It was a peaceful night. No bears disturbed our sleep even though, I was sure, Roman was secretly hoping for a sighting. We climbed up a rocky hill just above the camp to greet the rising sun. Everything turned red and orange as the sun rays filtered through some remaining smoke particles to the east. The visibility was however much improved, and even the mountain miles to our west seemed as if they were within an arm's reach. Instead of a bear, we watched a couple of porcupines in a meadow near the campsite.

After packing up the camp we proceeded up along Rush Creek toward Waugh Lake. The valley widens and flattens out a bit, and we had great views of the mountains to the west as the trail circumscribed the lake.

West of Waugh Lake the trail joins the John Muir Trail and slowly climbs toward Island Pass, 10,200 ft. We took a break by a creek to replenish our water supplies and have lunch. As we continued up, the views got better. Shortly before reaching the pass, we were passed by a stray mule. We took another break by a small lake at the top of the pass, taking in the scenery, perhaps the best of our trip up to that point.

From Island Pass, we descended off-trail, straight toward the northwest shores of Thousand Island Lake that lies at the bottom of a big, flat basin. It was easy to find a nice camping spot there. Banner Peak forms a great backdrop across the lake. The wind blew in some smoke and clouds in the late afternoon, but could not take away the appeal from the snowfield decorated mountains to our west.