Your Friendly Hise Hiker Tuesday Tip… Don’t Be An A-Hole.
On our last backpacking trip, before the fires cut the season short, we were on day 4 of an ass-kicker of a 75-mile trek through Yosemite. We had 3000+ feet of elevation every day, double-digit mileage… it was just tough!
When we got to camp at an amazing place called Dorothy Lake, we found a spot that had plenty of room for a few more tents. And let me tell you something about hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail… sometimes you crawl into your tent at night and the late-evening through-hikers get into camp well after dark and you wake up with new neighbors… it’s totally common. And they are kind of close-ish (depending on what you consider close… haha)
Anyway, we had hiked through this meadow that I swear was like the old Flintstones cartoons and just kept going and going and going… until finally we came out of it, climbed up the last ridge and crested at Dorothy Lake.
And to our surprise, where we chose to set up camp, the other people there completely had a fit about us setting up where we did. And mind you, around a lake, camping spots are kind of limited. We tried everything to smooth things over, and ultimately, it was just an awkward dinner in camp and evening.
The next day, our group made amends with the other group on the trail… however, it was just a reminder to not be an a$$hole.