Almost 2 years later, I finally put this post together. (This trip happened in 2017. I drafted this post a couple months after the trip and then forgot about it)

I went outdoors again. Summer took too long to arrive and I have this feeling that it won't stay for long either.

I've been on two backpacking trips in the summer of 2017 and it'll probably be my last unless I'm able to find time for another backpacking trip before the chillier Fall season kicks in (a year and a half passed, while I was drafting this post). And with everybody's scheduling conflicts and other priorities, this trip ended up being a 2 person all girls backpacking trip. It was going to be awesome.

And it was! (Minus the little mishaps.)

Our Trip

Emigrant Wilderness - Crabtree Trailhead
Hike to Gem Lake: 9mi one way, 2000ft elevation gain, starting at ~7000ft.

I've learned by now to always prepare for last minute plans and changes in plans. However, I was not at all prepared to figure out how to get the right side of our car out of a 1.5ft ditch in the trailhead overflow parking. Don’t ask how that happened.We ended up asking a couple people for help, but no luck in freeing the vehicle. They suggested hiking back up to the pack station (3miles away) or all the way out to the ranger station (10 miles away?) to get help to tow the car out.

Interestingly enough, there were 2 rangers posted at the Trailhead but they had no access to the ranger trucks and were also not allowed to leave their post or radio for help... which was pretty unhelpful.

So we began our journey up to the pack station. We hitched a couple rides from some nice travelers, and in the end the guys from the pack station effortlessly pulled our car out using a Dodge Ram truck. And we were on our way to the trailhead only a couple hours later than expected!

A couple miles in, we hit Camp Lake, where we stopped to take a small snack break after an excruciatingly unrelenting steep hill. My head was killing me at this point. I've never downed a Costco Chicken Bake so fast in my life.

Even after eating, the both of us were still feeling lightheaded. Must be altitude sickness. Or maybe that sausage mcmuffin from the morning.

So, the plan shifted.

Slash the 9 mile hike to Gem Lake. We ended up hiking 5 miles to Bear Lake instead.

Bear Lake was crowded, but understandably so. Many people we spoke to decided on Emigrant Wilderness to escape the Yosemite crowds... and now Bear Lake was overcrowded to the point where trying to find a decent unoccupied spot to camp was difficult. It was so crowded I overheard a girl yell out,

““There’s nowhere to pee! I’ve gone all over the place and I can’t pee because there are people walking everywhere!””

To make it an easy day, we plopped down at the first available campsite we found and gorged on cheetos. Seriously, cheetos taste so satisfying after any hike... I always end up eating them on the trail, or inevitably buying some at a gas station on the drive back home.

Home for the night:

We couldn’t get our butts up after plopping down. A short nap later, we set up camp, made dinner, explored the lake around sunset, and then got into the tent and passed out early.

So, no campfire for us, though we got quite a shock when nearby campsites started busting out the firecrackers. Another group of young adults at a campground nearby had hauled in logs of wood they found on their hike in, claiming that there was no rule against gigantic bonfires. Now I’m not sure if there is a fire size restriction (I’ve always kept my fires fairly small otherwise they’ll be burning for ages)… but they were also building their own fire pit on a space that probably wasn’t even designated for camping. Some girls tried to talk to them but they weren’t having it.

So much for peace and solitude. I guess we gotta find solitude elsewhere.

Obligatory tent picture. I should’ve stayed out later to get some night shots, which I’m sure would’ve been spectacular.

Speaking of food, my boyfriend gifted me a some Patagonia's Provisions for my trip. I brought along the black bean soup and the red raspberry hot cereal mix.

My thoughts:

The black bean soup with a slice of spam and a stick of cheese = heaven. It's a lot more appetizing than it looks:

Red raspberry hot cereal mix = too tart without honey, though to be fair the packaging did suggest adding in sugar or honey
*I did add honey on a different trip and it made a world of difference.

The only gripe I have about Patagonia Provisions is that it's not a self contained meal -- the food needs to be boiled in a pot/jetboil of the sort, which means using more water or wipes to clean up. For 1/2 night backpacking trips though, I don't mind the extra waste cause it tastes pretttttty damn good. It would be super great for car camping… and If I ever have a seriously lazy day after work, I'd probably make this at home!

Next Day

2nd day was a typical last-day-in-the-wilderness type of day.

A little bit of exploration and climbing rocks.

A bit of hanging out and taking group pictures using the self timer on my camera.

I forgot my gorillapod.

Then, a long drive home talking about dreading going back to work the next day and of course, stopping by somewhere to eat unhealthy food. In this case, we chose Sonic's mozzarella sticks to be our artery-clogging food of choice. I'm a salad and vegetables kind of person most of the time (not anymore since I wrote this, HA), but cheese and soda is all I crave after being outdoors... absolutely no regrets.

So. In a nutshell, that was my 24 hours in the wilderness.

I can't wait to go back out again.

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24 Hours in Emigrant Wilderness