As we worked our way down the mountain, we stubbled into Dave and George's camp. They missed the signed trail fork with the big stick arrow
on the ground and and took a slightly longer
route up to Summit Lake. Somehow they walked past our camp without either of us spotting each
other. Dave walked around by Clark Lakes calling
out and I'm sure that must have been what I heard and responded to, but they didn't hear me
call back. Not having a stove with them, they continued
past Summit Lake to reach an area where fires were allowed. While Dave and George
broke camp, we continued down to Rush Creek. Normally
Rush Creek is moving pretty fast. There are several bridges along the creek where
various trails cross. To avoid repeating the first night's disconnect,
we waited near
the bridge for Dave and George to arrive.
After making our base camp, I walked up to the top of a local shoulder and took this panoramic of Gem Lake. We will camp here the rest
of the week.
It may be difficult to tell from this vantage point, but we walked down to the shore later in the week and Gem Lake is down
about 40 vertical feet from its
high water mark. Remember this is May!
The next morning we hiked up Rush Creek to visit Sullivan Lake.