Day 7: Death Canyon Creek to Chicken Spring Lake

After a beautiful sunrise, I trekked up to a ridge overlooking the desert valley to the east. I passed a hiker talking on his phone, likely one of the final spots with cell service before we got into the remote Sierra wilderness. The trail then took a long circle around the appropriately-named Horseshoe Meadow, a popular entry point to the high mountains with a narrow road snaking back down to the town of Lone Pine.

In the late afternoon I reached the junction for a short spur trail to Chicken Spring Lake, where a thru-hiker wearing a kilt was filtering water at the lake’s outlet. At an elevation of 11,000 feet, a thin sheet of ice still covered the shady side of the lake, and the surrounding snowfields made finding a dry spot for my tent difficult. Luckily a friendly section hiker had staked out a small clearing, and as dusk descended several more hikers rolled into the makeshift camp. A large blister had formed on the inside of my left foot, and previous attempts to drain it myself ended in miserable failure. So I was even more lucky when another section hiker stopped to make dinner at the lake and kindly showed me how to properly deal with the increasingly painful blister. Enjoying the company, we swapped stories and advice before the cold and exhaustion sent everyone to their sleeping bags.