Mills Lake to Lake Haiyaha (2.6 miles)

As we hiked from Mills Lake to Lake Haiyaha, we encountered a lot of people going in the opposite direction. More than one said, "You are doing this backward." But I don't think we were. From Lake Haiyaha to Bear Lake is a large difference in elevation, and I was happier coming down rather than walking up. Plus, there were many less people.

While hiking and discussing racism inherent in casting movies, I looked up to see a woman ahead on the trail grinning at me. It turned out to be Matt's Aunt Mary Elizabeth, who had made plans to meet up with a hiking group, but missed her connection and was hiking by herself. In a huge park with over 200 miles of trails, it was funny to run into her. Alas, our self portrait casts her in a shadow. Matt also ran into her at the airport when he was returning the rental car.

We made it to Lake Haiyaha. There was a goodly amount of bouldering to get to our perch. I settled in for a rest, but Matt wanted to make it to a big rock further out. Once he got there, he pointed out a rock that he wanted to take a picture of. He wasn't satisfied with my picture (wrong angle, he said) and so came back, grabbed the camera and headed off to take a better picture. You can see all of this in a short slide show:

The picture he took of the rock. Oh! I'm in it.