Well, I ran into a few issues with the trip. Primary among them is that all but two of the campgrounds in the Eastern Sierras are managed and maintained by the U.S. Forest Service. Despite my feelings on the subject, the federal government apparently considers them non-essential and have closed them all. So frustrating. Even worse, one of the two county-run campgrounds decided to close as well. No one, not even the county public works department who runs the place, has any idea why it's been closed.

Up until yesterday I had cancelled my plans to go up there. It's 400 miles (each way) and too expensive to make the trip when there is a high likelihood that there will be no place to stay. Despite the fact that the Forest Service is no longer maintaining the campgrounds during the government shut-down, I have heard from friends in the area that they are heavily policing public lands and citing anyone camped illegally. I made a few calls and through a fairly long process I managed to get in contact with the manager of the only remaining wilderness campground. After a lengthy conversation he said he would make sure there was a space for me when I arrived on Sunday and even if it was full, he would allow me to stay in the Camp Host site until another space became available. Cool guy. So, I'm heading out in the morning. Stay tuned