September 11th Raymond Peak to Past Golden Lake

Feeling much stronger today, thank goodness. Back to my old self. This morning was marked by some beautiful canyons as well as lakes, streams and springs. (Have I ever mentioned how wonderful the trail really is?) However, the true stars of the day were the trees, which I think are Bristlecone Pines, but I'm not one hundred percent sure. Whatever kind they are, they fascinate me with their tortured and twisted shapes. But they also possess, and don't laugh at me here, a strong amount of dignity, or so it seems. I couldn't get enough of them, scattered on the side slopes as they were. Met Heidi again and she gave me her phone number telling me to call if I ever needed help. She and Giraffe were a little worried about me traveling alone as I was along the PCT. I was touched by the gesture and their caring, but hopefully I'll never have to use it. At Ebbetts Pass there was trail magic provided by Meadow Mary. I had to take a whole row of shortbread cookies because they were all stuck together. Honest! A couple of juicy apples were roundly appreciated too. The afternoon was straight out of a Western or perhaps a Marlboro advertisement. I didn't spy any cowboys, but this area is for high country grazing with cows galore. And their bells go jingle, jangle, jingle! A very few areas were so covered with cow pies that it looked more like a stockyard than a wilderness. But, that was an exception. Still, it made me question the purity of the water coming down the mountain streams. Here, you're taking your chances with contamination/giardia. A word of advice--- it's probably better to choose those that don't have cows standing in the water directly upstream. Ha. I'd originally planned to camp at Golden Lake, but, at this time of year, it turned out to be only Golden Grasses as the water had dried up. Plus, this was cow haven munching away as they were on the fodder. A mile further up the trail I found a nice camp in the trees just a few dozen feet from a small meadow with a pond in its center. Strangely enough, there were four people in the meadow wandering around and looking at the ground as if they had lost something. Curious, I went to inquire what they were doing. Well, they hadn't lost anything at all. One of them was working on her PhD and they were surveying this area to determine the magnitude of conifer encroachment in high alpine meadows due to climate change. I asked what the verdict was and she replied that according to her research, conifers were making significant inroads into meadowlands. Not good.

Bristlecone Pines

The Living and the Dead

Marlboro Country

26 Miles