As expected, it was wonderful spending time with friends while backpacking in the Trinity Alps. There are many routes to choose from, but we decided on the Emerald and Sapphire Lake route. And it was gorgeous. We didn’t feel any need to cover lots and lots of miles—we just wanted to spend a few days in the wilderness. For this reason, we designed our trip to provide us plenty of time to relax in camp as well as hiking the trail. We had a pretty loose schedule and a handful of days to burn, so we took our time and enjoyed the experience. Most days we woke up early, had a simple breakfast, broke down camp and hit the trail. The most we hiked in a single day was 10 miles. Every night we slept beside either a beautiful meadow, lake or creek—each spot was amazing in its own way. Upon arrival we’d set up camp, filter water, swim in whatever lake or creek was nearby, and typically spend the rest of the day relaxing, reading, eating dinner, talking and laughing until bedtime. Then we’d wake up the next day and do it again. All in all we hiked 30 miles, camped 5 nights, and caught one fish. It was simple and it was lovely and I can’t wait to do it again. This photo was taken at sunset in Morris Meadows, where we camped our 1st night on the trail.
"Deep down, at the molecular heart of life, the trees and we are essentially identical."
-Carl Sagan
