After a leisurely hike into our campsite, some people opted to rest...
...while others chose some whitewater action.
The water was warm and inviting... to some, at least.
Overall, a relaxing, lazy start to our four-day trip.
The next day we were joined by some familiar faces (who a few days later would be officially Mr. and Mrs...), who I led up a granite playground while the others headed a bit more directly to the day's destination.
We had the canyon to ourselves... almost.
There were of course the usual number of minor obstacles along our route....
...but we made steady progress up canyon.
We rested for a quick dip for some relief from the sun's warmth...
...before crossing the creek and continuing on.
After a short climb and a straightforward traverse, we began our final descent to the night's camp, where we heard from the others on radio.
The evening was warm and calm as the sun lazily sat behind the ridge above us.
That would be the one to the east, right...?
After breakfast, we started the next day's excursion with a lazy float across the lake.
After a short climb away from the lake we emerged into a huge sea of smooth granite.
A bit into this long traverse we stopped to top off our water bottles at a wonderful small creek.
After that, more smooth granite.
After a bit of downclimbing, shrubbery, and a final brief ascent, we emerged at a rather big lake.
After a snack, it was time to deploy the armada.
Fleet? Flotilla? Inflantry?
We checked out several of the lake's small islands and shoreline cliffs before taking out on a small peninsula, where we enjoyed lunch.
After that, we packed the fleet and headed up more granite... towards more water.
We were in no rush to pass through this area, as our modest progress showed.
We dropped to another lake and were soon on the water... more or less.
Pro tip: Belly-to-boat technique doesn't work.
After some minor re-arrangement, the fleet was in action again.
Some chose to check out the lake's many islands and inlets... and others chose to just float and relax. It was all good.
After the lazy float, we had to head back to camp.
We left the vast, open granite behind.
We took a small detour to the top of a dome with an odd erratic on it.
After that we had a bit more ridge walking before descending to the morning's lake.
Back at the lakeshore, most of us took a quick dip in the water before floating back to home. While some returned directly, others checked out the rugged shoreline of this lake.
After returning to camp, we enjoyed a nice dinner and warm, mild sunset.
The next day, after another leisurely breakfast, we broke camp and headed up the vast, open granite that had been above us.
Our route back would follow an open ridge top, but first we had to scramble (schrubble?) a bit to get to the top.
The walk along the ridge was a pleasant stroll, but eventually we had to descend to the creek far below us.
In the distance calm rivers and pools promised relief from the warming sun.
Eventually we reached a calm pool and deployed the flotilla.
After floating downstream a bit, we soaked and/or swam in the cool waters that we'd soon be climbing away from under the mid-day sun.
We could have stayed for quite awhile--it was very pleasant and peaceful--but we had to move on.
As we neared the top of the climb, we looked back one last time. It had been another great trip to a place we could see ourselves revisiting.
More Pictures
