Silver Peak Wilderness
Aaron, Morgan, and Avery went down to Silver Peak Wilderness for Avery’s 33rd birthday and (perhaps) last backpacking hurrah! Avery checked in advance with the doctor that backpacking at 10 weeks with a 25lb pack was ok and that the hip belt “wouldn’t squish the baby”. Aaron said that he could carry some extra weight if needed “for his new niece or nephew”.
They found a great campsite at Buckeye Camp to eat lunch. Aaron went to go scout out the water while Morgan got set up to make some potatoes. When Aaron got back they noticed a background buzzing sound…
BEES
There was a giant bees nest in the big shady trees above the campsite. Scared of getting stung, they high-tailed it out of there to the next camp.
The next camp was 100 yards away. Morgan made some hot lunch. Avery and Aaron ate their snack bags and played mahjong. Aaron tried to eat all his rice crackers that he discovered were losing their crisp faster than expected!
After late lunch, their options were to hike another 5.4 miles to Lions Den or 2 miles to Cruikshank. Avery was pretty tired already and they made it to Upper Cruikshank just before sunset. Avery rehydrated the stew that Morgan made the week before. He made it with brisket, beer, carrots, and potatoes. They filtered water from the tiniest trickle of water by the trail.
For dessert, Aaron made a Mango Sticky Rice Mountain House. After a 15 min wait of anticipation, it turned out that the sticky rice was gross. Morgan thought maybe it was the turmeric – NOT AUTHENTIC! Aaron and Morgan struggled through a few bites each of the mango sticky rice before neither could bring themselves to eat another bite. In the end, Aaron decided he would rather pack out the rest (it was heavy due to the water) than finish eating it!!
Sunset @ Cruikshank
They woke up bright and early the next day! The master plan was to hike out the last 10 miles of the loop. The first 4.5 miles were uphill to Lion’s Den. There were a lot of switchbacks! Avery had to take lots of breaks! Just as they were all getting hungry, they crested the top of the mountain and descended down to the Den. The two campsites at the Den were big and the higher one had a killer view!
Avery and Aaron finished the last of Avery’s dried pineapples and melting fancy gummy bears from Sprouts. They played a round of Taco Goat Cheese Pizza. Avery was sore from injuring her hand slapping the table. Morgan was sore from losing! On the trail down, Aaron mused about how many times one needed to pound their chest or knock on the table to count as doing Groundhog and Gorilla.
Lion’s Den Executive Campsite
Even though the last 6.1 miles was all downhill, it seemed to take a long time. Avery did a lot of slip sliding on the eroded trails. Morgan ate his sunflower seeds and sung the song in his head the whole way. Aaron thought about how he wanted to get pie on the way home.
They finally got to the car around 4 or 5pm. This was enough time for Aaron to continue his NYT Crossword Puzzle streak. When they got service, they all did the Wordle for the Family Wordle Golf Tournament (Aaron won!!).
It was a great last backpacking trip for the year.