Well, acclimation camp was great for getting some fresh food, but not as restful as it might have been, thanks to a group of post-adolescent males in an adjacent camp. They were engaged in various loud rude conversations and I had noticed. Then when the girls were tucked in and were chatting, the "young men" (that refers to their actual species. In behavior and general intelligence I would be closer to the mark calling them baboons) noticed, and at one point one of them called out "Oh Ladies…." I dusted off my baritone and put just a little projection behind it and said "Don’t even think it." Well I guess it worked because it was deathly quiet for about 30 seconds, and then after the obligatory face-saving response or two they went back to their own rude conversation. I stayed awake till after the apes had gone to sleep, or at least stopped talking, around midnight. Next morning one of the girls mentioned they were glad to hear from me. Now we are half way through the first day’s hike. This is still the "getting there" phase of the hike. Tomorrow will be another dues-paying day, with a reward at the end, at either Fleming or Rae Lake. The girls are hiking well, although you can see that they are tired. For first day at elevation they are doing great, nearly 2 miles per hour with moderate climbing. If this continues and they stay healthy we’ll have a great hike. Of course balanced against that is that Suzanne has a heel blister that goes about 3 skin layers deep, and Karen and Jennifer have both taken ibuprofen to ease the pain in their upper thighs—whether muscle or tendon related is not clear. Spirits are high despite that, and Harmony and Karen are standing on a rock doing body builder poses alternating with a Can-Can. No way could I get this kind of entertainment hiking alone.

Well this day in most ways was an amazing success. The scouts hiked strongly, and there are a couple of heel blisters, but the greatest concern about our planned route this year was Post Corral Creek. We had heard a lot of worrisome tales from forest service and others about this crossing. In the end today when we came to the creek it was quite tame and an easy ford, knee deep at most where we crossed. The ford is in a beautiful meadow sprinkled with wildflowers and the scouts seemed to automatically know how to just enjoy dangling their feet in the stream and soaking up the sunshine. Heber and I of course had to go off and pester the little golden trout we had been seeing in the stream. The camp seems to have its own semi-tame deer, which has been walking around grazing in the grass around camp. In fact it is here now, not 50 feet away and making just enough noise walking through camp that it may be hard to sleep. I am about to find out in any case.

Suzanne just reached under her sweatshirt with a razor to shave under her arms, much to the dismay and amazement of the other troop members. This woman would have fit right in in Sparta.

This was a long day. I’m glad we started at Post Corral rather than Long Meadow. We were here at Rae Lake before 4, which gave us a couple of hours for relaxation before dinner. Tonight we had trout for dessert. There were only 3, and Laura managed to launch the scouts into teasing Heber because he caught just one small rainbow and I got a couple of reasonable brook trout. Now we are down to dishes and quiet conversation before lights out. Dinner went over well, I think because of the rest time. We took our time with dinner and now are paying the price in dark/fireside dish duty. Suzanne asked to look at the constellations and Sharmini and Jennifer joined us. The moon is very bright unfortunately, and will be full in a few days. Still there are plenty of stars I don’t know. The scouts seem in really good spirits after today’s hike and they should be proud of themselves. There was a forest service volunteer trail crew playing leapfrog on the trail with us today. They would ride their horses to the next downed tree and we would catch up to them while they cleared it. I stopped to thank one of the volunteers and he took a minute to describe the situation, with one lady ranger working with volunteers just trying to keep the trails open, but because she is stretched so thin there is no time to do maintenance of the type which prevents erosion or destruction of the meadows by deep tracks. It was clear the best way to thank him would be to write to the forest service and congress to ask for more help for her and for those like her struggling to preserve this country.Rae Lake is a fairly large lake just close enough to the Le Conte divide to provide an unobstructed view, and just far enough back for the view to be spectacular. From here we can see the cliffs above Devil’s Punchbowl Lake, and the pass we hope to take on on Wednesday. There is some snow in the pass but we met a couple today who had hiked it in the opposite direction, from Bench Valley to Devil’s Punchbowl Lake, and who said the pass was not a major problem. This was one of those extremely fit middle aged couples it is so nice to meet on trail. They used to live near here but have moved to Western Massachusetts and were just returning to familiar mountains.

