Day 74- July 2nd

So today was a very special day. Claire's birthday! It was fun to spoil my lady as much as I could, which unfortunately didn't mean very much. Breakfast in tent? Haha. At least we started the day right by sleeping in! :)

Leaving camp at 10am instead of the usual 7am was quite pleasant. We had such a fun but tiring day yesterday that today our legs let us know about it! Claire and I both had super tight quads and really sore shoulders and back. We just have to eat faster to lose some of that pack weight! 

As we headed away from our camping spot above the lake, we looked back and were rewarded with a nice view:

We descended waaaaay down through the pretty valley. Beautiful views of streams, rivers, cliffs, and waterfalls awaited us at every turn.

This is becoming routine for us now! Up a mountain through the snow in the morning, and then wayyyyy down into the beautiful lake-dotted valley. Then most way up the next mountain, usually following a pretty river. 

Yesterday we crushed TWO passes in one day. Today the down and back up stage between passes was about 22 miles. So today was just waaaaaay down, and waaaaaay back up.

In the middle of the down and up, we took a nice break at a PERFECT spot on a big boulder overlooking the river below. Eating M&M's in this place? Not too bad of a birthday if you ask Claire.

Back up through stunning meadows along a cascading river we went! There were different huge rock formations on both sides, making us feel like we were in Yosemite already! We saw a few deer including another baby and her mother.

We found a beautiful campsite right along the river pictured above, only 5.25 miles from the top of Muir Pass. Today we did 14.45 miles! Not bad for starting at 10am :)

-Thanks for reading!