So, the plan was to take my wife's brother and their cousin hiking this morning.

They ditched me at literally the last minute.

I went anyway.

The aspens looked so awesome and were crazy green compared to even a few weeks ago.



There was a threat of thunderstorms, but it was a very beautiful overcast day.



This was someone's attempt at a bridge. I've crossed worse.



Two miles up (with a good climb the last half mile or so) and you get to Silver Lake.



My gear. Badlands Whitetail Hybrid pack. Heavy, but very comfortable.



My tools: SOD (with an "El Clintor" lanyard!), DMDC, Spyderco Tenacious and a SwissTool.



Unfortunately fires are not permitted in the Lone Peak Wilderness, I didn't have a lot of time today to spend at the lake and I couldn't find a dead piece of wood to chop for the life of me. So they all went unused.

It started raining on the way out, which actually made me happy. I miss Seattle and hiking in the rain, it felt good.



Super-duper great hike!

Notice how I turned the tek-lok on my DMDC so I can wear it horizontally on my hip belt. Worked great.