Camping near Juniper Lake

The Devil's Kitchen, very hot sulfurous bubling water and mud.

A little beetle near the campsite

Stink bug near the campsite

Backpacking from Scott Mountain Summit to Etna with side trips to Boulder and Fox Lakes

Here we all are at the very start of the trip, each with about 25 lbs. enough for 6 days and 5 nights.
About 10:00 am after running into two PCT hikers DNA and Split Pea. They had a cute story of how they just recently met. Split Pea was coming to this section (P?) and lost his portion of the data book on the trail, DNA didn't even have this section of the data book and finds Split Peas's on the trail. They meet later, DNA saying he was lucky to have found on the trail the section of the data book he didn't have unknowing that it was the one Split Pea had lost. The weather has been very hot in Etna >100 F, we are worried about the heat. Luckily a cold front was just coming thru and the evening prior hit all the hot air  resulting in a tumultuous lightning and thunder storm. This day it is still hot ~85? and muggy, much nicer than the expected 90-100 temps.

Day 1 we soon found some Cobra Lily's growing along a spring fed meadow creeklet.

More cobra Lily's

Cobra Lily flower late in it's flowering cycle


Lunch day 1. Here we met Mr. T a PCT hiker from Japan, Desiel the last PCT hiker dad saw before leaving the trail, and Marco a PCT hiker from Germany.
A catapillar on the trail down to Boulder Lakes near the end of day 1

The three of us at the end of  hiking day 1. Mike with the long reach.

Mike at sunset day 1

Sunset day 1. We set up camp soon after decending to the Boulder Lakes. It was a very nice camp on grass in a small meadow between lakes. We started dinner on our photon stoves, and soon it began to thunder. Not long after we were in our tents finishing up dinner with  thunder, lightning and rain outside. The storm lasted about  1-2 hours. After it was over we were able to come out of the tents and enjoy the remainder of the evening. By morning the tents were dry.

Being next to water ment mosquitos, this night, they weren't too bad.