Today, on July 3, 2023, I am going to start writing about a backpacking trip I took at this time last year. It was hot and as dry as could be. This year, my plans for hiking at a lower elevation than this one are thwarted by the abundant remains of the incredible snowfall of last Winter.

Last year, I was asked by my friend Katie to resupply her northbound John Muir Trail trip by bringing her food and gear to a meeting place at Thousand Island Lake, in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. I remember loving this area, when I hiked the JMT a decade ago. So why not visit a place you loved every ten years? I readily agreed to be her mule. When we got together to look at what she wanted me to bring, however, I was really daunted by the weight and volume. So I enlisted my strong young friend Emily to help me, and to spend a few days just hiking around before and after the drop. She was definitely up for it, and I got to spend a few days doing something I love with someone I love. So win-win!

A week before our scheduled meeting, though, I received a message from Katie that she had abandoned the JMT hike, and wouldn’t be needing her resupply. Though I felt sad for her for having to leave the trail, it was literally a huge weight off my shoulders. What follows is my log of that adventure.

Emily and I decided to keep our rendezvous with the wilderness, and left Berkeley at 9:00 AM on June 30, 2022. We drove over Sonora Pass and south on Highway 395, stopping in Lee Vining for lunch at Bodie Mike’s before we headed farther south to the Rush Creek trailhead, at Silver Lake. We were on the trail at 4:00 PM. It’s a hard climb up a hot, rocky and exposed trail. My hips are tired, but I’m glad to say that my new pack feels good. I had hemmed and hawed over this purchase for about a year, since my trusty Z Pack was starting to show a lot of wear and tear after ten years of hard use, and I was attracted by the promise of more cushy shoulder straps. Plus, the new white Hyperlight packs look so beautiful. Of course, staying pristine and white in the back country is a little too much to ask of a piece of equipment. I learned to quickly let go of the urge to clean off every scuff mark. One of the things I love about backpacking is that most equipment purchases are a one-time expense. Unless something catastrophic happens.

I don’t think I could have made the climb up to Gem Lake (only 5 miles), carrying the added weight of Katie’s resupply. Well, I suppose it would have been a much slower slog, in any case. Gem Lake, our first-night destination, is a reservoir in a steep canyon. The few flat campsites that had water accessibility were taken already, by early evening, and Emily and I worried that we might not find a campsite that had access to the lake. Finally, though, we did. We set up our tents, made dinner, and I collapsed into my tent at 9:00, ready for sleep. My phone shows that we hiked 5.8 miles, and I feel like it was more like 10. Out of shape! It is a beautiful night, threatening wind. At some point, I heard loud splashing in the lake below us, just out of eyesight. Something big is down there. It’s definitely more interested in splashing and swimming than it is in us. Good night.