We’re up late and taking our time, looking at a 4 mile day with moderate climbing. 9:15 and breakfast dishes are just getting started. Probably it will be 11 by the time we hit the trail. I was up early and climbed the ridge to see the Le Conte Divide and the view of the lake from above. I also fished for a while with absolutely no success. They are surface feeding, but whatever they are taking looks nothing like our flies. Jennifer has two small second-degree burns on her leg from a fire ember last night. Painful, but not too serious if we keep a close eye on it.Devil’s Punchbowl Lake

Today’s hike would not have been so hard had it not followed yesterday’s 1750-foot climb. Today we climbed 500 feet for a net of 200, to arrive at Devil’s Punchbowl Lake. Large connecting bits of the trail seem totally unfamiliar except for some spots, like the meadow halfway from Rae Lake to the Punchbowl, which has splendid views of the Le Conte Divide, Red Mountain, Hell For Sure Pass, Mount Hutton, and the cliffs behind Devil’s Punchbowl and the Shot Lakes-- that meadow and the view from it have been in my memory for 7 years and came back today as clearly as if I had been there yesterday. We’ve camped in the same site I shared with Sam Spring, Sunny Whitehurst, and Paula Flaugher when I was last here. The fire ring of the camp the rest of our group occupied at that time really was too close to the water. The camp we are in now is about 50 yards from the water, a comfortable distance. The scouts did well today, and arrived in good spirits. The ford before the ascent into this basin required aqua socks, and the break seemed well timed just before our last climb of the day. I confess I didn’t do many chores when we got here. I just went down to the lake and started catching dinner. Heber and I both brought 5 nice fish back to camp, and they were well received. Most of the scouts are actually eating some of the fish this year, where in some years just a few would even taste them. We didn’t try to rush any agenda when we got to camp, so it’s now nearly 11 P.M. and the bear bags just went up about a half an hour ago, allowing everyone to tuck in for the night. Tomorrow’s layover is well timed. The scouts need a rest day, and the leaders can take their time scouting the cross-country route and making a final decision.

I just remembered that this morning, when I hiked the ridge above Rae Lake for a look at the view, along the way I saw a mountain bluebird. The big scenery is awe inspiring, but it’s no more important and no more lovely than some of the smaller wonders.

Layover day. Still I awoke early, fished a little, had some coffee, caught a nice limit of fish (5 is the limit) plus a small one, all of which I returned to the lake, then went off away from camp and did a piecewise sponge bath, with the morning sun on my back, and the lake below me, and across the valley the 3 Sisters of Dinkey Lakes Wilderness on the horizon. Laundry, breakfast, more fishing, lunch, and soon Heber and I will go and have a look at the pass that is our planned route. Of course we will have to fish the Shot Lakes along the way. The troop is having a quieter day, just soaking in the sun and taking turns with the buckets to do their clothes washing and to wash their hair.Back in camp after scouting the pass, and after a bit of fishing, and after dinner. The pass has some snow near the top, but what we could see with the binoculars matches what we were told by the couple from Massachusetts, that the snow is easy to walk and not steep. The ledge where we used rope the last time has a conveniently placed snow bank leading up to it, so it is not too bad and won’t require rope this year. In all, the route seems doable, so tomorrow we will make the attempt. Heber and I fished the Shot Lakes briefly, but they were yielding much smaller fish than we had been getting at Devil’s Punchbowl, so of course when we returned the fishing had slacked off. Heber got 3 and I got 1 for dinner. Dinner was early, and that was an improvement as we had time for chores like dishes and bear bagging while there was still some light. The lake was beautiful and still tonight at Sunset, and the alpine glow on the cliff was warm with pink and orange. This lake and its companions still offer the very best of the Sierra high country.

