This trip’s longest hike was Day Two, a net 1,500′ climb from Glen Aulin up to May Lake over 8 miles. This was the second day of our 2016 hike as well, and the one during which we both ran out of water, having taken only two liters apiece – we didn’t make that mistake again (although we each drank less than two liters today in the cooler temps – better safe than sorry). Breakfast was blueberry and chocolate pancakes, coupled with sausage, fresh fruit, and an egg frittata – you don’t get this from a bag of dehydrated backpacking food. After breakfast, we packed up and set out at about 9am, recrossing the river and climbing up the short but steep incline to the May Lake trail junction. From here, our route would lead about 4 miles up through the Cathedral Creek drainage to a junction with the Murphy Creek trail, where we’d traverse west a short distance to another junction and turn south – we’d climb over a granite ridge into a shallow glacial cirque before a final 400′ climb up to May Lake. About 30 minutes out of Glen Aulin, we passed the placid McGee Lake, thereafter dropping slightly down to Cathedral Creek. On the west side of the creek, we started what we recalled to be a trying climb of 500′ over the next mile – our packs this trip were 7-10 lbs. lighter without tent, sleeping bags, and bear canister, and the climb was much more manageable (here’s where the acclimation hike in Little Lakes Valley paid certain dividends). The end of the initial climb is marked by a large slab that offers views up the Conness Creek drainage, and this we reached in short order – the next mile-and-a-half gave us a gentler ascent up to the promised junction. We were getting hungry for our sack lunches of PB&J sandwiches packed by the Glen Aulin staff, but we wanted to stop somewhere with a view – we recalled some shady areas up on the open ridge ahead, so we pushed through for about another mile until we emerged out of the forest and up onto the rockier terrain. Here, Jane decreed our lunch stop to be a pair of flattish rocks beneath a giant white pine – a nice breeze cooled us while we ate. Continuing, we crossed the rocky ridge into the Raisin Lake cirque to the west. Two years ago, we had completely missed Raisin Lake despite looking intently for it, which was unfortunate given our low water situation that day – some others in camp this morning had stated their intention of stopping at Raisin Lake for a swim, and we mentioned that it was hard to find (indeed, for it turned out they missed it today like we had). Passing across the bottom of the cirque, we stopped to take in a lovely green meadow to our left, and Chris happened to glance left – behold, there was Raisin Lake, clearly visible through the trees. Honestly, it’s crazy how we could have missed it on the last trip, but it does happen to lie behind some trailside rocks – unless you look behind you, you’re likely to not see it. At any rate, we now know where Raisin Lake is (in fact, we also spotted it from the hilltop behind the May Lake camp – once you know where to look, you can’t miss it). We continued past the lake and began the steep but shady switchbacks up the final climb of the day – slow but steady, we made it up, enjoying the views across the cirque to Cathedral Pk and points beyond. Once at camp, we were happy to be greeted by the manager, Brian, our favorite host from the prior trip – the hot showers were most welcome (showers are not available at Glen Aulin), and the turkey dinner was like a fine Thanksgiving spread, complete with stuffing, cranberry sauce, and hearty fresh baked bread. We covered the 8+ miles in 6 hours, which turned out to be a comfortable pace (Chris has discovered the wonders of post-hike Advil, which makes a big difference in next-day soreness). A beautiful day with more to come.