I decided to try Caltopo to trace our route. http://caltopo.com/m/8SF9. My first time using this program, I figured it out in under 10 min. So YOU play with the features to get elevation gain and total mileage.
Wait, did someone suggest we skinny dip in Emerald Pond?!?
Scouting ahead sucks
It’s bad that I didn’t know exactly where the campsite was… It’s also good since that climb up waterfall mountain woulda been murder after an already tough day.
Don’t let the thorny bush smack the backpacker behind you while on overgrown trails.
30mins of rain was welcome respite from the Day 2 heat and humidity.
This was a tough hike!!! Everyone was a rockstar. Congrats!!! Wait, did anyone take any pics?
Highlights/Remarks:
One backpacker was late to the trailhead. We started without her and she eventually bailed. If there are no shortcuts to catch the group, its probably best that no one start alone.
I assumed I knew where the campsite was on “waterfall mountain” based on only one campsite noted on hiking upwards “kerns mountain hike”. Hiking upward is NOT accurate, there are generally more campsites than noted on hiking upward. We all squeezed into the smaller campsite, probably for the better since that climb to waterfall mountain seemed a beast (we came down it)
Know the route!!
“~” means estimate since I use pen, scratch paper, ruler and a 1:75,000 map to calculate mileage