ET's Info-Stew

12:58 - Sleep last night was pretty good. As usual I woke up a dozen or more times to change positions. But I was comfortable enough that I wasn't kept awake by neck or back pain. I've come to learn that both Bill and Carl wake up several times per night but they don't tend to consider that waking up because they go right back to sleep. So at least I know I'm a typical backcountry sleeper.

When I did wake up Carl and Bill had already been up for some time, and I laid awake for an hour or so until the sun hit my tent. My tent may not have as level of a spot as the others, but I am lucky to be better sheltered from the morning sun.

I made the scrambled eggs with ham and peppers for breakfast. They are a far cry from the old scrambled eggs, and tasted quite good. I took my time getting ready for the day hike, which Bill and I left for at about 10 AM.

Climbing four ridges to get to what Bill calls Zoey Lake took a lot of energy out of me. I may be better acclimated to elevation but I'm still out of shape. When we got to the lake my first order of business was to take a swim. It was noticeably colder than Rockbound, but I actually preferred that temperature. It would make the flavored water that much better. After the swim the next thing was to find shade and eat some lunch. Cheez-its area great comfort food out here.

After some more lounging we'll eventually need to make out way back to camp. I've gone through about two-thirds of my water, so I asked Bill to take us back on a route that is mostly level and downhill. Even if the route is longer, I wouldn't need as much water or use as much energy

22:03 - The route we took back was similar to the route up, except we went around the side of mountains, no over them. We had to do very little climbing. On the way out we found the Lake Zoey sign and got pictures.

After the first ridge Bill pointed out a small lake about 1.5 miles toward Rockbound. Wouldn't you know it, that was the lake I planned our day hike for! Had we gone there we'd have only had to climb one ridge. Though I was tired, now that it's over I'm glad we went farther. We started back at about 13:50 and returned at 15:30, so we made much better time. It makes sense because there's a couple thousand feet of elevation gain on the hike up.

After a nice long swim back at Rockbound I had lunch and found some shade to relax and read. I think on future trips I want to take swimming goggle, which would make the swims even more enjoyable. Before dinner I went to watch the sunset and occupied myself with carving a love note in a piece of wood, which I'll take home to Jenny.

We at dinner late, so it was quite dark when we were done. We sat out at the lake, had some hot chocolate and saw a couple shooting stars. Tomorrow I plan to be lazy, but I'll see if I feel up for anything.