ET's Info-Stew

13:50: It's lunch time at camp at Chewing gum lake. The hike started at 9:30 and we hit camp at 12:30. I'm a bit more tired than I would have expected, likely because of the elevation. This is the first chance I had to sit down since making camp.

There's no doubt there are lots of mosquitoes here, but the proper amount of bug repellent should do the trick. As it is now, the mosquitoes keep getting me through my shirt. Tim's idea of using the clothing bug repellent makes more sense now.

There are many patches of snow on the ground, and on the trail that cuased us to lose our way a few times. There is some snow in the camp, but I think I'm safe from run-off. This camp happens to be the same one we had last time. Unfortunately, there's just as many bugs.

I'm having second thoughts about my gravity feed water filter system. The hole punch on the corner of the big bag broke through, so I have to set the rig up on a rock. I forgot to bring two caps, so one bottle is open all the time. And when I pull water from the lake I get somewhat larger particles, which might clog the filter.

Eventually I'll get the energy to scout around. For now I just want to veg.

14:58: Nothing like an ice-cold bath to lift the spirits. It was so cold I wouldn't have thought I could make it past my ankles. I had my head under for only a few seconds, and then I started to get a headache. But I stayed in up to my shoulder for a good five minutes. So with a clean body and a fresh pair of socks, I feel great.

On the way in we went looking for the cache at Burst Rock. It was around a peculiar rock structure, but we couldn't find it after 25 minutes of searching. I even decoded the hint, which specifically stated which rock it was around. There were two places it likely would have been. Perhaps a ranger took it out? I may take a picture of my guessed location on the way out to verify with the cache owner. One thing is for sure, it was a very dissatisfying DNF.

19:02: I had a great time exploring around and tyring to find neat pictures to take. I had some interesting ideas, but who knows if they will turn out. The snow is great to camp with. It can be used to wash hands and other things, chill some water (for peach tea), and it can put out a fire.

So we threw up our food bag lines with a few mishaps. For dinner I had Mac and Cheese, which wasn't that good. We are going to have a nice fire tonight, especially thanks to Bill and me pulling down the stump of a dead tree for firewood.

Mosquitoes are flying around me in a clould. I have my fleece on, which seems to be keeping them away rather well. But they are still attacking my bear areas, that is, my hands and face.

22:19: The star-gazing tonight was unbelievable. I haven't seen a sky so clear with so many stars since that trip to McKerricker. There were moments when I seemed to grasp the three dimensional structure of the Milky Way, which was very visible. I look at the sky and picke out a small triangle of stars that seemed empty in between. Then I pointed the binoculars at the area and dozens of stars lit up inside. I almost wish I had brought along a star guide. With the binoculars I can see lots of starts, but the view is very unsteady. I would like to figure out a rig that would stabilize it. We saw a handful of satellites and only a half dozen or so shooting starts.

From every perspective I can think of, this is absolutely the best weekend of the year to be here. There's snow in patches, there's few people, and the moon is waning, bringing the spectacular night show.