R03/R01 TR: The King's Court -- Staying High in Northern KCNP (8/15-8/19/2020)

[gosia2000]

A couple of bedraggled-looking backpackers with rain shells plastered to their skin and rain covers plastered to their backpacks trudged by, unaware of the creepy guy cowering in the trees eyeing them just ten feet away.

Hey- it was me and my hubby. I'm sorry we did not stop to chat! And just FYI we were definitively NOT bedraggled-looking. We were actually GRACIOUSLY strolling along the trail while adoring the view and the fine weather! I think the rain and the relative darkness impaired your vision a bit!

Also - I do appreciate your boldness- I did not feel like staying in that canyon with the thunderstorm going. We ended up setting the camp above Darwin bench.

[neil d]

I'll pile on with a hearty 'thanks' for that trip report and amazing photos.

On a side note, I've enjoyed your contributions here over the years and was vaguely aware of your relocate to the PNW. I'm curious about what might have brought you to the East Bay, as most folks I know are making the opposite migration (even more with never ending fire season). Not trying to pry, just curious. I was an East Bay lifer until 11 years ago and still have deep roots there.

Cheers,

Neil

[windknot]

Thanks all!

I go nowhere without my chairs anymore. At 1lb they are worth it after a long day. Your pics really capture the moment. Camera?

I just used the camera on my phone, the Google Pixel 3a. To be fair, this is one of the best cameras on a phone I've ever seen. And the weight savings over a real camera can be used toward that 1 lb chair!

Hey- it was me and my hubby. I'm sorry we did not stop to chat! And just FYI we were definitively NOT bedraggled-looking. We were actually GRACIOUSLY strolling along the trail while adoring the view and the fine weather! I think the rain and the relative darkness impaired your vision a bit!

Ha, I think we saw you a bit earlier in the day passing by the lake in Darwin Bench! It was still relatively sunny at the time, so you were definitely not bedraggled-looking. The fellows I was referring to were walking along Darwin Canyon Lake #2 a few hours later when the rain was coming down the hardest -- they definitely didn't see me, because it was raining so hard I could barely see myself.

On a side note, I've enjoyed your contributions here over the years and was vaguely aware of your relocate to the PNW. I'm curious about what might have brought you to the East Bay, as most folks I know are making the opposite migration (even more with never ending fire season). Not trying to pry, just curious. I was an East Bay lifer until 11 years ago and still have deep roots there.

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, it's a bit of an opposite move than typical. In my case, I moved for a job promotion to my work's Oakland office, only to promptly begin working from home for the foreseeable future. We have a lot of family in the East Bay (and in California in general) so the move made sense for non-professional reasons too.

[steiny98]

Great TR! Thanks for sharing. The fishing in DC is awesome - glad to see you had luck at your other target.

[Lumbergh21]

NIce trip report. I'm supposed to be going on a hike with a couple of other guys in less than a week now, depending on the smoke situation, that will cover some of the same ground. I see you or your wife are using one of the previous generation SMD packs. Me too. I met a guy at VVR a couple of years ago who lamented loaning his to his daughter, and she didn't give it back. lol

[windknot]

Thanks -- regarding the pack, yep that's my SMD Fusion 65 I picked up about 5 years ago when they were closing them out to make way for the new generation. The color is unfortunate, but I really like how it carries loads without much of a weight penalty. I didn't find a lot of comparable packs in that crossover territory between UL (lighter, but not good for pack weights of >25 lbs) and traditional (heavier).

The newer version of the pack is nearly a pound heavier, right? I guess if it can carry loads into the 40 lb range then it fills a different sort of niche, but as my total pack weights are regularly in the 30-35 lb range this one is pretty much perfect. I saw another member here post a trip report recently who had this pack, too -- I forgot who it was, but perhaps it was you.