July 29: The Big Hikes

July 29

This was the day of the “big” hikes: either eight mile Sallie Keyes hike ((or ten if you continued on to Selden) or the easier eight mile Piute hike (I saw some pictures; another beautiful hike! And it's actually on the John Muir Trail). 

Our camp is 7636 feet elevation and Sallie Keyes Lake is at 9860 and from the camp to the lake it is straight up.  I lasted the first third before several of us returned; we were slowing the group down.

I personally had a tough time catching my breath and due to the fast pace (which was half speed for the leader!), I just couldn’t keep up.  After returning, I joined the “river meandering” hike (a mere three miles round trip to a beautiful spot on the river where we sat on stones to eat our lunch)

Rich went to Heart Lake surrounded by granite and shaped like a heart with crystal clear water as far as he could see and is the source of the Sallie Keyes Stream; elevation at 10,160’.  Those who went on to Selden Pass were at 11,000’.  This hike lasted from 7:30 am until 4 pm but the views were spectacular.

The evening was Mediterranean with fresh mozzarella and pepperacini, artichoke hearts and kalamata olives followed by salad, rotini with a red sauce and/or farfelle with pesto sauce and pine nuts, homemade hot bread with herb butter and brownies for dessert.

Phil Bartholomew spoke on how they stocked fish in the mountain lakes, either by taking in special cans by burros or dropping them from airplanes. The fish would be only an inch long and would be dropped by two thousand or more at a time.