Day 10 - July 21

We don't have any rest days on the entire trip, but this was our "near-o" day.  Nearly zero.  About 4 miles, actually.  McClure Meadow to Evolution Lake.  As close to a rest day day as we would come.  It was supposed to be a nice day to perhaps hang out at the beautiful Evolution Lake, go for a swim, catch up on "chores" and just relax.  It didn't entirely work out that way....  By about 1:30 we were all in our tents waiting for the inevitable storm to hit.  By that time it had been thundering (and some lightning) for about an hour and the ominous-looking clouds had moved in.  The wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped dramatically.  The rain started about 10 minutes later.  Another way to look at it is that we didn't have to be out in the elements; I was tucked comfortably in my dry tent reading a book.

The day dawned with bright blue skies giving us sunshine on our meadow which helped to dry out tents & bags before packing up.

And, of course, those with tender tootsies needed to protect them for the day..............

We started the day by going gradually uphill for about an hour, mostly through the forest but with some side streams and some views of Evolution Creek.

After the gradual uphill was another steady climb of about 1000 feet.  The sun shone all morning, making it a hot ascent.  A bit of a grunt - I don't feel like I'm getting any stronger!  But then - around a corner, and voila....  Evolution Lake - our destination for the day.

A beautiful spot with many campsites tucked into the rocks up on the left hand side of the trail.  As we set up camp and had lunch, the skies in the distance began to darken.  But - time for lunch, a bath and laundry before retreating to the dry tent.

The rain only lasted until about 3.  After the rain, the reflections on the lake were awesome.  Not sure the pictures do it justice........

We saw lots of (small) wildlife at this site.  Grouse - mama + 6 little ones, huge rabbit, and deer.  It started raining again about 7:30.  I just stayed in the tent, but at some point the rain stopped and a few folks went out to fabulous sunset views.  Here are a couple of shots the Linda took and shared with the group.

You might be wondering where the name "Evolution" (Creek, Basin, Lake, etc) comes from.  In July 1895 Theodore Solomons, the visionary of the JMT, named the first six peaks of the Evolution Range after the most prominent figures in the new field of evolutionary biology:  Darwin, Fiske, Haeckel, Huxley, Spencer, and Wallace, along with Evolution Lake.  

Stats for the day:  about 4 miles, 1380 feet up, 160 feet down.  Elevation at camp - about 10,900'.