About an hour after I blew out the candle lantern last night, a deer came into camp and to the campfire just 15 feet from my sleeping bag. It was there for the coals of the fire, but it also ate the aluminum, which was left over from burning foil food pouches. I don’t much mind the closeness of the deer, although not all animals were created equal in that regard. The bigger problem is what will happen to the foil as the deer roams the woods. This is new behavior to me, and I know the easy solution is to stop burning the foil-lined pouches. That is less of an issue this year since we have been making dinner in a pot. Clean up is much easier and you don’t have the mess in the foil pouch to deal with. Since I’m not really big on large campfires in the high country, this solution works fine for me. Even though we will still have fires for warmth and companionship, they can be smaller if we don’t have to keep them stoked to consume our wet dinner trash.It’s daylight, and we have a big climb to start our day. Time to get up and start making noise….

We made it. This group of scouts is unusually responsive to a wake-up call. At 6:30 I asked them to get up and they just did. Packed up camp and did foot duty (applying ever more creative padding to feet which are blistered or known t be susceptible), and on the trail at 9:00. All but the last quarter mile of the six and one quarter mile day would be cross-country. Until you’ve done it, it would be difficult to appreciate the challenge of cross-country hiking. Without trails there is no guarantee that the path you choose will be possible. Of course we study the guides to make sure the big picture is doable, but with a paragraph at best to describe a six-mile route they can hardly tell you about every ten foot ledge that will block your way and force you to back track or give up elevation that you will have to climb again. Then there is the footing. On well-maintained trails footing is solid and most of the time the angle of ascent is moderate. In cross-country hiking, level ground is a brief rarity to be savored, and every mile of walking has thousands of little obstacles, steep cobbles, branches at eye level or to snag your feet, rocks that shift under your weight, stretches of sloped granite slabs that challenge your knees and ankles on every stride…. Our hike today started with easy cross-country, ascending gradually and passing Little Shot and Big Shot Lakes. Then there is a 300 foot ascent up fairly steep granite slabs to a shelf, which overlooks the three lakes: Big Shot, Little Shot, and Devil’s Punchbowl (Below Devil’s punchbowl is Jigger Lake. Some early explorer must have had a party in mind, or a hangover) The view from this shelf is one of the Sierra’s best, the deep blue of the cascade of lakes in the foreground, the surrounding cliffs rising 1000 feet from the floor of the shelf. A little more gentle climbing brought us to the base of our main challenge, 500 vertical feet of steep granite bowl, and at the very top where our pass is, heavy snow. This is where the going gets slow. We took nearly two hours picking our way around snow and wicked talus up to a traverse which would bring us to the base of the pass. Then we spent another 45 minutes crossing the100 yards of snow at the top. We crossed the snow in three stages. I took the first stage, kicking steps and taking the safety line up, then the scouts followed in my foot steps (it’s important that I remember not to take my usual long strides) with Heber and I on either end of the safety line. Then I belayed Heber up. Heber took the lead on the next leg, and I took the last one to the top of the pass. Then, yet another moment of truth. It was time for lunch, so Heber and I took ours and hiked without packs to inspect the descent into Crabtree Lake on the far side of the two passes. Fortunately, it was clear of snow, or nearly so. Only then were we certain we would not have tot turn back and retrace our steps for another night at Devil’s Punchbowl. The descent proved relatively easy, even marked by ducks most of the way. The valley it brings you into is broken by several long steep fingers of granite that make crossing it strenuous. It is better to skirt around these on a slightly higher contour. After a brief descent on the outflow of this valley there was a traverse to Crabtree Lake, then a short climb to Buck Lakes, but with everyone exhausted even that had its challenging moments, and then a steep descent to Roman 4 (from above the shape resembles IV) and Horse Head Lakes. On the last descent we started down the drainage from Buck Lakes and then crossed to the East of the stream. Surely there is a better route than this, but we will have to wait till another time to try to find it. By the time we reached Horse Head Lake it was 5:30 and the scouts voted to stay here rather than push on to Guest Lake. The scouts were quite tired but they ate well, which is sometimes not the case after a particularly hard day. They all seem in good health and spirits despite the fatigue, and proud of themselves for their accomplishment. They should be. They’ve earned the right to be proud, and they have my respect as fellow hikers.

