Sep 10, 2024 -- Sierra High Route, Day 11 (Laurel Lake)

Beautiful lakes, but another long day.  Thought the hard part was over after coming off Gabbot Pass with all the lakes and tarns.  It was a marked trail after all; NOT!  Overgrown, steep angle, washed out, and filled with blowdowns and spring melt debris.  It was blowdown hell.  Fell crossing Mono creek even with leaving my shoes on and using poles.  Those rocks are slippery. Scraped off knee scab and my eyeglasses fell in water.  A good reminder why I bring spare glasses as I needed to use them to find the ones that fell in the drink.   After crossing the creek I saw a mule outfitter with two big kitchen boxes and lots of tents but just one man at campsite after river crossing. The trail to Laurel lake, where I'm camping, was steep but had mostly switchbacks.  This was a surprise as Roper's notes indicated no such switchbacks.   The trail was actually nice.