Sequoia National Park - Day 2

day 2 was much harder than day 1. we got up early and ran ALL DAY.

and did i mention that it was all uphill???
along the way we came across an interesting little canyon w/a new bridge.

the old bridge was sitting in the canyon below after being knocked out by a boulder...
we also stood on top of a waterfall and passed a pretty lake on our way up...
...to hamilton lake, where we stopped for lunch.

it was GORGEOUS, and in retrospect, my favorite place on our trip.


wished we would've known to set up camp there before moving on...

after lunch we continued on to precipice lake.

that was stupid...

i didn't realize that would be approx 2200 ft straight up a rock staircase in the afternoon sun.

and we had very full backpacks...

can you say OUCH?
but after 2.5 hrs, we finally got there.

and it was so worth it!!!

precipice lake is amazing.
after resting for a bit and reviewing our original route, we decided to turn around.

all the stuff we wanted to see could be seen w/o killing ourselves in a near 60-mile loop.

so we ran back down to hamilton lake to set up camp before sunset...

(top to bottom: bridge at buck canyon; pretty moss on our hike to bearpaw; todd pretending to move a boulder for me; lots of pics on our way to hamilton lake including valhalla; pics at hamilton lake; hike up to precipice; precipe lake; todd hiking back down; todd cooking dinner)