intermittent.

We hit one stretch with a lot of cool granite. We followed a bench for quite some time before making our way back down to the Middle Fork Kings River.

We were looking for a place to swim, but couldn’t seem to find one.

But soon, very near where we had almost given up, we found what might be the most beautiful swimming hole I have ever seen!

There was a perfect granite beach to dry off, and it stayed in the sun until just before it was time to keep hiking!

The trail was actually washed out in a couple of places, leaving us to do a couple of sketchy moves to stay on track. But then we came into a really neat area above the Devil’s Washbowl. The river gets really narrow here and tumbles over a series of beautiful granite falls, culminating in the Washbowl itself.

After the Washbowl we only had another hour or so to go. As we dropped into the trees, the wind died down and it got buggy with gnats. I donned my head net but Chia and Ultra toughed it out.

We hit some crazy blowdowns that diverted us from the trail right before the creek, but as luck would have it they led us right to a well-established campsite with a great kitchen!

We had a nice view down canyon and plenty of duff for our tents.