Horse Head Lake was named for its shape, which really is striking when you look at a map or look down on it from above. It is at 10,400 feet in the Bench Valley, which is bounded by the ridge descending South from Mount Hutton (the ridge we crossed yesterday) and the Le Conte Divide, which separates the waters of the San Joaquin and Kings Rivers. The Le Conte Divide dominates the scenery here, alternating steep pyramid-shaped peaks and ragged serrated ridges all of which rise nearly vertically from the valley. To the South the steep face of Black Cap Mountain rises 1200 feet from the valley in an uninterrupted vertical wall of granite to the darker rock on its peak which gives it its name. The lake is fairly shallow but still holds some small fish. The sun is coming up, and it’s an hour till we have to get camp stirring for breakfast, so I think it would be a good time to go scare some trout.

Well we guessed wrong about the time it would take to make both the down and the up of today’s 8 miles, but it came out right in the end. The downhill was about 6 miles with an elevation loss of 2000 feet. That was hard on the legs, and in my case especially the knees, and took much longer than I expected. The up hill, a mile and a half with a gain of 1000 feet, took just an hour and 20 minutes. In between, the Kings River ford went well, just knee deep on me, mid-thigh for the scouts. The trail down has several brutal rocky stages, and was difficult to find in some places. The trail up starts up stream of the cabins at the base of Big Maxson Meadow. The sign for the trail is right at the cabin, but the actual trail is about 100 yards up stream. Of course it is different every year, but today the best ford was a shallow riffle over small rocks just downstream from the cabin.The scouts were incredibly strong today. I was tired and irritable after the downhill, and was concerned that the scouts would be at a low point just as we needed to climb. I was very wrong. They just set a pace and held it all the way up the long switchbacks. Far from being exhausted when we finally came up on the plateau that contains the lake, they noticed that up ahead the trees stopped and then there was nothing for several hundred yards, and then sheer granite, and knew that meant the lake would be there, so they went bouncing along the trail on tip toes trying to catch sight of the water. Once we were in camp, Heber suggested that we all divide up chores and get them out of the way quickly so we could get an early start on dinner. In no time at all there were 2 scouts building shelter, 2 and a leader setting up bear bags, and other leaders fetching water, gathering wood for a fire, and starting the cooking. This sort of cooperation, even in enlightened self-interest, is great to see. After dinner Heber and I went out to get dessert. We fished the lake for a while and caught several fish that we released, but it was at the outlet stream of the lake that we saw larger fish feeding among the rocks and logs. Just by dangling a lure of fly in the water at arm’s length we brought in 4 fish for after dinner. One of the fish jumped completely out of the water to take the fly as I was lowering it. Now it is late, and we want to get an early start in the morning so we have time to enjoy Woodchuck Lake, our next destination.

5:45 A.M. My time for a half-hour. Time to walk to the lake with a bucket, dip out some fresh cold water, carry it away from the lake, and wash my feet, and put on clean socks. Now that is luxury.

Well we got on the trail a little after 9, and we were in camp a little after noon. We weren’t trying to set any records, but everyone was hiking strong and it only took an hour to get up to Crown Pass from Half Moon Lake. We even took a short break for pictures at Crown Pass and a longer break at the crest above it. Today we had much better luck staying together and following ducks than we did last year. We didn’t get side-tracked onto the unmapped Crown Lake trail, partly because we came down to it in a different way, never getting to the famous spray-painted rock we saw last year. It’s amazing how many different paths are ducked along some routes. You could follow ducks in circles for hours around Crown Pass if you didn’t know what basic direction you needed to go.

