Day 17

Evolution Creek to Evolution Lake

I slept far better than I did the night before and when I opened my eyes, I was instantly grateful.

Today was Evolution Creek. The big three hazards that southbound JMT’ers worry about is Bear Creek, Evolution and Muir Pass. Basically if you do these three, then the likelihood you will finish the trail is high. So 1 down, one more today and then only Muir Pass to go.

We woke up and packed up and were out of camp before it was 8.

It’s a bit odd to be hiking with someone, but I’ve really enjoyed having some company.

Marilyn hikes a lot faster than I do, so I still get a lot of time to think. Which I really appreciate.

We got to Evolution Creek and crossed it with no issues. Two down and one to go.

While I was hiking I was thinking about how grateful I am about my life. It feels weird to say that because this time four years ago I would have felt my life was a train wreck.

I used to feel so behind.

Not married.

No children.

No house to host dinner parties at.

Basically most of the societal expectations of being an adult.

But as I was hiking, the thought came. Maybe God wanted to redo all of the plumbing in my heart rather than let myself keep running on the same operating system I had been running before.

Not being married has made me really start to appreciate all relationships in my life, not just the romantic ones.

No children has made me look for ways to care for others. It’s also opened me up a lot to adoption. I’d love to be able to share God’s heart for adoption with a child.

No house has freed me up to make bold choices in my life.

There is a lot to be thankful for.

I also think a lot about the person I would have been if I had gotten married before I had to learn how to be thankful in the midst of feeling left out. Although I still want to be married and have a family… I feel better ordered about it.

If or when it happens it will be in God’s timing and for His glory.

I want a marriage that reflects the values of the kingdom, rather than what society expects. I want to wake up with a man that loves Jesus and the Father as much as I do and we can marvel at the wonderful things that they are doing in, with and around us. I’m willing to wait for that now.

Marilyn asked me what I was thinking about and I shared a bit. I told her my only fear that creeps up periodically is that i need to figure out what I’m going to do when I’m older. Because I move around so much and I don’t really have roots anywhere, it could be a struggle to find someone to care for me if I don’t have kids or get married. We talked through some of her experiences with her mother in law and her friends. It was nice to talk to someone who didn’t dismiss my fears or tell me, “you are young, it could still happen.” She just listened and responded, acknowledging that it was a real fear.

As we were hiking, I saw a side detour that I wanted to explore. Marilyn was game and we stepped off the trail to look. We came through the trees and into a clearing with one of the most stunning views of Evolution Valley. We even got to spy on a little fawn that was laying the grass.

We broke for lunch, took a break and decided to hike to Evolution Lake. Originally Marilyn wanted to make it to Sapphire Lake to set herself up for Muir, not sure if she wasn’t feeling well or wanting to stick with me, but she agreed to camp with me at Evolution.

When we entered the lake, there was another big group that was camping in the middle of the lake. Apparently my appearance caused a stir, because a few of the members snatched up trekking poles to follow me. Marilyn overheard them say they were afraid I would find the camp site they were going to move to. Much to their relief, they saw me scramble upwards rather than go to the edge of the lake (which FYI was an illegal camp site because it was too close to the water).

I instead found two secluded private campsites with a view of the entire valley. I invited Marilyn up and we set up camp. She seemed tired and needing rest so I left her and went to explore the rocks. I was curious how many more camp sites existed up here. After an hour, I found 5 additional ones.

When I got back to where we were camped Marilyn felt better. She said she just needed to zone out, get some food and go to sleep.

I agreed that sounded good. We started to prepare our meals as the sun was going down. Beautiful alpenglow played out on the mountains behind the lake and we watched it quietly taking photos once in a while.

While I was waiting for my water to boil, I decided to try and repack my bear can. Marilyn was watching with amusement as I tried all different angles to get the lid closed. Eventually, with a lot of upper body strength and blind faith it would happen… I did. The only sacrifice was I would have to sleep with my trash.

My plan for that was to triple bag it and then put it under my sleeping pad. A bear would have to be bold enough to wake me up to get to it.

On that plan, I bid Marilyn good night and went to sleep-ish (I woke up at almost any sound thinking it was a bear). But generally slept fairly well.