Safely on the other side of the river, we will now hike straight up the valley behind me. Unfortunately, the lake we are headed to is in the mountains on the other side of the river. This means eventually we will have to ford our way across the Walker River and then up into Fremont Lake. If you are wondering why we didn't stay over on the correct side of the river, it is because there is no trail on that side nor is the terrain accommodating further up the valley.
This is the Leavitt Meadow Pack Station. You can see the horses and pack animals in the corrals. The pack station was not providing service yet. They generally don't open until later in the month due to excessive snow or high water levels. This is one of the reasons I went down to talk to the local rangers about our trip. I was concerned that this early in the season, we'd run into impenetrable snow walls or have excessively dangerous river crossings and have to turn back.
The trail starts at a mere 7,150 ft elevation. You can see that at this altitude there is absolutely zero snow on the ground. Andra stands here with her new hat - as Bill Cosby would say - "...hat on sideways just rebelling against everything." Well I guess it's good her pants aren't on backwards too. Okay, okay, Andra insisted I explain why her hat is on sideways so people don't think she just naturally looks goofy. This new hat is very large and if worn correctly it was banging into her backpack. She rotated it 90 degrees so the front and back of the hat are now over her ears. Practical, but not as interesting as "she's rebelling against her parents!" Later it gets more comical, but you'll have to wait and see...