Date: September 15, 2017
Miles: who knows – 923
“Beauty and the devil are the same thing.” ~ Robert Mapplethorpe
On the agenda this morning was a stop at Red’s Meadow Resort and Pack Station near Mammoth Lakes. We had breakfast at the Mule House Cafe, caught up with Scoops, then headed out for a side trip to see Devil’s Postpile.
The short walk to see the hexagonal basalt columns was a worthwhile trip.
From there we made our way into the Ansel Adams Wilderness, where the piles of horse poo far outnumbered the hikers and recent rains had turned the trail into a very long mud pit.
As the sun started to set, we got closer to Thousand Island Lake, where we intended to camp. We didn’t quite make it there before it got dark, however, and we had to search for flat spots by headlamp in the biting wind. I got crabbier as I got colder, and when I finally found a spot that was somewhat sheltered from the wind, all I wanted to do was get in my quilt and go to bed. I weighted my tent guy lines down with some big rocks since the ground was too hard for all of the stakes, ate some bars and went to bed, hopeful that I would feel better in the morning.
