Muir Pass hut, view of smoke from the Rough fire Wednesday night. Pray even harder for rain! Everything south of Muir Pass on the JMT/Pacific Crest Trail is pretty bad smoke-wise for hikers, with many of them abandoning their hikes. I stayed up there, looking at it this way: most inner city children have worse air quality 365 days a year with not nearly as beautiful or safe a scenery. Who would I be to complain? I had a lovely time, and for the first time in a while actually resented returning to town. Would have stayed an extra day but didn’t want anyone to worry.
Aside: The Muir shelter was paid for by a forestry magnate, which is humorous to me given that Muir Pass is one of the only passes in the Sierra without a view of a single tree… Also, it’s in designated Wilderness, so technically it’s not supposed to be there.
