Piute Creek Dispersed

There are a few ways to exit (or enter) the John Muir Trail and for our trip we chose to exit on the Piute Pass Trail (also known as Piute Canyon closer to the JMT). For us we had camped the night before near Muir Trail Ranch and had just a couple miles till we reached the very nice bridge crossing over Piute Creek. We enjoyed views of the creek and bridge but never crossed the bridge because the Piute Pass Trail began directly before it. This trail is amazing. It is not an easy trail but it has so much diverse beauty from the beginning as you rise above the Piute Canyon, to the middle where you have views of the Glacial Divide and then move into the awe inspiring Humphrey's Basin, to the end where the rock over the pass (11,423) turns an orangish red, unlike anything we'd seen the entire trip. Our campsite was after crossing several small streams that seemed to be zigzagging every which direction. We were in a forested area next to Piute Creek and enjoyed a refreshing dip in the ice cold waters. A nice pine floor was easily cleared of pine cones and plenty of rocks were around to hold down tents. The next day we would climb out of the forest and enter into the incredible Humphrey's Basin where plenty of trails spread out into areas such as the Desolation Wilderness and plenty more options for camping.