We got our earliest start of the trip on our last day, leaving camp before the sun hit it. The trail from Virginia drops pretty quickly to Purple Lake, and we arrived while it was still early. We paused for some photo ops and to admire a small family group of American Dippers (videos on Flickr) in the outlet stream before pressing on toward Duck Pass.
Libby and Jonathan at Purple Lake.http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/2738767670/in/set-72157606574038434/
The trail to the pass climbs up above a thumb on the flank of the mountain between Duck and Purple Lakes before dropping again into some meadows along Duck's outlet stream. There it starts to climb again. Ascending through meadows and forests, you soon reach Duck Lake at the outlet end. We took off our packs at that point, had a snack and caught our breaths. We'd already traveled about half-way, about six miles. The last Wilson's Warblers of the trip foraged in the dwarfed Whitebark Pines and willows along the lake shore, and a beautifully white lone California Gull sailed down the canyon from Duck Lake.
From the outlet of Duck Lake, you climb up and follow the lake's shore about a mile to the pass. From there it's only 5+ miles downhill, and you're home. We pressed on through lunch and arrived at the cabin - where the Profitas were staying for the weekend, but they were out - around 1:15, packed up, and headed for home (with a pit stop at the Ranger Station to change, use toilets(!), wash our faces, and return the bear cans).
We're happy to be able to stop walking for awhile.http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/2737967527/in/set-72157606574038434/
The trip home was pretty uneventful. We listened to one of the Harry Potter novels on CD, and stopped for dinner at Rubio's in Adelanto. I remember when you had to eat at the Astro Burger in Kramer's Junction! Lots of people live in the high desert, now, though. On Monday, I went back to work. And that's the whole story.
The pictures from our last day can be found here: http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/sets/72157606574038434/
You can view all of the published pictures from our trip by clicking here: http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/collections/72157606431454213/
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