Over Memorial Day weekend, Patrick had 4 days off from work. I had the idea that we should go backpacking, get out of town and into nature and really use those 4 days. We've been backpacking before but for this trip we planned very little. We knew what we were bringing and the general area we were heading and that we should be cautious of bears. Our friends loaned us their bear canister (they had a pretty serious bear encounter at Yosemite, so we decided not to fool around) and we were off. We headed north and then east into the mountains. When we got close we stopped at a ranger station to get some trail suggestions.
They suggested a loop that would take us 4 days, lead us by alpine lakes and gain 3000' in elevation. Right away, I jumped onboard. Sounded great! We bought a trail map and jumped back in the car.
"How do we get to the trailhead?"
"I don't know."
That conversation should have been our first clue we didn't have enough information. But, hey, we were in it for the adventure.
"Looks like there are some river crossings, according to the map. It's marked as a well-maintained trail, though, so I'm sure there will be bridges or rocks you can use to cross (clue 2, if you're keeping track)."
We got to the trailhead around 3 PM, swung our packs on our backs, took our pictures by the trail mileage sign, all shiny faced and eager to start our adventure. Right away, the trail went up (remember, 3000' elevation gain. Patrick tried to warn me, I'll admit). But it wasn't too steep and we were at once treated to some amazing views. Craggy rock walls in the distance and a beautiful sea of trees as far as we could see. Far off, we could see mountains topped with snow. Such an excitement for two people that don't ever see snow in SoCal. Soon, we were a part of the forest as the trail led us down into a canyon. We crossed a waterfall, an easy crossing, someone had thrown a log down to walk across, and we continued on through the trees.
About an hour later, we came to our first river crossing. Hmm, no bridge. We scanned the area, immediately realizing there were no rocks either. It was easily decided we had to go barefoot as we were only wearing tennis shoes. I volunteered to go first since Patrick has pansy feet and was afraid the rocks would be too sharp for his feet. Growing up in the country, though, I've spent entire summers barefoot. The crossing was easy enough and we dried off our muddy feet (with Patrick's t-shirt he happened to be wearing. Can you say "dirty hippies?"), put our shoes back on and headed up the trail once more.
The trail steadily climbed the mountains for the next hour. Occasionally, we would see small patches of snow off the sides of the trail. How exciting and so unexpected! We had no idea we would be this close to snow when we started our trek. Once again, though, we were at a river crossing. This one was much wider and since the water was so cold we were concerned that our feet wouldn't make it across the expanse of river we had to cross. We walked up the river and found a spot that was a lot narrower, but a lot deeper. Oh well, we're in it for the adventure. Country feet to the rescue and we were across that river in short order. We contined on.
By now, we were traipsing through snow patches that covered our trail and, subsequently, the muddy bogs that follow snow melt. The trail led us through the forest, where normal trees and giant redwoods mingled, across mountainside meadows, through prickley bushes that scrapped our legs as we pushed past, and, all the while, at a steady climb. By the time we reached our third river crossing, we were exhausted and it was time to set up camp. There was nowhere to camp on this side of the river, unless we wanted to go back a mile or so. I had, however, remembered that I had my river sandals with me and quickly crossed the river, now that I had shoes on for the crossing. Right across the river was a great campsite. We were in luck, no backtracking needed.
It had taken us 3 hours to go 5 miles, but we were satisfied with how far we had come. It had, however, become abundantly clear that we should probably not attempt the full loop. If we got out too far on the loop and came to a river crossing that wasn't navigable we would be too far to complete a turnaround in the alloted amount of time. We decided instead to hike further the next day and camp by one of the alpine lakes and then take 2 days to hike out the way we came in.
When it became fully dark outside we climbed into our tent and snuggled down into our sleeping bags. We talked, played cards by headlamp and, finally, fell asleep to the rushing noise of the river.
At the trailhead, full of energy and excitement.
Crossing a waterfall. This picture doesn't do it justice. It was so beautiful!
The first snow we could touch. So exciting!
One of the most amazing views of the entire trip. Once again, this picture just doesn't show the true beauty. That giant redwood tree was controlling the entire course of the river. The tree on the right side of the pic is a normal sized tree, to give you a better idea of the size of the redwood.
Last river crossing of the day. Our campsite was on the bend in the river you see above me.
Our beautiful, peaceful campsite. 
