At the pass we decided to have second breakfast, this one of scrambled eggs, cheese and tortillas. We found a low wall of granite to hunker down behind, lit a stove and scrambled the powdered egg mix Andy had given to us yesterday afternoon. Stuffed inside a burrito with cheese, nothing better!
We cleaned up our mess and started the descent down the head wall and into Bear Lakes Basin. This basin is amazing for the number of lakes, their positions at various elevations and the surrounding scenery. Plus, they are all named around a bear theme, "Black Bear Lake", "Teddy Bear Lake", "Ursa Lake", "White Bear Lake", "Bear Paw Lake", "Brown Bear Lake" and more. The first lake we ran into after the mile descent from Feather Pass was Bear Paw Lake. We dipped our lines into it, and although we could see fish, they were not interested. From Bear Paw Lake we ascended 400' to nearby Black Bear Lake, stripped down and skinny dipped into its cold water. Then it was up another 180' to White Bear Lake, hanging on the cliffs, tucked in between rock walls. A short distance from White Bear Lake is a very steep 800' descent into Brown Bear and adjoining Teddy Bear lake. This descent is tricky, weaving in between cliffs, across slabs and scree while avoiding thickets of willow, all precariously perched on this long steep slope. We mad a few wrong turns and had to climb back up short distances to find a route, but soon we were down. We stopped by the lakes to eat a snack. We had not eaten since our egg burrito at 9:30 am and it was now nearing 1:00 pm. A pro bar and some almonds were consumed while we discussed our options, either stay here or move forward to halfway down Lake Italy a mile and a half away. With plenty of time left in the day, we kept going a soon were walking the shores of mile and a half long Lake Italy. The lake is at 11,202'. There is no vegetation except low grass and flowers, with an occasional White Bark Pine thrown in. The wind was blowing strongly from the west and the lake runs east-west making it difficult to find a place to camp out of the wind. Also, the north shore we were traversing is rock lined and rises steeply from the waters edge with only a few level places wide enough to afford a place to camp. In spite of the inhospitable terrain, we found a delightful shelf about 20' above the water up against a rock wall and pitched our tarp for the night. First priority is fishing, and although small again, we caught 5 for dinner, two fry pans full.
Tomorrow is a zero day. I can feel the fatigue of 13 days in a row of hiking over this rugged terrain. Today, I fell twice, partly due to the fatigue and partly due to the tread on the soles of my shoes being nearly all worn off. A day of rest won't fix the shoes, (I have a new pair at the next food resupply in Mammoth in five days) but it should revitalize my body. I plan to lay under the tarp all day and rest, eat, watch movies, listen to music and catch up on this blog. Oh, I hope to wash my clothes in the morning, using my bear can as a washing machine and swim in the lake if the clouds stay away. Speaking of weather, we have been in a pattern the last four days of absolutely clear, cloudless mornings, followed by puffy clouds beginning to form about 10:00 am which coalesce into masses of clouds by 2:00 pm that result in nearly complete overcast by 5:00 pm and sometimes rain in the early evenings, or as a few days ago, thunderstorms with lightning, thunder and sheets of rain and hail. What happened to sunny California?
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