Two weeks ago I was in Bishop taking a zero and I planned on heading out two days later. I received a call from my dad and he told me that my cousin, Brody, was found dead that morning. Though we’d grown apart in our late twenties we grew up like brothers. My brother, Cameron, Brody, and myself were neighbors for years growing up and had countless sleepovers and everything of the sort. Of all my cousins he was the closest in age to me.

It was a shock. Long story short, I got off trail to wait to see if there was a service and so I could talk with family. Robin drove all the way from CO to get me and I stayed with her. It was very tough but it was the right decision. I would’ve had 10 days with no service and without contacting family and I couldn’t fathom that with this news. I was off trail for a total of 11 days. There was no service for him but I knew it was time to come back on trail. I met Bri in Mammoth and we got a ride to Red’s Meadow and hiked about a half mile out and camped.

Today I woke up damp at 7am. We got to bed so late last night and we wanted to sleep in. It felt good to be back on trail. I was warm all night and slept great. The morning was beautiful. We were in a thick forest. The climbs were easy and the views were abundant. Water crossed the trail what seemed like every mile. We stopped for a few breaks and decided on a 16ish mile day. The mosquitos were starting to get really bad.

I hadn’t listened to music in over 2 months. I decided to let myself finally listen today. I missed it enough to give it a go. I put on shuffle and skipped s few songs that didn’t feel right as my first song. I ended up on “Simplify” by young the giant. It was a great candidate. Very full sounding. Next I queues up a few songs by the Eagles that I love. I welled up because it sounded so good. Some songs made me think of Brody. I held back tears because others were around and I didn’t want to have to explain. I hiked for about an hour and listened to music. It thoroughly enhanced my hike. Everything felt colorful and in motion. It felt good to finally listen.

At the top of the climb the trail skirted a ridge and had absolutely gorgeous views of peaks, waterfalls, lakes, meadows. It was spectacular. And the hiking was very easy. As we approached camp for the night at Thousand Island Lake we met a very friendly ranger. He gave us some insights and asked for our permits. We continued on and made it to the lake and have arguably the most beautiful campsite I’ve ever had in my life. We cooked dinner and swatted hoards of mosquitos away and then darted into our tents. It was a wonderful first day back.