Tamara Lopez and myself hiked to the Sky High Lakes in the Marble Mountains during late September. I was getting over a strained calf muscle in my left leg so the going was slow. Nevertheless I dragged myself uphill for 6.5 miles. Near 5000 feet above sea level, cold showery rain changed somewhat unexpectedly to snow, and before we knew it, we were hiking across an inch of fresh wet flakes. Our shoes soaked through in no time, and our clothing choices for this hike were not optimal for early winter weather...it was a cold wet miserable hike, but despite the weather, we were thrilled to hike in the first snow of the season, and the mountain scenery was pretty fantastic. We reached the Sky High Lakes after 4 hours of hiking...drank a celebratory beer, and then headed back toward the trailhead.
Originally Tamara and I planned to hike with Tamara's friends from Crescent City...but they took off late from their home, so Tamara and I started the hike without them. We assumed they might have changed their plans and cancelled the hike...however, as we were hiking back down toward my truck we encountered them...we all chatted a bit, wished them good luck camping up in the alpine zone, and then hobbled our way back down.
After reaching my truck, we made a quick drive to Etna for dinner at the Etna Brewing Company...I definitely recommend this place if you are passing through the area...great food, good beer and spirits, and excellent atmosphere.
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