We normally don't go backpacking in July and with good reason. The heat is crushing and to paraphrase Danny Glover from lethal weapon "we're too old for that..." So why did we break our unwritten rule? We had planned to be spending three weeks in Canada hiking through their national parks, but as that was no longer possible we had to come up with an alternative. Here in Nevada the bone crushing liberal albatross of business unfriendly regulations have yet to be fully implemented. So protectionist nonsense outlawing use or lose vacation doesn't exist here. So now Andra must be careful to use all her vacation time before the end of the year or it is forfeit.

With the Canada trip no longer possible, I suggested we go high enough into the Sierras that the temps will be cool and stay out of popular (easy to get to) areas. The plan above was born. We started at the green pin in the upper right corner and hiked for about 9 miles to the approximate half way point marked with a red pin. Camping only one night, I wanted to move the next day to cooler altitudes and far from where mere mortals dare to hike.