The first 36 hours



   We were barely one mile into Lake Italy Trail before Moose said, "Yeah, we aren't going to see anybody up here."  The trail was already getting spoty in sections as it climbed the granite slabs out of Bear Creek. Every few yards I had to gander around and make sure I was still on trail. Looking down at whatever sandy sections we happened to hike over I could make out one set of foot prints in the dirt and they looked a day or so old. I agreed.

  This is something that I keep circling back to in one form or another. Not seeing people in places much bigger than me. Whether it's in some sandstone canyon in the desert or sitting on my back porch drinking my morning coffee. Silence.

We will get back to the silence later. We still have to get there.

 The usual suspects met up just outside of Bishop late in the evening after the 6 hour trek across the barren desert that much of nothing with life grows. After stopping at some local 7-11 at 10 PM outside Bishop to score some last minute "Supplies". (I use the term "supplies" loosely, this involved me walking up and down every isle grabbing whatever nonsense I thought I would enjoy eating for the next few days, as my group watches me from the car outside.) They had a front row seat as I quickly grabbed Hostess donuts, chips, gummy snacks, and beer. I eventually began sticking items under my arm since my hands were getting full. I didn't fully think this through. Looking back now, I should have got a basket. Do gas station usually have baskets?? I'll look into it.

  A long climb up a small forest road led us to Pine Creek. I had creepily zoomed in on Google Earth prior to departure and could see a few possible camp spots along the river near the Trailhead. Only problem was my idea wasn't too original. Camper vans, Subaru's, and other forms of dirtbagery have already scored the good spots on a Wednesday night. Do people have jobs? Oh yeah, dirtbags... This left us attempting to sleep in the parking lot, searching for a flat sandy spot to lay a sleeping pad down proved difficult.

  Once semi comfortable in my sleeping bag I awoke to the brightest LED lights Amazon probably sells. At first I thought the scene from Fire in The Sky was about to take place, but I eventually learned the local Curmudgeon camping at the trailhead near us in an old 79' camper was woken up to see what all the commotion was all about. That should have come to mind first.

  Somewhere around 2 AM another vehicle rolled into the trailhead and parked right next to the penthouse sweet above the Bergerhoffs car. I could hear footsteps and smell cigarettes. Eventually I drifted off.

  I awoke to loud crash. A pine cone the size of a large pineapple landed in the bed of the truck next to me. That thing could easily snap a tent pole. Once up, I noticed several other large pine cones littering the ground around my tent that I failed to notice the night before. Mental note when looking for tent spots in the future...

  I never experienced the party scene in high school or college, so for me there is something interesting about waking up somewhere that you don't recognize. It's an interesting experience. Unfamiliar you could say. Along with a lesson in gravity, I was welcomed with new scenery this morning.

  The traditional last minute packing took up most of the morning as we decided if we really want to eat that, read this, wear that, etc. Pretty sure I heard a few Hops Risings being consumed. The Curmedgeon emerged with a poodle and mulled around the parking lot. The late night arriver eventually rolled out of the black almost rattle canned painted Ford with a weed wacker in hand, He took off towards the Pack station. So many questions were left unanswered as we left a vehicle there for our return shuttle and took off back into Bishop. Hoping our food would be in the bear box when we returned. I paid my tithing, beer was there 5 days later.

  I've been fortunate enough to do several trips out here and attempting to hike new areas every time and be able to bring the dogs along has been becoming a task in itself. This trip required a shuttle, but allowed us to cover some solid terrain and have new peaks and valleys around every corner. We don't hike shit twice. Yet. Once at the actual trailhead we all went through everything once again to shed the last few ounces from our packs. Looking back now I saw Cami carry her Thermarest camp chair the whole trip and never unfold it.

  I'm still not sure what the hell was going on but Ben must have gone back twice to the car within the first 100 yards. I also witnessed packs being dropped and toilet paper being pulled out before we got too far. Pretty sure I could still see the car the whole time. The dogs were stoked though. Squirrel, squirrel, squirrel, fucking squirrel everywhere.



  Once on trail everyone fell into a groove as we climbed up Piute. Coming from the desert and spending most of my time around murky, dirty, silty river water, seeing crystal clear water everywhere never gets old. With a gravity filter you can back flush every 4 liters and the backwater coming out is cleaner than anything you can scoop up from the desert.





  The rest of the morning went off without a hitch as we peaked out and arrived in the Humphrey Basin. Spending time in high alpine tundra is an experience while in the backcountry. A few years ago while approaching Kings Peak from the southern approach of Yellowstone Basin, we spent a solid day off trail hiking in this terrain. My kind of Disneyland minus BYU hats, strollers and crowd of people. Ok, I just took away everything that is Disneyland.

  You are surrounded with views as you are flirting with tree line. Lichen cling to exposed rock, grass and sedges grow everywhere and little flowers line the ground wherever enough soil exists. Pika and marmots call out with their high pitched "eek." This usually causes the dogs to take off into whatever cover they are calling from in an attempt to eat them. If you can get up high and ditch the trees, do so.

  After a few miles of basin-gasims we began descending into tree cover. The mosquitoes arrived on cue. Hopes of a fire to get them under control was ordered and we dropped below 10,000 ft for camp. Cami called for the marching to stop to give her legs a break before we pushed too much on our first day. We hit the mark and didn't get any extra credit. I'm fine with that.




  Camp was found and a mad dash for DEET and proper skin cover took place. We seeked shelter in our tents. I didn't bother having a camp kitchen and cooked right in my tent, avoiding any chance of getting attacked. Bring on the bears.... Moose wrote about bathrooms breaks while at this camp Here. After a long enough break, I was blessed with a fair amount of R&R and decided to rinse every ounce of stench, DEET, and sunscreen off of me and headed down to the river. Bathing, getting dressed, and getting back to the safety of the tent, all while running from mosquitoes is a feet in itself, and makes for good entertainment. Trying to put pants on with wet feet while standing on a small rock surrounded by a deep river isn't the most graceful things you can watch. Sitting here in Southern Utah in the middle of August I'm envious of how cold that water was. God that felt good to be in. Golden Trout lined the river and kept Beans and Rice occupied for quite sometime.

Good time, would do again.

Day Two later.







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