Journal Entries

The last miles were beautiful, but a zombie march as we drained the last of our energy for the day. Camping on the slopes above Europe Lake. The mosquitoes are now reaching Maine-in-June levels. This means war.

A detour from Skurka's route, so that we could stop by my favorite place from last year's NOLS course. We had afternoon tea at Halls Lake, then continued on.

Looking back toward Sentry Peak Pass from halfway along the 2-mile long Middle Fork Lake. Looks ominous, but we only got hit with a little drizzle.

A quick ascent up Sentry Peak Pass, running from what seemed like thunderstorms. On the other side of the pass, views for miles. We descended the first 800 or so feet by glissading down the snowy slope.

The descent to Bonneville Basin was longer and harder than expected. The lake at the bottom was so mirror-like that at first I didn't even realize I was looking at it.

Lots of snow walking up to the pass, but it went remarkably quickly. This is the closest experience I've had to my 2010 PCT Sierra hiking.

An early start with off-trail navigation up to Raid Peak Pass. Clouds came and went all day, but we were lucky enough to avoid any real rain.

This Lake doesn't have a name, though it's one of the prettiest we've seen. Tower Peak, Hooker Peak, and Pyramid Peak above it.

After a day and a half of gnarly off-trail route finding, we have a nice afternoon of easy trail. A little spitting rain, but plenty of pretty lakes.

Finally made it to the top, and now for an equally steep descent. We can see most of the rest of today's route from here.