6/22/2005, Wednesday - Originally this was supposed to be a rest/day hike day. But we decided last night to hike onto Lake Vernon to leave us the option of hiking Half Dome (from the Valley) on our last day. (As it turned out, Grace and Jennifer would decide later tonight to nip the Half Dome idea in the bud before Devan, Lilla, and I become too committed to it!)
It was a very leisurely morning since we had only a short 4+ mile to hike to Lake Vernon. We woke up at around 9 A.M. and did not get out of camp until after 11 A.M.! Lilla even had time to find and catch a salamander near the stream before we crossed the Beaver logs to leave camp for good.
The low point of the day occurred early in the day when we recrossed Frogg Creek. I wanted to check out the log before crossing with my pack. After crossing and testing the log while standing on the river bank, the soil on which I was standing gave way - and I fell shin deep into the river. Complimentary of the fall, I got some scratches on my back and later a big bruise on my butt. The bruise would remind me of itself whenver I lie down to sleep for the rest of the trip.
The rest of the hike was relatively uneventful. The terrain was rolling and slightly uphill, with only a few sections that are steep. We hiked through some very barren granites and arrived at Lake Vernon with plenty of time to spare. We savored the first of our solo times this trip. Grace and I found a nice hidden outcrop under a grove of trees by the lake - a place where we would spend more time the next day - and took a nap.
For dinner, we had burritos - which I thought turned out very well. In fact, the aroma of the rice and beans induced a wasp to kamakazy into the boiling pot. Lilla didn't want me to throw the bug away or pack it out - so she had the pleasure of eating it. The only challenging part about cooking burritos was being patient with simmering the rice and beans (which is not trivial on a dragon fly). To make the burritos, we had tortillas, rice and beans, cheese, heated chicken chunks, and half an avacado. We need to bring more avacados next time: it clearly seemed to be worth its weight!
After dinner, we had a group meeting to plan for tomorrow. The gun-ho plan was to backpack 11 or so miles to Rancheria Falls - and out of the backcountry the next day to set up the Half Dome hike Saturday. Grace and Jennifer, however, did not sign up for that plan. Jennifer said she had signed up to enjoy the outdoors - not to enroll in boot camp. Grace said it was the backcountry that she had signed up for - not the touristy and relatively easily accessible Half Dome. With that, we nipped the Half Dome idea and decided to have a relaxing day hike/rest day tomorrow.
After the meeting, people turned in for the night. Grace and I laid out watching the stars for about half an hour before heading to the tent. We'd see a shooting star together for the first time. In the tent, we would see the full moon rise over the ridge across the lake before finally turning in to sleep.
