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The Hike


Backcountry camp. That little blue tent, mat, tarp, and
sleeping bag are all transported in the backpack. A gallon
of water per day is also recommended. In this case I carried
5 liters of water and two meals plus snacks. I also carried
a first aid kit, compass, mess kit, tiny stove and extra
sweater and poncho.

 
I had to obtain a permit to camp at "Boulder Meadows 2" (BM-2) campsite.
A mountain lion had been spotted in BM-3 on 24-Nov and black bears were spotted
on the trail to the summit on  24-Nov and 27-Nov! I won't go into the
five type of rattlesnakes, scorpions or other beasties!

 
Note bear box in this remote backcountry site.

 
Beautiful setting in grassland with juniper trees and century plants.


Century plants grow like this for 30-50 years before producing
a seed stalk 10-16 feet tall. The plant dies afterwards!
A photo above shows a plant with a stalk, now dead.

The next morning, I took only a fanny pack to go for the summit, some four
miles up.  On the return from the summit I packed up the camp and returned
to the base camp.

The following photos were taken on the way to the summit.
 

 

 

 

 
Here the summit is visible!

 
Spectacular views off both sides of the top ridge!

 
It got cold so I put on my poncho and, due to high wind, took off my hat.

 
Yes! Made it! 7825 feet - the top of Emory Peak!

 
The views were spectacular!

 
A few feet from the top you can the solar panels for the repeater. 
In one of the rare, successful cell phone calls from the park, I was
able to talk to my buddy Kevin from here, "Can you hear me now, Kevin?"

 
To my surprise, a cowboy named Joshua arrived at the summit
with five mules shortly after I did with the chore of
removing repeater equipment left there by a helicopter due
to high winds!