Hanson Lakes, ID: That’s not an elk, it’s a man.
Another excellent hiking trip with Gnotic Pasta and his sons. The mosquitoes and deer/horse files were wicked, even with Deet, but we still had a great time. The igniter on my stove wasn’t working properly but that wasn’t a big deal either. We planned or at least thought about hiking all the way up to lower Hanson Lake. That never would have worked. It was way too steep for hiking with packs. My backpack was probably about 25 lbs (11 kg). I’m glad we set up our base camp near Bridal Veil Falls.
We did a day hike up to Hanson Lakes the next day. When we got to the upper/middle Hanson Lake we had a break for lunch. Turns out there is one more smaller lake that is the real Upper Hanson Lake. Dan and Adrian hiked up to where there was snow. It was too rocky so I stayed behind. No sense falling and breaking my other wrist. The only casualty was Dan’s shorts. He ripped them pretty good, right in the seat. We were talking to a family down by the creek with Dan’s underwear showing prominently.
Just like last year, the mule deer came to visit. I didn’t get any good shots as it was too far after dusk. Last year the deer return at dawn, when I was able to get better photos.
One of the funniest parts was during the hike back to the truck. I had been sipping on my water all the way to stay hydrated. Nature called and I answered after surveying the trail for other visitors. While relieving myself, two older German ladies came around the corner of the trail. One of them said, with a heavy German accent, “that’s not an elk, that’s a man”. We laughed at that for quite a while. I’m already looking forward to next year’s adventure, preferably without my cast.
ETA
I forgot to include a link to Gnotic Pasta’s pictures.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+GnoticPasta/posts/b8EG3y4cYgm
I also forgot to mention that this was also the first time backpacking with my new-ish sleeping bag. I had taken it car camping last year. It was way too warm for summer in Michigan (lower peninsula). It’s down on the top and synthetic on the bottom in order to try to save weight. Because the weather was in the lower 70s (°F) during the day and mid 30s at night, I wasn’t sure how my bag would fare. It’s rated for 29 °F. So I bought a sleeping bag liner that’s designed to add an additional 15°F to the rating. The first night, I was a bit warm. I also had a hard time getting comfortable because the mummy style bag is a little too narrow at the feet and my sleeping pad is narrow. The second night was colder, probably low to mid 30s. So I was much more comfortable.