Poor planning by an experienced backpacker leads to a first time backpacker hiking too many miles and thoughts of evil enter her head.
Backpackers: John Gundry, Kathy Travanty, Carl Fisher, and Lori Fisher
July 01, 2015 – Miles 9.1 After flying into Jackson Hole, WY and spending the night in a motel we hit the trail at 0900AM via the Lewis Lake trailhead. Since this was Kathy’s first backpacking experience Carl planned for the day to be 6 or fewer miles. Well…. So much for his planning abilities-the day ended with 9 miles and Kathy struggled to finish. The trail is reasonably flat with no spectacular views. We did enjoy swimming at Shoshone Lake inlet.
July 02, 2015 – Miles 7.5 After starting the day with a mid-calf deep cold water crossing we found the trails were not well marked. Toward the end of the day we were unsure of which trail to take. Carl took one route while John took another. John found our camp in about ¼ mile, unfortunately, Carl went almost a mile before decided that his trail had to be the wrong one. During the day we passed through Shoshone Geyser Basin which is very, very interesting and highly recommended for a visit. Unlike the geysers and hot spots elsewhere in the park – we were able to get within a few feet of these. We stayed at Camp 8R5 which is ½ mile off the trail but on the lake – a great site!
July 03, 2015 – Miles 7.1 Carl came down with a sinus infection causing him to nap for over an hour in the afternoon. No significant trail news except for Lori’s camp sandals falling apart and needing to be repaired with duct tape. Carl’s issues did not stop us from having “bar time” start at 4:00PM.
July 4, 2015 – Miles 5.2 There was lots of beach walking on hard loose stone today. Surprisingly there was a lot of up and down even though going along a lake. Our camp was along a nice beach. Kathy got her trail legs. July 5, 2015: Miles 4.7. We hit the trail at 7:45 on the easy, rolly polly walking with a few ups and downs. Best day for mosquitoes-we arrived at our car at 10:00AM. Lunch at Bubba BBQ and supper at Cowboy Steakhouse-both in Jackson WY.