Echo Lake

We were moving pretty slow this morning. Went to IHOP for a big breakfast, went back to the motel to organize. It was about a 30 minute drive to Echo Lake where we were going to rejoin the trail. Such a weird feeling ! Weird that Movin On drove us there and then was splitting off, and weird that we were starting hiking at a spot we hadn't gotten off at. 

Movin On walked down by the lake with us. We all got a little teary. When you spend 24/7 with people and you are going through some of the challenges we've encountered, you get pretty close.

Finally, about 12:30, we started hiking. Trail was beautiful at first and skirted the lake. 

And it was green and lush. Then it got a little Pennsylvania-ish... Meaning a few miles of rocks...

And then it got snowy. We weren't expecting it because we were only at about 8000 feet. For several miles. It was warm and woodsy, so it wasn't hard, but it was surprising. We didn't think we'd be seeing this much snow here. We walked by several lakes and talked about how awesome this would be in the summer to stop and swim. The weather was warm, but the water was not.

The trail was pretty non-existent, but between footprints and gps, we were able to find our way.

This area is called Desolation Wilderness which made perfect sense. 

The water in the lakes Is really high, but stream crossing have been fine so far. As we were getting close to where we planned on camping for the night, there was a slippery snow bank right by Susie lake. We'd worn out microspikes earlier but had taken them off because we were walking on lots of rocks. This would have been a good spot for them, but at this point, there was no place to stop and put them back on. I got past the snow bank without too much sliding.....but Murphy....

Have I mentioned that her trail name is Murphy because of Murphy's law? So...you can probably see what's coming here. She slipped and 'glissaded' (involuntarily) down about 15 feet, right in to Susie lake. I saw her start down and was trying to figure out where to toss my pack if I had to go in after her. Fortunately, it was shallow (chest deep) and she was able to walk to a spot where she could easily climb out. Thank goodness we were just at our camp spot!! We threw up her tent, and she climbed in. Most of our gear is stored in dry sacks inside of our packs. Her sleeping bag and spare clothe were dry, so all good. Had a few laughs about it after the fact! If you look closely at this pic, you can see the slide marks in the snow down to Lake Susie.

Aaand we passed 

Tomorrow, we have Dicks Pass, and although it's only at about 9000 feet, we know there is snow. I have to admit, I won't be sad when we get out of the snow!!