18 July 2020 
South Lake to Long Lake 
(2.1 miles, +1,200/-300 feet).

Today we started our two-thirds-of-the-John-Muir-Trail adventure! First I had to rent a monster truck to carry my wife and our friends and all our gear to Bishop.

Then we had to drive from San Diego to Los Angeles airport, grab said friends, and get to Bishop in time for the Bishop Creek Shuttle.

We had 14 minutes to spare! Whee!

Then we arrived at South Lake and actually got to do some hiking!

We only planned to hike a mile but we were feeling good and did about 2 by 6pm. We found a dry ridge above the lake with some good spots, spread out, gathered for dinner, then hit the hay!

And one last thing. Around 10pm Half Cookie and I got out of the tent to pee and what did we see? Comet Neowise!

I did not expect to be able to see it (we tried in San Diego where it was too hazy and too bright from city lights). But as luck would have it, our valley is oriented towards the northwest and there it was!

I couldn’t believe the length of the tail – maybe the full length of the handle in the Big Dipper. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Best pee ever!