Tri-Wilderness
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We started as a party of four, George, Bill, Megan and myself but the trip in proved to be a bit of an eye opener for Bill and Megan who decided to head back to Kennedy Meadows on a more leisurely itinerary.    George and I however, continued on as we did last year, spending most of our pack on days going cross-country.   Why we  continue to do so when there are great trails to be walked eludes me, but there is some attraction to travelling in a straight line vs. a comfortable winding trail.   By the time we made Bigelow Lake after the packer zig'd when he should have zag'd, we set camp, ate dinner and headed for slumber land.

George was determined to bag Bigelow Peak, and I was determined to get good pictures of the surrounding countryside.   One of us succeeded, kind of.   After years of plotting to get to the top of Bigelow, George headed off and ran up to what we both assumed was Bigelow, but is actually an unnamed peak next to Bigelow.   Ooops, wrong peak and even though I got some good pictures, the one I  took of " Bigelow Peak" will have to be withdrawn until I get the right one.....   Oh well, something for next year.

Now it was time to hoist up the packs and head for Tilden Lake, which had eluded us in 2002.   We decided on the straight line theory with 2 up climbs, 1 steep down climb with the last an easy few hundred feet to lake level at Tilden, negating 4 extra trail miles.   We started strong up out of Bigelow Lake, handled a rather steeper descent then anticipated and made Jack Main Canyon in a reasonable amount of time.   Now we were on to the final assault to Tilden and picked the low saddle and up we went.   A needed break about half way up rejuvenated us and we crossed  the saddle to find " backpackers lament" , another ridge to cross up and over.    Oh well,... we scrambled around and found our way to the lake shore and then hunted down a camp site for the night about mid-way up Tilden, which was the only passable place to stay.   If you look at any map of this area, it is distinguished by a spit of land that juts out at mid-lake and is mirrored by a similar feature on the opposite shore.   Nature's sense of symmetry is always amazes  me.   Exhausted we staked our tents, ate a hearty dinner and ended the night with a nice small campfire under the watchful eyes  of  a grazing  mule  deer.

The  day  started  bright  and  sunny  and  never  wavered.   We headed up-lake to find a good spot to make the ridge below Snow Peak.   As we hit our spot, George summitted at Snow and then Craig Peaks, while I watched the Snow Peak ascent and snapped some shots.   After a leisurely lunch and a bit of book reading, I navigated my way back to camp for a nice afternoon rest.   George finally showed around 7:00 PM and it was dinner, campfire and off to sleep.

This started off as a rest day, but once the obligatory chores were done our thoughts turned to other activities and Chittenden Peak was the closest quench for our thirst.   A relatively moderate climb gave us an eagle eye view of the surrounding countryside and the chance to soak in 360 degrees of absolute wonder.   I dedicated the climb to Betsey's birthday and to the spirit of our departed dog Skye, who put up a brave battle with cancer and enriched our lives.   That night we were visited by a pair of mule deer that spent the night grazing all around us, and I wonder if they were there to give some comfort for my loss as I dreamt the night away.

Packs back on and up canyon to Mary Lake.   An easily followed use trail made the all uphill trek go quickly and we found a perfect campsite overlooking this beautiful alpine  lake.   We kicked around for the rest of the day and watched as the world of light turned to dark and revealed  her night lights, as the stars twinkled away in the heavens.

George was determined to scale the Saurain Crest and I joined him in the ridge climb.   After a scramble up from our camp site, I bid George good luck and off he went as I ran down the ridge to the saddle between Mary and Tower lakes to get a better picture of Tower with my new digital Nikon D70s.   My first Nikon -- and I am highly impressed.   George made a valiant effort, but the difficulty of the ridge was enough to turn him back for a future attempt better equipped.   We relaxed for the rest of the day, and enjoyed our last night.   Just a short hop up and over to Upper Piute Meadow to be whisked away by Leavitt Meadows Pack Station, or so we thought.

Time  was on  our  side but we started early to counter any unforeseen obstacles.   The drop from the saddle above Marys down to Tower lake was a bit tricky as there was a late season snow field to contend with.   However, that was easily circumvented and we were off on a good pace to our pickup point.   Arriving right on the button at noon, we were greeted by a swarm of mosquitoes and moved down trail to a buzz-free area and snacked on lunch.   As the clock ticked towards 1:00 PM, no sign of the packer.   Hmmmm...I walked back up trail to the agreed on spot just in case he came from another direction, but no one showed up.   As I returned to where George was waiting, the thought was trickling thru my mind that the instructions we had left with Bill and what we had agreed to with Leavitt Meadows  may  have  lowered  the  pickup count  from 4 to zero, instead of 4 to 2.   That would make for a longer hike out and a day late.   Our patience lasted until 1:45 PM and off we went down the trail to hopefully come across the packer, and if not to get as far as possible to minimize next days hike.   We passed the ranger cabin, no signs.   We passed the first trail split, no signs.   It was starting to look like the instructions got crossed.   Our last hope was the next trail split where we were picked up last year, and as we turned the corner a sigh of relief came across us as we saw horses,  mules and the packer waiting for us.   Yeah, and another trip under our belt.

See you next year, and may our paths and errands meet.   And speaking of next year, we plan to hike from Dorothy Lake to Tuolumne Meadows and then spend the night at the Ahwahnee celebrating 20 years!!!!

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