April 21, 2007

I cooked breakfast (I lost the coin toss) this morning at the Bluebird for Ed, Brew Crew, and myself.  We had bacon, eggs, and chocolate protein pudding with sliced bananas topped off with carrot cake provided by Brew Crew.  We needed that breakfast as we ascended the Devil's Slide Trail 2½ miles up to an elevation of 8100 feet. 

I was happy to be wearing my Yak Traks because the snow was slippery.  Brew Crew is fast and went full steam ahead.  We shared an early morning break and a snowball fight. Brew Crew throws hard!  He lobbed a snowball from above, an hour later, I became somewhat skittish throughout my day's hike.  The climbing had me sucking air all day long. Ed and I stopped early and set up our tents on a bedding of dried fern just beyond Deer Springs.