I have done a lot of backpacking trips this summer but the trip I just finished was the best of them all.
Day 1 (a half day): After getting my permit in the 11:00 lottery I drove to Horseshoe Meadow, ate lunch, and started out about 1:30. Spent the night at Cottonwood Lakes.
Day 2: Over Army Pass and started up the Mt Langley trail until I was above the sandy chute down to Upper Soldier Lake (there's a duck and use trail where you should start to go down to the lake). On the broad bench above USL I saw at least 16 sheep: 2 groups of 2 ewes and a lamb each, keeping an eye on me but continuing to graze, and 10 or more young males, with heavy horns curled to about the 7 o'clock position. I first saw one male, then another, then I realized that the whole rock outcropping to my right was full of them. They became restless as I passed although I kept as far from them as I could and still stay on track to USL. Finally they lost their cool and gathered in a tight bunch faced away from me (ready to run, I guess).
That night, when it was almost full dark, I was walking near my tent without a light when a group of 5 or more sheep ran full out up the hill near me - we startled each other. All I could really see of them was the flash of their white butts.
USL is beautiful.
Day 3: I went cross-country into Miter Basin. I did a side trip to Primrose Lake and was surprised to see 2 guys there, but I wasn't nearly as surprised as they were when they learned that they weren't at Sky Blue Lake. I went back down to the trail, picked up my pack, and went up to SBL. The first time I went there, earlier this year, I scrambled up through the bushes on the left side of the outlet. This time I walked up the granite ledges on the right. I think the ledges are a bit easier.
Day 4: From SBL over Crabtree Pass and down the line of Crabtree Lakes. That's a long way and it started to rain in the afternoon. I would have gladly stopped for the day at the first lake but didn't find a decent campsite before the 3rd. I was hiking on and off with 2 guys from Irvine - we didn't exchange names but it was a pleasure and a reassurance to be near them. If you're reading this, Thanks.
Day 5: Crabtree Lakes, on a real trail for the first time in days, to the Rock Creek campsite at the foot of Guyot Pass. Not much positive to say about this day. It was mainly just miles that had to be done.
Day 6: To Soldier Lake where I met 7 or 8 members of the "Sierra Geezers." Geezers ha! They ain't geezers yet. They are men and women in their 60s who have been hiking for years as part of an informal group. They invited me to join them at dinner time and it was a wonderful experience. One of them has done the whole Sierra High Route and they all have more experience in the mountains than I have.
Day 7: Soldier Lake to the TH via Army Pass. Got to my car at about 4:15, found the battery dead but got a jump from the first person I asked. Home by 10 after stopping for dinner.
Notes: (1) I missed reading about it in the papers but clearly there has been a lot of seismic uplift in the Sierras in the decades I wasn't backpacking - the trails are much steeper now than they used to be.
(2) The slobs are winning the battle over cleanliness in the Sierras. I expect to find TP at lakes that are within 1/2 day walk from a trailhead but on this trip I saw surface TP at the Rock Creek campsite and at various places along the Crabtree Lakes and Rock Creek trails. I expect people who hike that far to do so because they love and want to protect the wilderness.
