Camping by Papoose Lake last night was great, it was a beautiful spot and put me in a good position to get off the PCT over Duck Pass. I covered approximately 14 miles, 22.5 km to camp just after Duck Pass.

I woke up this morning to ice on my tent and a dramatic scene on the lake. There was mist swirling over the water, and the sun rise was setting the sky on fire.

I had breakfast and packed up super slowly, giving the sun time to hit my tent and dry it a little. When I left, the sun was out all over the lake, and mist was rising up from the valley below. The lake, mountains and all the plants along the shores were picturesque in the morning light.

After rejoining the PCT, I passed Nüümü Hu Hupi Lake, who’s outlet drops sharply into a deep valley. From this point I got a good view into the valley, down to where Fish Creek emerges from its valley.

The trail followed the stream down this valley until meeting Fish Creek. Here I turned right to start climbing up Fish Creek. Just after beginning the climb, a bridge got me across the creek and the trail continued climbing on the other side.

I walked up Fish Creek for about half an hour before turning away from the creek and beginning a long climb up to Lake Virginia. The trail took me around the north side of the lake before passing over a saddle to Purple Lake.

After Purple Lake, it was a long but gentle climb before dropping down again to the Duck Lake trail junction. Here I left the PCT, and it’s a little tricky to estimate the distance from this point onward. I don’t have any mile markers on my map for this side-trail, so I have to rely on a comment from another hiker.

I walked past Duck Lake, and over Duck Pass. Down below, on the other side of the pass is Barney Lake. I headed down to this lake and found somewhere to camp. I camped just a couple of miles from the trailhead where a free shuttle runs into Mammoth Lakes every half an hour. I’m hoping to get into Mammoth Lakes early tomorrow in time for breakfast.