July 1, 2016–8.5 miles
1,700 ft. elevation gain
700 ft. elevation loss
We both slept so well last night on our new dual air mattress (exped duo)…it’s so nice to not slip and slide around all night, and we never felt each other roll over because it has 2 separate cells! We got out of the tent at 6:45, did the usual morning chores plus ate our awesome hot breakfast skillet and drank our vanilla lattes (are we really backpacking? 😃). Then left camp at 8:30 for our 8 mile trek over Bishop pass and then part way down the other side. The wind was our friend all day today…keeping it cool while going over the exposed pass plus keeping the annoying mosquitoes away.
The trail up was definitely steep and challenging especially because of all the rocks in the trail and big granite steps, but we were rewarded w amazing views looking back over all the lakes in the valley below.
We passed prob 6 diff groups of people throughout the day today (which is def more people than we’re used to seeing during our trips). One group of 3 young guys was fun to talk to because 2 of them r hiking the PCT but taking this side route w their buddy for a few days over to Bishop. Their excitement for their surroundings was so great to hear! I felt SOOO much better today…yesterday turned out to be miserable for me. I was light headed, had a head ache and found myself not being able to even look around and enjoy it, so today was a welcome change for sure! We stopped at the top of Bishop pass for a quick lunch but didn’t stay long because the views weren’t all that spectacular at 11,972 ft due to the little vegetation that grows up that high.
Coming down the other side there were tons of beautiful spots, my favorite always being the streams that cut thru the cute little green meadows w windflowers all around, and maybe even a mini waterfall thrown in 😃.
AND…we saw our first deer today, 2 young bucks together which was unusual. We r now camped at one of the last lakes before the trail heads up to Muir pass which we will do the day after tomorrow.
We’re in a super secluded spot w no one around so we were able to clean up in the lake and dry ourselves on the huge slab of warm granite. Now we will go set up camp and make our salmon pasta…yummm! Thanks for reading, Amy
Amy and Brian's 