Circle the Cirque Crest

Whenever the nearly unrelenting bush and talus would allow it, I would be able to take a picture. Otherwise I was too busy to think of picture-taking. Her a short respite allowed a view down canyon of the waiting bush below. Here, for example we cut over to the left over rock to the river, where we waded across to the right side of the talus. After getting our boots back on, we tried to stay on the yellow areas of grass until we hit bush again and another decision to either get down to the river, push through the bush, or cross over the river yet again. Note how high the bush grows up on the walls.

And down we go...

Circle The Cirque Crest - By D.W.Donehoo (All rights reserved)

As soon as we got moving, we were in the middle of what we would face all day long: bush. Some trail guides call the Muro Blanco the classic bush-whack, but I call it a classic pain in the ass. At the upper end of the canyon the bush is primarily Aspen bush, well over our heads in most places, and very difficult to get through. I remember on several occasions forcing myself into a thicket and being immobilized. Only with great exhausting effort could I push on, and then only to be faced with more bush. If there was any place in the Sierra that needed a fire, this was it. Sometimes progress could be made by getting down by the river and bolder-hopping, but not only did that get tedious after a while, but inevitably the river would close in on the bank to block progress with deep water, forcing us into the arms of the waiting bush above. Always, it seemed we were on the wrong side of the river for swift progress, so when we were able, we crossed to the other side, which meant taking boots and wading shoes off or putting them back on uncountable times, which also became tedious.