Bechler Day 3

Woke up around 5 and couldn't get back to sleep so I read until Trudy woke up around 7. 

There had been rain off and on during the night so I thought it might be wet out and when we opened the tent door, there were two little icicles hanging off the bottom. But when Trudy opened the rain fly, it was dry. Apparently, our body heat had generated condensation which then froze.

We decided to wait for a while and let our stuff dry since most of it was still damp. We finally hit the trail a little after 10 with mostly blue skies ahead but some darkish clouds dotting the sky. We made it to the slough fairly quickly and I had my water shoes on so I de-pantsed and waded in. It was muddy from yesterday's rain so it was quite exciting to wonder whether the next step might be into a hole. There weren't any. So we pantsed back up and headed on.

We had each made a prediction when the stock group we met yesterday might pass us. Trudy predicted at the junction and I predicted about a half mile beyond. They caught up with us just as we were about at the junction but they were just getting off for lunch. We also decided to pause.

Bechler Day 2

I actually slept pretty well but we still didn't get moving until almost 8. It didn't help that the overcast clouds made it seem later than it was. We did hit the trail at 10 and about two miles in saw some loose horses. We had made it to the stock site, 9A2.  The people were friendly and they hit the trail soon after we passed them because they passed us as we were drying our feet at the nearby stream crossing.
It sprinkled off and on as we made our way up the hill toward Dunanda. We opted to take the lower trail that runs through 9A3. We grabbed a quick lunch and the changed into our bathing suits and headed for the hot springs. And was it ever beautiful. After about an hour and a half of floating, it started to thunder so we decided that it might be good to head back.
About 1/3 of the way down the trail, it started to rain. Now, I had made the fatal error of believing the forecast of 30% chance of rain and not brought a rain jacket. I have learned this is not wise in the past but somehow I forgot. So I was pretty well soaked through. But I did stop by the horse camp to drop off the sunglasses that had been left at Dunanda. The owner was pretty darn excited to have them back.
When we got back to camp, it was still raining, so Trudy and I crawled into the tent to read for awhile. We got out for a quick dinner and then drifted off to sleep

First day in Bechler

I picked Trudy up a little after 8 and we were off -- over Dunraven (the Norris road was closed) and then Canyon and out through Madison. We stopped in West for coffee, whiskey, and sandwiches from Eddie's Deli. The BLT was $11 but there was a LOT of "B" so it worked.

Thank God Trudy remembered how to get to Bechler because the signage is horrible. After about 11 miles down a gravel road, we got to the parking lot. And So... many... cars. Good Lord. The last time I came down. I remember a few cars on the day we went in and only one other on our way out. Today, the lot was full. Thank god I have a mall car or we would have been waiting around for the two tours that had just come out (about 10 eating a picnic lunch and another 10 or so getting off a horse ride). 

We checked in with the backcountry office and were on our way.

The whole time we had been talking about this trip, Heidi and Trudy had been warning me about the slough crossing and the subsequent bog. We forgot it has been a very dry fall and the slough crossing was barely above my knees and the bog was completely dried out.

We knew we were about 4/5 of the way there so we stopped for a whiskey break. It was delightful. 

We continued on to 9A1 and set up camp and filtered water. We had our permit checked by a young ranger who wanted to make sure we weren't up to any tomfoolery. Then dinner and just waiting for an appropriate time to turn in.

So pretty

Gorgeous days

Moonrise in Mammoth

I live in a really pretty place. Just sayin'.

 

 

 

 

This was taken up the hill in Mammoth whilst Carrie and Aimee Guiles very graciously allowed me to stay in Tucker's room. I still don't have a toilet (except for the one in the basement, but it's such a pain to  walk downstairs to pee. It was fun. I realized how much I had been running around like a chicken lately, not really getting to sit down and talk to people. Hope this sticks around...