The view of the Muir Hut on top of Muir Pass. This was without a doubt my favorite pass that we have gone over so far. The route to the top was 11 miles. You go over a few false summits, miles of unforgiving rock, and this pass even held some snow to climb over in this low snow year but it was all worth it to experience the valleys, high alpine lakes, boulder fields, waterfalls that stretch hundreds of feet down the mountainside, and at times the greenest most plush grass that is being overtaken by mountain wildflowers.

This pass was obviously named for John Muir who is one of the main reasons that all this land has been set aside untouched for man to pass through and just be. For this stretch of the trail, the PCT merges with the John Muir Trail or JMT for roughly 197 miles of the JMT's 212 miles. Throughout this stretch we have become more accustomed to seeing others on "our" trail as the JMT hikers are coming in from Yosemite headed south to Whitney. As one of my friends who we were hiking with said, the JMTers are easy to spot their beards are only a week or two old.

Nonetheless, I am sure they are out here for the same reasons we are and if you cannot find peace and serenity here, it may be impossible for you to find. This stretch of trail is the most wild and beautiful place that I have been. You can literally go 100s of miles without seeing a road if you want. If anyone out there is looking for a trail to hike where you don't have to leave the real world for months, I am not sure if you can find a better one than the JMT. It is a difficult trail to hike but if wasn't so challenging, it would probably be littered with McDonald's cups. If you have the opportunity or desire to hike this, don't pass it up.