ET's Info-Stew

12:44: I slept pretty well again last night. I woke at about 7:50, had breakfast, and we hit the trail at 9:59. We made it here at the Royce Lakes outlet after less than two hours. Unfortunately, the falls are weak cause not so much water is going down. Only near the end of the falls is water visible. There is horse crap everywhere, and large campsites nearby. So, we decided we would push the additional 3 miles and go to French Lake, staying there for 2 nights. At least up there we can get away from the horrible flies. Dad went up to get pictures of what is left of the falls. Had we been here a month earlier, the falls would have been spectacular. We'll be leaving as soon as Dad gets back. Today I put my food in the upper portion of my pack. It made everything off balance leaning to the left. I rearranged my stuff so it is back where it belongs, in the bottom portion. Right now I'm going to finish lunch because the trail ahead is going to be pretty tough.

16:20: Oh man was it tough. After I finished lunch, I headed up the trail a little ways without my stuff. There were people on the right side of the trail that had brought stuff up on horses. I looked to my left and I saw part of the big part of the waterfall. [From our earlier vantagepoint, we could not see the falls]. The waterfall was 500 feet all right, and extremely beautiful. I kept walking until I go to the actual creek. There I proceeded to go up river to try to get to the falls. I got about halfway up going through heavy brush and boulder hopping. I reached a point where I could go no further, but the waterfall was awesome. I headed back down, which was m ore difficult in the areas of rushing water. I finally got to the packs, just as Dad was getting ready to get a head start.

20:01: I set up camp in an area near the lake. Dad was concerned about the potential wind, but nothing could be done about it since there is no refuge. I took a few short naps because I was so out of energy. We ate a little after 18:00. I had Turkey Tetrizini, which was excellent. It tasted kind of like casserole. We can't have a fire tonight because there is no wood. There are no trees so I have to have my food in my vestibule. This high bears won't be a problem, but marmots will be. We got some good pictures today. We have 7 rolls of used film, but we still have 7 rolls of unused film. Guess we'll have to try harder. Now we're sitting in our kitchen spot, Dad writing in his log. Tomorrow is going to be hot, and shade will be difficult to find. We could hike to a Pine Lake tomorrow, but the flies and mosquitoes will be bad. Plus, there will probably be a lot of people and horses. If I can get out of the sun until 16:00 or 17:00, I'll be fine. Of course the time would be well spent with a book, which I may bring next time.