Day 93; Sat July 28 2007

(Dr Bug) It is 8:45pm and we are camped by a beautiful Paynes lake. It is surrounded on three sides by granite rock walls. Trout are slapping at the water surface. And if I could think of a way to get those day hikers camped on the other side of the lake to shut up, this would be heaven.

This was a day of climbing; I would estimate that 80% of the day was spent walking uphill, in the dustiest trail in memory. The good part was the views were spectacular. White granite with spare coverings of fur trees. Black volcanic mountains, red ultramafic mountains, and we climbed to many crests to get a look at them all. We walked out of the Trinity Wilderness and the Trinity Alps into the Russian Wilderness.

The Troll and his famous son Oblivious caught up with us at dinner time; Clair and Patrick joined later. We enjoyed their company; Troll always makes me laugh.

Water was not a problem today, there were plenty of springs and creeks, although they were not well documented in the guide book.
We hiked 25 miles today and have only 5 miles tomorrow into the town of Etna. This is exciting; I'm looking forward to this town stop.