Day 14 - Milestone day

Friday, July 30, 2010
Stats for the day: started at Brown Bear Lake (11,020') at 7:15 - ended at Mono Creek (8,940') at 3:30 Total ascent 1794'. Total Descent 3600'. Total Distance 10.5 miles. 5 hrs 30 mins walking.

Today marks a milestone for Andy, Gary and I. The longest we have ever been in the mountains is 14 days, meaning we leave for civilization on day 14. Today is day 14, but we are still here and will be another 16 days.

Today we altered my time table conceived in February. We were supposed to camp at Lower Mills Creek Lake tonight, but we were there at 1:30 and decided to go on, possibly getting far enough ahead in the schedule to eek out an extra day at Red's Meadow and Mammoth Lakes. So we soldiered on, turning our planned for 6.8 miles of cross-country into 8.5 plus 2 more on trail for a total of 10.5 for the day. We covered half of what was planned for tomorrow. If we do that again tomorrow, which is what we are planning to do, we will pull into Red's Meadow on Monday instead of Tuesday, giving us time to visit Mammoth Lakes for bakery goods (can you say cherry turnover?) and some extra calories at the Base Camp Cafe.

We left Brown Bear lake this morning at 7:15 in a stiff, cold breeze. Our route had us round the end of a ridge and climb up the Italy Lake drainage to the lake, a distance of only half a mile and a 200' elevation gain. From here we walked along the northern shore of this two mile long lake to it's end, then began climbing the 1200' to Gabbot Pass. Gabbot Pass would move us from the Bear Lake drainage into the Mills Creek drainage which flows into Mono Creek 3300' and five miles below.

We were at Gabbot Pass by 10:30, stopped for a snack and pictures and then began the descent to Mills Creek Lakes. The route took us through boulder fields and snow. We stopped at the upper lake (11,100') for lunch and enjoyed laying in the grass while eating. We dropped the next 400' to the lower lake, our planned campsite, but it was only 1:00, so we opted to continue on, and drop the next 2000' to the junction if this drainage and Mono Creek.

We had been following foot prints all day, trying to guess who was in front of us and where they were headed. We caught up with them about a mile from Mono creek. It was Marty and his friend. We first met Marty last Thursday at Cirque Pass. He is also doing the entire SHR, but we had not seen him since last Friday. In talking to him, he passed us yesterday while we were taking a rest day, yet did not recognize our tent or gear as he passed. He is going out for a

food resupply tonight at Vermillon Ranch, about a 12 mile round trip side trip.

When we came to Mono Creek (river really) we had to find a blown down tree that spanned from bank to bank to cross.

To give us an even bigger jump on tomorrow we moved half a mile up to the Laurel Lake trailhead and camped near it.

Tired again, but very satisfied. This trip is becoming a reality.