July 17th
I did sleep pretty well. I knew I had some high passes to clear, but fotunately they occurred mostly in the morning.
I startled a small elk herd early on. They went crashing down a steep slope. I always marvel at their agility.
The footprints of the faster hikers were helpful. Above treeline the trail is sometimes difficult as there is little soil on which a tread can develop. Near the top of the tallest pass, there was some remaining snow to navigate (in my case, navigate means avoid).
The reward for the effort was some stunning views. Not just mountains but beautiful lakes, too. Looked like good fishing.
Later, I did, in fact, pass by some day hikers heading up to fish the alpine lakes. I like to see normal folks using trails for enjoyment.
I was doing pretty well on time. That is, until I came to a 1,000 climb. On both map sets, the trail up from Miner Creek was a set of tight squiggles indicating short,steep switchbacks. Probably a half mile in length. As a backpacker you look at a map like that and think: it will be a struggle, but over quickly.
The trail turned out to have long, sweeping switchbacks. It was as if Cecil B. Demille had been commissioned to design languid, epic switchbacks for a movie set. In short, there must’ve been a mile and half of never-ending-trail to get to the top.
Another section of maps also understated miles. So, by the time I was ready to camp, I was about two miles short of my goal. Such is life. I ended up stealth camping off trail and was able to see an almost-full moon move across the sky.
backpacking over the hill 