Monday, June 1. An almost empty trailhead next to a fully empty campground. I drove up this afternoon. It's now just short of 5. It's raining lightly but mountain rains usually end in late afternoon. There is time to walk in a few miles rather than stay here.

Here we are.

A few hundred yards in is this crossing of the South Fork of the Salmon River. It's only ankle deep, but it seems odd to pull off the boots and put on the water shoes so soon. If it looks hazy, that's the rain in the air.

A very wet trail sign.

An unnamed stream crossing about 1-3/4 miles in, with a view of the rather dark forest I've been hiking in. I suspect this crossing is usually a rock hop, but not today.

Gray, rainy skies above. It's 6:20 and it's raining harder than when I went in. Not what I expected. Here some pines as well as some firs.

Tuesday, June 2. My campsite was just a flat spot near a second Salmon River crossing. I got into camp a bit after 7 and had to eat dinner and set up in the rain. Rain ended around 10 but it was misty/foggy all night. Water dripped off that fir above my still-wet tent until morning. It's still foggy above but getting brighter.

The Salmon River near camp. My crossing (a bit to the right of this picture) had slower water but was deeper than the first crossing: high on the calf.

The Salmon River near camp, looking upstream. The clouds/fog were still hanging real low.

Everything was wet as I headed out ... including me as I brushed against this stuff.

The sun began to poke though too. Lots of steaming logs as the warmth hit the wet forest floor.

Above, Caribou Mountain is coming out.

After two hours of hiking and 1500' of elevation gain -- mostly through forest -- the subalpine meadows began to open up. My pass is straight ahead, just to the right of the little bump at the left center, although I didn't know the exact location when I took this.

And 10 minutes on from the previous picture, it really opened up. The pass is just off picture to the left.

Crepis sp. (hawksbeard) in a dry rocky corner.

Castilleja arachnoidea (cobwebby paintbrush). Since these were just coming out, I'm far from sure on the identification. C. pilosa (parrothead indian paintbrush) is possible but it's not clear they grow in the Trinities.

As I climb out of the lower meadow, I'm in soggy tundra. Here and in the wetter spots below, I saw more flowers in addition to those in the last pictures: Kalmia, alpine shooting star, marsh marigold, and others.

A look back to the meadow as I continue the climb up the headwall.

There were patches of snow on the way up. Here I managed to stay on the rocks. Elsewhere, I had do a little climbing on snow. While not especially hard, this did get me wondering about the other passes later in the trip.

I made it to the the pass ... a 2500' climb. I guess somebody thought an affirmation was in order.

The view ahead (south). Red metamorphic and white granite geologies mix. More snow on those south-facing slopes than I expected too. The big red peak in the mid-ground left is Mumford Peak. On the horizon, L to R: Seven-Up Peak,, Gibson peak, Deer Creek Pass, the unnamed red peak above Summit lake, and Siligo Peak. Ward Lake is off to the right.

Down the trail to Ward Lake.

The camp area at Ward Lake. The tent is off to the right.

The west end of Ward Lake from near camp. Willows line a marsh. The area had some of the same flowers I saw before the pass coming in.