There I was sitting on the bed probably scrolling through some brain dead memes on TikTok or watching a YouTube video. I just got back from a scouting trip to Hetch Hetchy and was feeling ready for the rest of the backpacking season. My phone started blowing up with a group chat from my friends who I had hiked the Tahoe Rim Trail with the year prior. Navigator and Prophet Sticks had plans to hit up the Stuart Fork Trail for a chill weekend trip.
I was game for it. I would have just gotten back from my first REI trip of the season so It would be a busy week of backpacking but I was ready. Unfortunately our best bud Mr. Lost was being sent to Korea for work and was not available to join us.
We set out from Elk Grove and made our way up to Trinity, stopping in Redding to get some fixings for a dinner at the campsite. Bell peppers, onions, potatoes and sausage, all were going to go on the fire so we could have a mixed roast at the trailhead. We arrived in the early evening and while it looked like a threatening storm was rolling in we were able to set up camp.
Prophet and Navigator made their tents, I thought it would be good to throw up my tarp over the picnic table… Just as it was pitched it started to come down on us. Hard. The site was all hard packed soils so the water just stayed on the surface and pooled around our feet. We moved the tents to a better more elevated ground, and huddled under the tarp. Now slightly soggy we enjoyed our brews and started prepping dinner. It would be about an hour of hard rain and serious thunderstorms before we could make our attempt at a fire. We dug trenches and tried to get the water to flow down to the creek below but our attempts were pointless as it just would fill up the channels again. Once the relentless rain subsided, we made our way to the fire pit.
With some serious effort we were able to get a fire going with wet materials and camp stoves. some needles would catch and we would be on our hands and knees blowing to get it to catch further twigs. Only once we used our backpacking stoves as a torch did we have success. We were starving but the fire would warm us up and feed us. We spent that evening eating the best tasting tin foil wrapped roast I can imagine.
We decided to get a later start the next day. Why? Because at this point late starts were this groups tradition. The entire TRT we would say “lets get up at 5:30 or 6” only to be leaving camp by 10am. So we followed our traditions, taking in the morning bird songs in a half asleep state peering out of our sleeping bags.
The trail to Morris meadow is a 8.5ish mile climb of about 2000ft crossing many creeks. We made our way up the trail making great time. Enjoying each others company and catching up on each others lives. No matter how long it is since we have been apart these guys are my brothers and it is great to be with them on the trail.
We made it to Morris Meadow in the afternoon. Our destination for this trip. The Stuart Fork creek flattened out and made space for a beautiful vista of the Trinity Alps. We would set up camp on the outside of some woods. Cool off and ice our aching muscles in the creek. We were home.
Our dinner spot put us about 100 feet off trail but with an amazing view of the surrounding meadow and vistas. We opted to make a charcuterie board of cheese and crackers. I made a dehydrated shakshuka soup which I ended up tossing in hunks of gouda. It was divine.
We made some new friends out there and shared with them the beautiful sunset and my latest product idea, the bear chair. We enjoyed some good laughs at their description of the unfazed deer in the meadow who had swallowed one of their socks whole. One gulp and the whole darn tough was down the deers throat. It made us all take inventory of our gear that was out of sight and potentially in the reach of one of the wild deer.
As I stood in the meadow, surrounded by the green grasses, We witnessed an unforgettable sunset that would forever be etched in my memory. The sky blazed with hues of fiery oranges and purples, as the sun slowly descended towards west. The clouds danced in the golden light, forming and moving over the peaks. The stream whispered from behind the trees reminded us of the flow of water coming from the snow capped peaks. We felt humbled by the display we witnessed together.
The next morning we cruised out of the camp and made it back to the trailhead by noon. Flying down the hill we gave each other space to enjoy it on our own. We sometimes moved like that and allow ourselves some alone time on the trail, something just as important as our time to catch up with one another.
Back into civilization we went with burritos in Redding. I drove us to Elk Grove and we departed. It is sad to think that It may be some time before I get to go on another trip with these guys due to my move to PHX. But I know that time nor distance will make our bond any weaker and we will have more adventures in the future.