Mather Pass to Muir Pass. Mile 838

I get worried that my pictures are beginning to get repetitive. Oh well. Sometimes the beauty is so overwhelming that  you begin not to notice it's magnificence. So, I too will virtual overload you so that you can have a glimpse into my current daily life.  The above picture is an Alpine Columbine; it only grows above 10,000 ft.

Mather Pass, scariest pass yet. Of course, this means the least pictures of it. When you are worried about slipping to your death, pictures are the last thing on your mind. This is Cathy taking the last steps to the very top of the pass. It is literally at least an 80 degree incline. The gentleman behind her is "Tortuga". That is turtle in Spanish.

Snow sunset. Our view the evening after going over the pass.

I have to climb down that valley and then uphill for 8 miles to go over another pass. At least the views are nice.

The valleys have so much water in them. Flooding is so common due to the high levels of snow the Sierras saw last winter. 

Okay. This is at least a 30ft wall of snow. I had to walk on top of it. That is a river running under the wall of snow. This was the most snow covered climb to Muir Pass. 

Half of Helen Lake is still covered in snow. The lake was named after one of John Muir's Daughters.

You crest the snow hill and see Muir Hut. It was fantastic for two reasons: You are have reached the pass summit and what a feat of will to build something on the top of a pass.

You are allowed to sleep in the hut in emergencies. I have a feeling that some sleep there anyways.

On the north side of Muir Pass there was 6 miles of snow. It was a long slush down. P.S. that is Wanda Lake in the left side of the picture.

The path was so close to Wanda Lake that I felt like any moment the snow would collapse and I would slip into the ice water.

Sometimes, the snow does end. I cannot say the same thing for wet feet.