DAY 5
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| From The Big Loop |
I was a lazy ass this morning. Got up slow, but found the two girls on the High Route. Turns out they are from Santa Cruz. They were psyched to have someone to tag along with for the trip over Alpine Col (this looked easier than The Keyhole). Shortly after I met them, Danieal, the guy I met at Evolution Lake yesterday came up. Turns out these were the girls he was looking for. Seems a bit crazy, but brought some great food that he is sharing readily. Gave me a hard boiled egg with breakfast.
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| From The Big Loop |
The talus is super rough on the north side of Alpine Col. But the view is beautiful on both sides, and I managed to take a few photos. The talus gnats were awful on the south side lake shore and about as bad on the north. They swarm whe the wind dies down. Weird noise they make all together.
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| From The Big Loop |
Well, Tori, Lacey and Daniel finally made it down to whre I was waiting round 3:30. I hung out for a little while longer before making my goodbyes. I had plans to over Puppet Pass before dark. I crossed Humphreys Basin pretty quickly even though it didn't seem that way. It was very different from the last time I was here with Amanda, no snow, very dry and lupine blooming.
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| From The Big Loop |
Mesa Lake was amazing. Green grass lawn, white boulders and an amazing view of the Glacier Divide.
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| From The Big Loop |
The up and over of Puppet Pass wasn't too bad and I managed to be on my way down to Lake Elba by 7. I found a bivy spot just south west of Lake Elba. I managed to botch re-fried bean night by adding too much water, but thanks to Daniel it was already a "2 hard boiled eggs and a chocolate chip cookie" day. Third hand word is that White Bear Pass is scary. I might find out first hand tomorrow.
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| From The Big Loop |
DAY 6
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| From The Big Loop |
Damn, what a cold night. Below 30 at one point, I was wearing all my clothes. Well, it led to an early start where I was passed for the first time (sort of). I ran into the Sierra Challenge crew by Merriam Lake.
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| From The Big Loop |
They were headed for Gemini out of the Pine Creek trail head. After that I came across several more groups, including a friend of Roper's and his granddaughter, and two guys from Alabama and Mississippi. I guess a weekend'll do that. Apparently today is Sunday. Despite stops to chat, I made it to White Bear Lake around 1:30 and took a swim, in addition to my usual lunch time activities.
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| From The Big Loop |
I am going to head to Jumble Lake instead of dropping to Brown Bear Lake. I think it will save time and be a bit more pleasant. I am a bit tired of long stretches of talus.
Well, it was much easier, but it left me with a nasty stretch of talus along Lake Italy that would have be avoided on the other side of the lake. Ah well, I think it was still faster. Certainly not scary this way. Gabbot was easy, just long... And the Mills Creek drainage has been okay. More talus than my body wanted, but nice breaks from it and not too steep in any section. I was beat though, and my right ankle and knee tendon were complaining until I stopped, here at Lower Mills Creek Lake. The Lake is outstandingly beautiful and there were tons of fish jumping at sunset.
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| From The Big Loop |
Would love to take Josh here for some fishing/backpacking. I have begun calling cadence to myself, in order to stay in motion going up hill. I am not sure if this is weird or sensible or maybe both. Also I have increased my pace of eating since I should reach red's Meadow in two days now, and because I don't think I am getting enough calories for the pace I am setting. It looks like I might finish the High route from Kings Canyon to Tuolumne in 9 or 10 days. That's pretty fast for so much cross country travel. Needless to say, I am almost certainly burning more than the 3000 calories per day I had planned on. 6 days is already my longest backpacking trip ever and I have maybe 20 more days left? Wow.
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