Jim in Camino - Madeintahoe, if you went from Grouse to Smith by way of Heather, you had yourself one long, grueling day. :) Hemlock? :p I took my first hike into Desolation of 2005 the same day you guys went up to Smith. Cool! I walked up to Maude, since the Willow Flat trail isn't too strenuous and I was nursing a pesky back. However, all went so well that I ended up doing some cross-country and taking the long way back to the car--via Beauty Lk & the NW trailhead. Then I walked around Wrights. Yeah, cool! You take absolutely beautiful photographs. You're right, you could use a new camera--one that would do justice to your talent. So no one would truck up Mt. Price with you, huh? Me neither; not from Smith, anyway. I went up the talus at the foot of Smith once, almost to the top of the ridge. The talus began slipping; footing was awful. Got scared & carefully retreated. The route counterclockwise, up to the pass, exhausted me & the constant scramble was taking so long that I retreated from that route also. (I don't think I'm quite the mountaineer that you are.) Perhaps from Island Lk. We'll see... You have a knack for looking 20-yrs-old in photos. I thought you WERE 20-yrs-old for a long time. Then you wrote that you'd had the same pack for 15 years. Being extremely intelligent (Ha!), it occurred to me that a 20-yr-old probably wouldn't be using the same pack they used in kindergarten. ;O) Be Well, Jim

said colormine 2005.08.14 at 20:27:23 PDT