John Muir Trail Day 14: My Regrets from Summiting the Iconic Muir Pass

The sound of sporadic, quiet conversation passing by our tent had me waking up as the sun was rising on Day 14 of the John Muir Trail. I listened, while still buried under my quilt, to the passing hikers, just far enough away to afford us the feeling of privacy while close enough to hear their footsteps as they moved past at an energetic pace. 

(Want to see the people, places and all-around mayhem mentioned in this post? Here’s the Instagram Reel I might regret posting…)

My heart jolted into high gear when I remembered what this day would bring. Muir Pass!  We were tackling Muir Pass today! I did a silent celebratory dance inside my sleeping quilt and then preemptively kicked it off when it threatened to twisty-tie itself around me.

I turned toward my still-sleeping husband and hiking partner, Cliff and willed him to wake up. When that didn’t work, I wrestled my way out of the tent and tackled making coffee instead. 

All of our days on the JMT held clear skies with a few rare clouds appearing to make the brilliant royal blue next-level dreamy. This day was no different and I counted myself lucky beyond words that we had not dealt with any inclement weather to spice up our experience.

As I finished making coffee, my husband gracefully extracted himself from the tent (how does he do that?!) and set about breaking down camp. Since the hike would be a climb as soon as we stepped foot on the official path, we ate a quick breakfast before heading off. The trail turned into a sharp incline and it took no time at all before I was breathing hard. We hiked through a sparse forest until it was clear that we had now entered into a high alpine setting. We hiked past small alpine lakes and straight into our favorite kind of landscape. We scanned the lush green grass and rocks until we found a sweet, furry rock-shaped body already watching us with suspicion. “A marmot!” I whispered loudly to my husband.

It went skittering off but we soon spotted more as we hopscotched on rocks when the trail turned from moist dirt and pebbles to what seemed like a small stream taking advantage of the well-trod footpath.

As we hiked along, I felt a surge of joy at this singularly unique experience – the geology, the plant life, the sheer beauty of the overall landscape, the animals watching us as we walked past – it was everything I hoped the John Muir Trail experience would be…and here we were living right in the middle of a dreamscape.The higher we hiked, the more the landscape unfolded and revealed its beauty to us. I felt myself wishing we could slow down and take it all in without feeling like we needed to maintain a certain pace. On the other hand, had I been alone and left to my own devices, the photographer and videographer in me would have stayed right there on the ascent up to Muir Pass for days.

As my husband moved ahead of me up the trail, I used him as an unknowing model for scale to showcase the sprawling landscape and how little we are in a world so much bigger than ourselves. 

The trail up to Muir Pass was also our first encounter with snow on the JMT, though navigating it was a non-issue. Hiking along, I was absolutely beside myself with happiness as we saw waterfalls, turquoise alpine lakes, high-altitude wildflowers and wildly striped and mottled rocks. I pointed out everything that brought me joy, grateful beyond my ability to even put it all into words, until I was drowning in the bliss of it all.

Higher still, we climbed until the trail turned into a series of rocky switchbacks and our world seemed to only consist of stone and sky. No marmots, waterfalls, flowers, or lakes. It was almost as if the landscape was clearing the way for a grand reveal.“There it is,” I heard Cliff say behind me.

My head snapped up and I scanned the horizon up and ahead of me but saw nothing. “What and where?” I asked as we climbed up what appeared to be the last switchback. It seemed to lead us towards a saddle in the mountain range dominating our line of sight.

“Look, there. Straight ahead!” He said.

I stopped mid-step, whipped my crappy sunglasses off and realized the poorly polarized lenses were obscuring the easy-to-miss little stone hut sitting alone and blending easily into a sea of similar rock.“Is that it? Is that Muir Hut?!” I half demanded/half asked hoping we had finally arrived at this iconic landmark on the JMT.

“I think it is!”  My husband answered back.

As the trail leveled off on our approach to the little stone structure, the cold wind, unobstructed by mountains, whipped through Muir Pass and took our breath away, inspiring a level of hustle I didn’t think I had any energy left to initiate.

We moved fast towards the pretty wooden door to the hut and tried the handle, finding it unlocked. We opened the door hesitantly and walked inside, finding the charming shelter empty.We took our packs off, exposing our sweaty backs to the chilly high alpine air and strolled around the surprisingly roomy interior.  Built-in stone benches lined the rounded space, breaking their continuous stretch only for the beautiful stone fireplace. As I toured the one room hut, I couldn’t help but think of the people I had heard hiking past the night before and hoped the starry sky, void of all light pollution, was as wondrously outrageous as I imagined it to be.

As we wrestled our backpacks on and made our way to the door of Muir Hut, I felt myself fill with regret of leaving yet another beautiful place…but then found myself lured out by a beckoning marmot waiting just outside on the rock steps.

Such is the way of the John Muir Trail: there’s too much wonder and beauty waiting ahead to ever allow you to get lost in the regret of what you had to leave behind.

Stats for the Hiker Nerds (Like You and I)

Day 14- August 30, 2024 

The base of Muir Pass to McClure Meadow

Mountain Pass/Summit: Muir Pass (11,975’)

Elevation Gain: 2,073’

Elevation Loss: 2,543’

Mileage: 13.6

Want to see all the people, places and all-around mayhem mentioned in this post?  Head on over to TikTok and Instagram!