So, we came and went via this stretch of Convict Creek. It is just about 5 and a half miles of steep canyon trail (*some still washed out and sketchy) to top out in the first of the wide upper basins. Lake Mildred greets you first, and more lakes and vales grace the convoluted land above it. There are many fascinating paths to explore, including the long hikes up to the summit of Red Slate Mountain, and another that leads you into a westerly drainage of Convict Cr., which passes through 3 lovely lakes-- Cloverleaf, Edith, and Genevieve. Bright Dot Lake, and the gray marbled Mount Baldwin above it are other great destinations that we have explored.
Our friends found the area fascinating, especially our friend Tim, from merry old England, whose backpacking trips usually take him into the Lake District, which is a spongy soft land covered in heather, and which makes our Eastern Sierra lands appear like Mars. The second friend, an Australian from the island of Tasmania, has visited with us twice before, and already knows and loves the Sierra. This was to be our one longer backpacking trip, and from the Sierra we began a long road trip. We made a wide circle, taking in many highlights from Yellowstone and the Tetons in Wyoming, south and east into the Colorado Plateau, finishing at the southern rim of the Grand Canyon.
I had met Shaun and Tim on the border between Pakistan and far western China in 1987. We traveled together through troubled Tibet, and into Nepal-- Tim and I on bikes from Lhasa to Kathmandu. This was our long-awaited reunion.
Okay, thanks for your patience as I rambled on. Here is the trip we made, beginning in Convict Creek:
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; we had to creep along using a couple of cellphone lights 
