We woke up at Red’s Meadow, had breakfast, and headed out to the trail. Our hike started by climbing out of the burn area and up the hill. The switchbacks led us to Deer Creek where we took a short break and ate a snack. As we continued hiking the winds picked up. I felt a chill in the air, winter was coming. After a few more miles we made it to the Duck Pass Junction and made camp protected from the wind. Two men we met from Vietnam joined us at Camp. We sat around and talked over dinner.

It’s Cold!

The following morning we packed up and hit the trail. We hiked to Purple Lake and the very windy Virginia Lake. The wind was blowing so much that there were white caps on the water. There were not sufficient rocks for a rock hop at Virginia’s inlet so we put on our water shoes for a freezing cold crossing. After the water crossing, we took shelter from the wind and had a warm cup of coffee. Our hike continued down to Tully Hole and back up toward Nuumu Hu Hupi Lake. With the strong winds we decided to camp a mile away from the lake where it would be less windy.

Hi-Ho Silver!

The following day we woke up and headed toward Silver Pass. The temperatures were still cold. We hiked up, rock-hopped the creek, traversed across the snow field, made it to the pass, and worked our way down the other side. After a few miles, we made it to the Silver Creek and Mono Creek water crossings. Our goal was to arrive at the VVR ferry landing by 4:30 for a ride.  Lucky for us we made it early and there was a ferry pick-up at 3:00 p.m.

Yeah for Zeros!

The ferry picked us up and we headed to VVR for a zero!! We took showers, did laundry, ate real food, resupplied, and sat with fellow hikers around the bonfire. It was nice to see so much water in the lake. When I visited in 2020 and 2021, half of the lake was empty. This year it’s beyond full.

Next up, VVR to Piute Pass.