Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

After more than two weeks of day-hike training and the shorter (but still rather stiff) Pine Creek backpack trip, we set off on the main event, a 4-night, many-lake loop near Mammoth, CA. Day 1 was a 9-mile + hike up to Thousand Island Lake, along the High Trail, one of two trails that count as the Pacific Crest Trail north of Agnew Meadows. Banner (right) and Ritter were the peaks that defined much of this trip, as we pivoted about them. It was a long day, but we made 1000 Island Lake with enough energy to find a nice, tucked-away campsite. It's a very popular area, so we weren't far from neighbors, but we had our privacy. Camp, with our almost-matching TarpTents. There was lots of smoke in the air, which at least made for interesting light. There was so much smoke that first night that we wondered if we should continue the trip, but as nothing could be done that night, we went to bed. It was much better in the morning. First light, and a setting moon. Banner Peak on the left...

Thanks to getting home fairly late on Wednesday and having a lot to do, I decided to make my Friday post a Saturday post this week. Then it slipped, so now it's a Sunday post. I like to keep my readers on their toes! I spent August in the Sierra with my brother- and sister-in-law. I've shared the training hikes we did; this was the first of two backpacks, a 3-night trip up Pine Creek to Granite Park, with a dayhike to Pine Creek Pass. I'll let the photos mostly tell the tale. A crack of dawn start let us climb up out of the smoke before it was hot, anyway. A couple of hours took us to the "real" mountain setting along Pine Creek. Upper Pine Lake Honeymoon Lake Camp #1 Honeymoon Lake Day 2 saw us completing the climb to Granite Park, a day with short mileage but more big climbing. Granite Park camp. Later I had to move from this spot, as it was too exposed to the winds that howled through with 30-40 mph gusts. A persistent neighbor The crack of dawn, smoke-colored ...