We arrived at a trailhead. Everyone else was ready but Mr.S2 was still packing. So we stared at him. I asked him if he felt upset to be in the center of attention, but he said no. So the circle didn't facilitate his packing pace.
The trail started in the forest and climbed gradually for 2,000 feet. We took breaks at Dog Lake and Young Lake. Both lakes were so blue and very pretty. The route from Young lake to our destination, Roosevelt lake, was off-trail, so we confirmed that we should stay in sight. Right after the confirmation, Mr.B3 went to the restroom and didn't come back. We shouted, "Mr.B3!" 5-6 times. Finally he ran down from a random hill.
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Young Lake
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To the Roosevelt lake, we first descended into some hills in the forest, then climbed back up. At some point, we crossed the tree line and we walked into the flat, open space. When we stood at the edge of meadow we were able to see the lake below. It was bigger than I had expected and also very beautiful. It was like a hidden lake surrounded by high mountains including Mt.Conness.
Mr.S1 went to bed immediately but other people ate dinner by the lake together. Mr.S2 was very nice and gave me milk chocolate and chest nuts: my favorite foods.
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Mt.Conness
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During dinner, the evening sun reflected on Mt.Conness. The mountain genuinely looked pink. It was lovely. The sun set, and hundreds of stars and the milky way came out. It was a quiet and beautiful night.
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Roosevelt Lake
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We didn't set a time for when we should get up. When I looked outside of the tent around 7 a.m., nobody was outside, so I went back to sleep. Finally at 9 a.m., Mr.B3 was outside, so I got up. We found out that everyone was awake since 6 or 7 a.m., and looked outside and confirmed that nobody was there and went back to their tent. Because each one looked outside a slightly different time point, nobody woke up. That was funny.
After breakfast, we climbed a random hill near the Roosevelt lake and saw an amazing view. We saw not only the Roosevelt lake but also upper and lower Young Lakes, the forest, Mt. Conness and even the Half Dome in the distance. It was gorgeous.
Around noon while we were hiking, Mr.N said that he was going to the restroom. Because we were hiking off-trail and we shouldn't be separated, Mr.S2 told him that we would be waiting right ahead. I heard that Mr.S2 said it. We sat down and took a break. We ate snack. Mr.S2 did some physical therapy stuff because he was having knee issues. Mr.N didn't come back for more than 25 minutes. We started to worry. Mr.N told Mr.S2 that the restroom was a "longer version", but 25 minutes was too long. We went back to the point where he left for the restroom and shouted "Mr.N!" 7-8 times, but there was no response.
We waited for Mr.N for 35 minutes.
Mr.S2 said, "It shouldn't be so long just for going to the restroom, unless he had a stomach issue or something."
Mr.S1 said, "If it was a stomach issue, it would be a minute."
Everyone laughed.
Mr.S1 said, "I don't think that it is oxygen problem this time."
We thought that he was most likely ahead of us. For some reason, we didn't notice that he had passed us and he didn't notice us either. We thought that Mr.N would be waiting for us at Young Lake. Mr.S2 took a picture of the place and recorded the GPS coordinates with his new Oneplus3 phone. This situation reminded me of the helicopter rescue in August (Mr.N had pulmonary edema and was rescued by helicopter in the wilderness before). I didn't want to see a helicopter in the wilderness again.
We headed for the Young Lake, the endpoint of the off-trail, and we found that he was there 30 min later. We were able to regroup and relieved.
It was my first time to go to the Roosevelt Lake. It was very beautiful and quiet. Because the lake was surrounded by high mountains, it was like hiding from all creatures. I was amazed by all different views in the evening, night, morning, and daytime. This was another great backpacking.
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