Brewer Basin in Kings Canyon

The sun sets in Brewer Basin at Big Brewer Lake.

A Mt. Brewer Sunset

Dave had been having trouble sleeping thus far into the trip, but I don't think anyone sleeps well the first few nights on a trip, particularly at high altitude. We were at nearly 11,000 feet, even though our surroundings seemed more appropriate for 10,000 feet or less. The lingering sunlight and warm breezes from Sugarloaf Valley below must encourage more tree growth and flowers higher in this basin than normal. And this was a strange El Nino year, with a very late spring. At the time of this trip, the grass should have been yellow, the flowers gone, the waters quiet, and the mosquitoes a distant early season memory. However, there was still lingering snow to keep the streams flowing and the grass growing, there were still flowers everywhere of all kinds, and there still buzzed the occasional mosquito even at this altitude. It all looked like late spring instead of late summer.
So Dave was off to bed as soon as he was ready, and I followed soon after. It had been a long, tiring and eventful day.