ET's Info-Stew

Once again my backpacking gear is all over the house. Maybe this year after the trip I'll actually keep everything together in one spot.

This year was Bill's turn to find our destination. He originally planned on the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho, but that won't work out this year. Maybe I can plan on going there next year. So this year we'll be going to Desolation Wilderness in the Sierra's. Bill is going to plan on a different trailhead than normal. I'm happy with the choice of destination. Desolation is always spectacular, and brings back a lot of good memories. Plus it is 6,000 to 7,000 feet, which means that I won't be penalized too much for getting lazy over the previous months.

13:54 - I had a relatively good night of sleep, with longer periods of deep sleep. We woke to a partly cloudy and breezy morning, so the mosquitoes weren't too bad. But we knew better than assume it would continue. We took our time packing and hit the trail at 10:30 am.

Except for the first little bit the trail is all downhill. Going through aspen groves, fields of wildflowers, and of course, clouds of mosquitoes, we made it to the trailhead in under two hours. We were on the road 45-minutes later.

14:00-ish - Sleep was uncomfortable and painful last night. I ended up getting out of the tent between 7 and 7:30. The mosquitoes were as bad as ever. I brok down camp relatively quickly and we hit the trail at 8:50. All but the last 1.5 miles were mostly downhill. But those 1.5 miles were killer.

I scuttled into camp on what felt like my last few bits of energy, and when I dropped my pack I had only one thought: I'm taking a swim no matter how cold. Yet I was pleasantly surprised to find that the water is actually swimmable.

11:20-ish - I think I got better sleep last night. I seemed to go longer stretches without waking up to move. And this morning I got to sleep in until 11, a luxury I'm sure not to get the rest of this trip.

After breakfast and chores I am free to do whatever I want. I had considered going up to the pond above Upper Cataract Lake, but looking at the terrain and the map, it would be a very steep 500 foot boulder climb. I think today is more of a "relax" day.

12:50-ish - Sleeping last night was the same as usual, waking up briefly every time I needed to change positions. The Advil PM didn't seem to improve my sleep. The morning routine was typical. My filter worked better by hanging it in some tree branches.

It took a little over an hour to get to Mirror Lake, which is where I sit now. We had to cross a fairly robust stream at the end, and so I donned my Vibrams. Only a few seconds in my feet were in pain and by the end my toes numb. After crossing I kept them on the last quarter mile to the rest spot.

12:30 - We're taking a break at Surprise Lake. Very serene here, though the mosquitoes are out in full force. Even with repellent on they are persistent and find a way.

Bill's flying in tomorrow afternoon, and today I picked up all but two of the remaining items on my supply list. I still need a fuel canister, and I'm waiting for my tent's footprint to arrive. Once packed, I should be carrying a bit less than 33 pounds including food, water, and the other expendables. This does not, however, include the items that I carry in pockets or otherwise unattached to my pack. Even so I consider this a reasonably light pack for a five-night trip. And I'm going to need every pound of savings in order to get myself up those hills.

Less than two weeks to go. I got lazy with diet and exercise, but the last 17 days I've been pretty good. Though I've not lost much weight, my fitness level seems to have gone way up, so hopefully that will make a difference on the trail. On Father's day we took the hike up to Surprise Lake. It was extremely tough, uphill the whole way with very steep parts. Jenny and I had to share kid-carrying duties, or we never would have made it. Since then I've been working out on my new used elliptical, plus taking long walks with my pack on.

After several months of lazy planning this year's trip is finally coming together. I wanted to bring Bill to Colorado for our first backpacking trip in this state. It's been three years since I last backpacked, and so much has changed. I've gained some weight compared to last trip, but generally my fitness level is much worse than just some weight gain. I have exercised little, and just recently I've been diagnosed with hypothyroidism.