ET's Info-Stew

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.

Stopping for lunch in Silverthorne I have time to reflect. I am so very proud of the preparations I made getting fit for this trip. Had I lost more weight it would have been even better, and by next year, that will be the case. Neither my stove nor my water filter worked as expected. I'm going to need to reassess those. My new tent works superbly and this one has been rain tested.

I expanded my dinner dishes and found the Kung Pao to be delicious. I am extremely happy with my rain cost and my convertible pants, which kept me sane when surrounded by swarms of mosquitoes. I'm considering whether long johns and fleece pants are of any value, since I hike in the summer. I didn't need them on this trip, even on the coldest nights. Finally I need to reassess the bug spray situation. They drove us bonkers, and made us leave early. Yet despite them I can say this was an excellent trip in a gorgeous area. It was a true success. I think a backpacking trip of 3 to 4 nights is perfect. Longer does not appeal to me much.