Andra couldn't help but take a self-portrait as I got our equipment out of the car.

As many of you know we typically take a long backpacking trip in the fall. Generally, hiking in the spring affords beautiful waterfalls and the temperatures are reasonable. Mid summer is baking hot and makes for grueling days when moving camps. In the fall, the waterfalls are not very spectacular if running at all, but the temps are cool and all the mosquitoes are dead. However, this year created another consideration. The severe drought means that the fire danger later in the year would be extreme. This not only poses a threat to us, but backpacking without having campfires is no fun. We were concerned that the forest service would ban campfires later this summer.

This meant scheduling the trip as soon as practical without being so early that the snow and runoff make the route impassible. We consulted with the local ranger station two days before launch, but they had not yet sent any patrols into this area (mainly because no one was backpacking it yet). Even so, they informed us that they had already banned campfires in the Hoover Wilderness. Fortunately, we only spent two nights in the Hoover Wilderness before crossing the Yosemite National Park boundary.

The Walker River is hauling butt down here and unfortunately the only bridge near the trailhead was the wrong direction for us. Rather than attempting a dangerous river crossing we backtracked from the trailhead to this bridge and around. As you can see there are two bridges here and we weren't clear as to why.