Emigrant Wilderness

Jim, the intrepid hiker, was ready to hike.  He has done it all his life, including the John Muir Trail.  Here he is hiking in Florida last March with our friend Marge. The first day they hiked 10 miles. The second day they hiked 18 miles!  They said there was no place to camp so they had to keep going!  Florida is flat.

Nowadays, there is so much high tech gear you can acquire.  For his birthday Jim got a new, lighter backpack.  He already had a bear canister from last year's trek.  And he had a blow up pad that folded into a minuscule pouch.  The man was definitely good to go.  Jim loves to hike in the Emigrant Wilderness.

Wait!  Wait!  Maybe I could go, too?  I am not a hiker, but I decided I would do this.  From the start I was going to hike in one day, stay the night, then return to the trail head the next day.  And that is very much what I did.  Jim continued on for another two days.

                            Near the trail head at Crabtree Camp:

                           I made it!  It was mostly up, but I DID IT!

The Sierra Nevada Mountains of California have gorgeous lakes and amazing scenery.  There is nothing flat about this area except the surface of the lakes.

We camped at Bear Lake which is about five miles in.  It was a cool night full of stars in the sky.  Our permit allowed us to have a fire in an already established fire ring as we were so high in the mountains.  There were no bears.

Maybe next year I will walk further and stay longer with Jim in the Emigrant Wilderness.  I could invest in some gear upgrades, too, especially that amazing pad.