Saturday morning I woke to the sound of my dad noisily opening the door and was scared me half to death. It took me a few minutes to regain my sanity after jumping a few feet off the bed. I got up and savored my waffle breakfast like it was my last day on earth. In the car I could only think of "Good-bye house." I knew the next time I was going to see the house wouldn't be for awhile
When we arrived at the church I hopped out and met the other scouts. We all assembled into our cars that we would be driving in for the next eight hours. My dad was driving so I happily took my seat in the front! Upon entering the car, I examined Zack's CD supply while he did the same with mine. A few of my choices were a little strange according to Zack, but they were just my Dad's Beatles CDs.
Eventually we got to Kraemer Junction and the famed Astro Burger where we saw a guy taxi his plane up to the gas station. His aunt, who happened to be eating at astro burger, told us that he was the first 18 year old lottery winner. Its an interesting place with interesting food and no department of agriculture rating to be seen. Once in Mammoth we found our campsite and set up camp. We passed out bear canisters and set up tents. We had a great McDonalds Dinner and went to sleep.
In the morning we got up and went to McDonalds for breakfast before hitting the road for the tram. At Devils Postpile National Monument, the ranger spoke to us about camping, scouting and helping each other along the trail. He sent us on our way and we hiked on to Devils Postpile. Everyone thought it looked interesting, and with that we moved on. I learned that the pack I had borrowed from another scout did not fit me at all. The backpack’s pins kept pounding into my shoulders with each step I took. We stopped and tried to fix it. Eventually the day rewarded us with our campsite, Deer Creek Crossing.
Here we set up camp and learned that one of the scouts was not feeling so good. He rested for awhile while others fished. During dinner, he reluctantly nibbled on his power bar and later went to sleep closely followed by the other tired scouts.
6:30 wake up call the next morning. We had our oatmeal and hot cocoa, packed up and were on our way. Purple Lake was our second night's camp. More fishing but this time Dave Sweig, Zack Miller, and Tom Sandborne each caught a fish. That night we all got to bed early.
The following morning, another early wake up call. Same morning routine, off to Lake Virginia, and down into Tully Hole. After lunch, we arrived at Squaw Lake, our planned campsite. We fished then packed up again and went and extra mile to Chief Lake where we set up camp and went fishing. Only Dave caught a fish, which he enjoyed with a bowl of mac and cheese. We went to bed with the full moon as our flashlights.
In the morning we had our meals and got over Silver Pass (10,901’) early and dropped down to Silver Pass Lake and finally met the Venture Crew. We talked and then they were on their way. We arrived at Pocket Meadow, our planned 4th night campsite, at only 10:00 AM so we moved on to Fish Camp where we enjoyed an evening campfire.
The next day we got to Hopkins Creek Trail Crossing, our fifth night campsite early in the morning and decided to go on. That day we stopped to fish along Mono Creek where we caught and kept ten fish, including Dave's 10 incher (the biggest fish of the trip).
We reached the junction for Fourth Recess and we decided to camp at Fourth Recess Lake. 
Some people went fishing on the Fourth Recess Lake. Steve and I went with a strange set-up. Using a tangled up reel, with a completely stripped fly tied with a square knot to two pound test, we learned that a hook did not cast very well alone. We tied on a twig as a weight and a bobber. Steve just laughed and shook his head (everyone else would've done the same but fortunately for me, no one else was watching). After a few nibbles and a few bites I reeled in a fish! It didn't occur to me that this fish probably just ran into the hook and had no intention of actually eating the fly. My one and only fish for the whole trip. It was just over the legal 6-inch length. No matter, I caught a fish! Steve couldn't stop laughing. I gutted it and took it up to the log in camp where the other 15 fish were.
At 9:30 (LATE!) in the morning I got out of the tent. We were planning camp only 2 miles away at Trail Lakes, so we could afford to wake up late. When we got there we decided to go on and it started to rain. At Mono Pass, 11,920 feet, we took a few pictures, and then moved on. While coming down, Zack had a conversation with Josh from from the Venture Crew who was a half mile away. Yelling, he informed us that the Venture Crew was going to the end of the trail. We 
arrived at the junction for Ruby Lake and decided what we wanted to do. It was getting late in the day but we decided to push on and meet the explorers at Mosquito Flat, the end of the trail. We were happy of our decision.
It was a long trip of some 45 miles in six days and we all made it. From the marmot to the sunsets to the mountains, it was all worth it. Eventually the painful switchbacks showed us the treasure they had that was waiting for us at the top.
Tom put together a great site with hundreds of pictures profiling the 98 and 99 sierra treks along with routes at http://t680.pillarworks.com.
--Article By (a younger) Jeff McClay
