Monday July 19, 2021
Start: past Gladys Lake, 1mi shy of Trinity Lake outlet
End: Duck Lake outlet
Miles: 18.1
Gain/Loss: 3914’/3212′
We started out the day in good spirits, with blue skies and a wonderful night sleep. We arrived at Red’s Meadow at 9:45am. We resupplied, went through the hiker bucket, charged our phones, ate hot breakfast from the cafe, and showered. Clouds rolled in around 11am and a storm brought rain and thunder. We did hand washed laundry but ended up paying for the dryer since hanging clothes to dry wasn’t an option.
We headed out around 12:45pm, with some blue sky and sun visible. Over the afternoon, it rained more and we heard a LOT of intense thunder. We arrived at Deer Creek as the storms started to pass by and blue sky became visible again. We had intended to filter water from the creek and then push on a few more miles to dry camp by one of the seasonal springs.
However, Deer Creek was like chocolate milk, thick with dirt and sediment. It would kill our filters, so we decided to press on with the water we had and hike to the next water source, 5 miles away. Unfortunately, this was quite a bit further than was comfortable, and the trail had been stripped of the top layer of dirt by the intense storms, leaving the trail rocky and washed out. This slowed us down quite a bit.
It was a huge lift, but we did make it to the next water source just before full dark and snagged the last available spot there around, which was a bit too close to the water. This made for a colder and very damp night, leaving our sleeping bags and tent quite wet.
Additionally, as we were setting up for the night, we found that Toby’s other pair of socks had fallen out of his pack in the last 5 miles and were nowhere to seen. My head lamp batteries completely died as well. This made for a very challenging end to a long day.
Transcending Mountains 