McSnore Meadow, Kings Canyon (pic alert! )

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Wimply dial-uppers need not apply

In the middle of Evolution Valley lies a beautiful meadow called McClure Meadow. After hiking quite a few miles that day, we arrived here in the middle of the afternoon. McClure Meadow is like Eden to me. It is in a stunning setting in a deep valley with huge peaks for a backdrop. Evolution Creek gently meaders through this big meadow, filled with easy-to-catch golden trout. It is many miles from the nearest trailhead. A huge lump of granite called The Hermit looms above. The previous year we camped here near the creek at the end of the meadow and what a glorious place to watch the sunset and rise! But alas, in the name of mileage, on this JMT trek we could only rest here for an hour or so before we continued on up to the lakes high up in those distant mountains.

In this photo, I sneaked up on Dave with my ultra-wide-angle 17mm lens as he dozed on a log. It was a dangerous thing to do, but luckily the sound of the shutter didn't awaken him.”

“Can someone please tell me what "Wimply dial-uppers" means? Serves me right.”

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Not advisable for those really nice folks with dial-up connections


After I took the photo from McClure Meadow, we continued on up to Evolution Lake. I took this photo looking towards our camp at Evolution Lake later that same evening. Although McClure Meadow is one of my favorite places in the whole wide world of sports fans, so is Evolution Lake. I took this photo more to show the alpenglow reflection of Mt. Mendel in the water, but I didn't have the heart to tell my buddies to GET THE FREAK OUT OF THE PHOTO, so I just snapped this anyway. I tell ya, man oh man, hiking the stretch of the John Muir Trail between the confluence of Piute Canyon and Grouse Meadow at the lower reaches of LeConte Canyon is simply one breathtaking step after another! But then again, it's pretty much like that for every step of the way for 211 miles of this wondrous trail. Okay, I heard that, who just let a stink?”