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SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS, CALIFORNIA
HOOVER WILDERNESS
GREEN LAKE
JULY, 1991

INTRODUCTION
This was a quick one night hike in a beautiful area. I didn't go very far in

Tuesday, 2 July, 9:00 a.m.

I'm at Green Lake in the Hoover Wilderness. It's very peaceful here. I saw two other people here last night upon arriving. I left the trailhead at 6:30 p.m. last night. I had originally calculated that I would be climbing about 600 feet in elevation, which would have been very easy. After following the trail up several drainages, it quickly became obvious that it was going to be more than this. In looking at the map, it's actually 960 feet. It was tiring but only took me one and a half hours to go approximately two and a half miles. I was here and looking for a campsite by 8:05 p.m. I wore shorts and a tank top. The weather was pleasant. After 10 minutes, the mosquitos weren't. I failed to apply DEET before I left. A few mosquitos bothered me at first, but I then ran into a swarm of them. It must have been humorous to watch me de-pack and rummage through it frantically trying to find the DEET. I quickly doused myself with it and was immediately relieved. I packed up and continued on. I guess the ranger at the Bridgeport Ranger Station was serious when she inquired if I had any mosquito repellant.

I found a nice previously used campsite and quickly made camp, as it was getting dark. I made a delicious dinner of brown rice followed by a dessert of a chewy granola bar and a cup of hot chocolate with amaretto in it. I made a small campfire before making dinner to ensure having some nice warmth to eat by. After dinner I read the book about Wovoka and the ghost dance that Linda had given me on Sunday. I watched the fire for a while, stirred it to keep it going, and retired.

It was very pleasant this morning, not a cloud to be seen. I awoke at sunrise but didn't get out of my sleeping bag until 8 a.m. I retrieved my food bags from the tree I hung them in last night and made breakfast. Some Tang, Grape Nuts, a cup of tea and a bagel made for a satisfying meal. I have a banana awaiting me when I finish here. It's very pleasant here. I have my shirt off now, trying to make up for the lack of sun I've had this last week and a half. It feels very good. I'm not sure what I'll be doing today or where I'll be going. My camp will remain here regardless. It is now 9:18 a.m.

Tuesday, 2 July, 12:45 p.m
I decided to hike the perimeter of Green lake today. I started out heading clock-wise around the lake at 10:30. I crossed Green creek just below the outlet of the lake. The water was fairly fast here, but I found a nice size log to walk across it with the help of my hiking stick. There are many nice campsites on the south side of the creek and lake. I came upon one camp with no one in it near where I had seen someone fishing last night. There was a definite trail following the shore of the lake, although in some places it veered up the bank a ways to avoid thick brush. I came upon a boulder field, coming down from where I think East lake is. There seems to be a field like this in all of these lakes here. I made my way through some brush with some water draining down from above. I came upon a small marshy area. I scared some small bird who gave me hell for intruding in his area. I crossed another good size creek which split of into several channels. This was in a forested area and seemed out of place or unnatural, as if this was not an old established water course. Perhaps a new creek bed in the making, possibly recently diverted by something further upstream. A few more nice campsites were to be found in the trees. I came upon a good trail and followed it around towards another drainage. I stopped for a few minutes at a campsite reminiscent of the one Bob and I had at either Waugh or Sullivan lake. It had some rocks jutting out into the lake. This was a very nice but well used campsite with a big fire ring in it. I continued on to the drainage that comes from West lake in a beautiful cascade that can be seen from across the lake. Just past this was another nice campsite where I had seen someone last night and this morning but was now vacant. The trail then headed up to avoid the glacially carved inlets of water that were filled with fallen timber and other lake debris. I then came back to my campsite where it was time for lunch. It took one and a half hours to complete this hike.

Tuesday, 2 July, 7:00 p.m.
I decided to come down tonight. I was getting bored and anxious to see something different. If I only had hiked to East or West lake today. It took me one hour 18 minutes to come down. I packed up and left at 5:25 p.m. The mosquitos weren't as bad as yesterday when I hiked in.

The road up to Green Lake trailhead is very pretty once you get out of the foothills from Bridgeport. It is a pretty little valley with Green Creek meandering through it. Some of it is privately held, but there appeared to be a few nice spots to camp in outside of this private property.

The Green Creek campground was full when I arrived last evening and appeared to be so tonight also. As campgrounds go, this one is not overly desirable due to the proximity of your neighbors. It seemed rather noisy also. When I was hiking in last night I heard someone with a semi-loud car radio playing. This sound carried up the trail for quite a ways. Tonight when I was hiking out, I came across two boys on new mountain bikes who were riding on the trail. I was stopped at the trailhead sign (it was another quarter mile hike to the parking area) and they asked me if there was anyone else behind me on the trail. I suspect they were intending to ride where it was posted no bicycles. I knew they would be stopped by the steepness of the trail and they soon came up behind me saying it was too much for them. They seemed like nice enough boys, but just the idea of a wilderness area being penetrated by uninformed kids on bicycles didn't settle well with me.

I was amazed at the number of trailers and street vehicles that were up here. The road up here is a rough one and I thought for sure this would secure me some solitude. But California seems so overrun by people. I noticed this almost as soon as I crossed the border from Oregon. I spent almost the entire previous week without seeing too many people in one place and here I was faced with what seemed like a throng of people invading this beautiful area.