It’s the last night of the outing and I’m glad that the scouts seem genuinely sorry that the trip is almost over. That is mixed of course with their strong desire to return to their comforts of warm showers and non-dehydrated meals. They have agreed that if they could, they would get their shower tomorrow and have a warm meal and sleep in a real bed, and then come back to the Sierra the next day. Except for sleeping in a bed, that is exactly what I plan to do. First, though, tomorrow will be a long, hard, downhill day. It is 3000 feet of descent in just under 10 miles. This will be the third time I’ve done it in a year, and it is a pretty hike, but ‘d rather be climbing it. I’m sure my knees agree. Now, though, it’s time for lights out, signaled by the high pitched chirps of a bat hunting insects. His turn to be the dominant active predator in these mountains and woods.

Every place has its special pleasures. As I was drifting back to sleep this morning at 3 A.M., a coyote called his song to the moon, and the granite canyons carried his voice echoing deep into the night. The dawn’s clear air gives a fine view of a series of sharp peaks at 330 degrees heading from Woodchuck Lake, maybe 30 miles distant. What are their names?

This lake did not yield a single fish to Heber’s efforts or mine. It has become a puzzle for us, and although we caught fish last year here, they were not easy to tempt then either. It’s a mystery we’d like to solve, and that is just one more reason among thousands that we will be drawn back to the high country.Wishon Reservoir

Total elevation gain on my altimeter: 9420

We are waiting out the showers after Jack and Patricia Taylor were nice enough to help us with the car shuttle. As an added bonus they brought fresh fruit, which was a wonderful treat. Even better, they brought Carrie!Mono County Lower Lee Vining Camp:

Well this turned out to be as long a day as expected. The scouts wanted to be awakened at 6, and we obliged, but camp wasn’t broken and we were not on trail till 8:30. Neither Heber nor I like the trail from Woodchuck Lake to Moore Boys Camp, so Heber came up with the inspired idea to go cross-country down to Marsh and Chimney Lakes and pick up the other trail there. This worked extremely well. Sharmini led the cross-country with a self-assurance that its rare among the older scouts, let alone a first year troop member. The slope down from Woodchuck has some shallow benches that make good traverses, and Sharmini picked those up well. I was almost disappointed when we picked up the trail at Marsh Lake. The cross-country route was much less jarring than the rocky, root-tangled precipitous trail we have taken on our previous descents from Woodchuck. It is a side benefit of Heber’s and my fishing trip last year that we knew the route was workable. The rest of the hike was the same 3000-foot descending slog we remembered, but we were rewarded along the way as always by many little things, notably that spring was in full bloom on Woodchuck Meadow.After meeting the Taylors who helped with our shuttle of vehicles between trailheads, there was the traditional ritual of showers at Wishon Village and pizza in Prather. At that point I split from the group to cover I knew not how much of the distance to my trailhead on June Lake Loop. Bass Lake was just a little to populous for my mood (OK it looked like an incredible mob scene to me, after two weeks in near isolation) and I paid the price for avoiding that crowd by having to drive all the way through Yosemite and over Tioga Pass before finding an open camp. Now it is 1 A.M. (good thing I had coffee in Prather) and I’m finally settled in to sleep. I’ll sleep well knowing that the miler went extremely well, that we had a great group, and that everyone enjoyed their wilderness experience.On the way down today we encountered the same forest service volunteer we met on the second day of the hike going in. We had told him of our planned route, and when he saw us today he smiled broadly and greeted us with a happy "You made it!" Then he followed that with "You’re the heartiest group of hikers I’ve seen in a long time." I hope the scouts especially can appreciate how much that means coming from him.

I can’t see him, but somewhere nearby a bat is hunting, his high pitched chirps letting me know he’s on his watch.