But Carolen is not doing well. She's been up all night vomiting. We ply her with tums and immodium and hope for the best. She says she's going to start walking ahead of us. We catch up with her at the Agnew Meadow trail junction and she has made the decision to walk the 3 miles to Agnew and catch a shuttle back to Mammoth. I can see that her hands are shaking as we stand talking. What to do, what to do?! Should I walk her out? Will she be okay for 3 miles on her own? In the end, I think she's a really strong hiker and has had more experience than me with being sick on the trail. She walks away and we watch her go. Later we'll find out that she made it to the shuttle and back to Mammoth. Her husband came and got her.
Now we are three.
We had a nice leisurely meander in the woods throughout the day. John Muir "meandered" so we did too. We also lolligagged and mosied.
Shadow Lake: John Muir's favorite.
As we started our descent down into the Thousand Island Lake area, it started to sprinkle. Okay, it's okay, just sprinkles. Then it started pouring. We stopped and got out rain gear and kept walking. We could hear the thunder in the distance. That's okay, keep walking.
By the time we rolled into Thousand Island Lakes, we had a full blown thunderstorm roiling overhead. Thunder, lightening, pouring rain, hail. Hail! Look below, we're all still smiling!
We were not comfortable camping in the granite of Thousand Island Lakes with the lightening though. After much walking back and forth (including a few sketchy and slippery log creek crossings), trying to figure out a safe place, we decided to backtrack to a cove of trees. Phew- safety! We pitched our tents and EVERYTHING was soaking wet despite pack covers. All of a sudden, Nancy says, UH OH! There's a no camping sign for this area. CRAP. So we debate back and forth about what to do and if the sign really encompasses the area we're in and if the map the ranger gave us really specifies this area, so on and so forth. In the end, we decided that a $500 each fine would not be worth it so we packed up all our wet, disgusting crap and backtracked some more. I had already gotten some dirty water which I didn't want to dump because it took me some effort to get- slip sliding down a muddy slope and then climbing back out. So I carried an extra 64 oz of water to backtrack and moved soooooooo slow. We ended up at another lake, the name of which I can't remember.
It's a very pretty lake and we have sweet little spot right above it. Everything is wet but sleeping clothes and quilt are dry so that's all that matters. And we're alive! At this pretty lake!
Positive Thought
Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. ~Anthony D'Angelo
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