Muriel Lake: A "Normal" Backpacking Trip

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astrogerly
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Muriel Lake: A "Normal" Backpacking Trip

Post by astrogerly »

I've never been one to post much, but I browse the forum quite frequently. I promised on twitter that I'd post a little report, so here we go...

The past year has been a little crazy ever since Dave proposed at Evolution Lake. Not really crazy due to wedding planning, but with non-stop project insanity at work and our normal spending every single weekend in the Sierra stuff - hiking, backpacking, skiing, etc (no complaints). Well, due to our love of the Sierra, we knew the only appropriate place to get married was in the Sierra. We were thinking Evolution or Sapphire Lake, but we knew that we wanted a few friends to be able to backpack/day hike to the wedding. After some (aka very little) debate, we decided Muriel Lake was the perfect spot. Very day hike-able and an easy backpack.

Somehow stars aligned and we had perfect weather, no smoke, and an awesome Perseid light show on the wedding backpacking trip (Aug 11-13, wedding on the 12th at the outlet of the lake). I did manage to split my toe open the day before the trip, but a little super glue fixed that! We had 8 friends backpack in with us, including Dave's brother and sister-in-law from VA who have never backpacked before (her version of camping is Motel 6). They were troopers and as hard as it was for her, they vowed to be there for the wedding and ended up falling in love with the Sierra (though I don't think she wants to backpack again... he's a fire fighter and loved it). In addition to the folks backpacking in, we had about 8 friends day hike in. My mind was blown with not only how many showed up and put the effort in (including one guy wearing a tie, and three gals in dresses), but I still couldn't believe how perfect the day was. Magical is probably the best way to put it. I'll let most of the photos do the talking...

Nothing fancy to report on the hiking or conditions, just wanted to give a quick report. More photos are here: Tave Wedding
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rlown
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Re: Muriel Lake: A "Normal" Backpacking Trip

Post by rlown »

nice post! simple and sweet. Best Wishes..
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Re: Muriel Lake: A "Normal" Backpacking Trip

Post by austex »

Nice post. May your marriage be as strong as the Sierra itself. :nod:

Not to take away from your special day, but maybe add to it. Via a Mt Whitney board I found out there is a couple on their way to get married on the summit of Whitney today. Here's a Spot record to follow of the officiant coming in from the East and the Canadian couple is coming from the West side and plan to hike the JMT as their "honeymoon":
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/face ... ZbKq1ta5&a
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Re: Muriel Lake: A "Normal" Backpacking Trip

Post by astrogerly »

rlown and austex - thank you! :)

austex - that would definitely make for a great wedding/honeymoon combo! We were considering a backpacking trip for the honeymoon (more time in Evolution... our favorite area in the Sierra and on the JMT), but decided to spend almost two weeks in the Canadian Rockies exploring. We thought it would be good to explore some new terrain :)
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Re: Muriel Lake: A "Normal" Backpacking Trip

Post by ERIC »

Really, really cool. Congrats again and thank you for coming by and taking the time to share. :)
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astrogerly
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Re: Muriel Lake: A "Normal" Backpacking Trip

Post by astrogerly »

Thanks Eric! Also, anytime! :) Glad I remembered to post it when we got back!
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Re: Muriel Lake: A "Normal" Backpacking Trip

Post by maverick »

Congratulations and a great location! My friends got married on top of Half Dome 20 years ago, they said it was pretty wild, some inexperienced folks would not climb the last section with the cables to the top, even the reverend had to be persuaded for 30 mins to climb that section, which he finally did.
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Re: Muriel Lake: A "Normal" Backpacking Trip

Post by astrogerly »

Thanks Mav! Wow - that's a great location too! Glad the reverend made it to the location!
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Re: Muriel Lake: A "Normal" Backpacking Trip

Post by giantbrookie »

Sweet post and best wishes! Your post just happened to be on the 28th anniversary for me and my wife. We had a "conventional" low altitude wedding, but we could certainly see the magic of a high Sierra wedding.
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Re: Muriel Lake: A "Normal" Backpacking Trip

Post by cmon4day »

Perfect!!!
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