Over the Labor Day holiday, a group of friends got together for a restful trip into the Sequoia NP backcountry. Our goal was Mosquito Lake #5 near the Mineral King Ranger Station. The plan was for this to be a relaxing weekend of lounging, fly fishing, and storytelling.

-This is the trip report

I awoke at 2:34am on Saturday morning to my alarm playing a calm piano sonnet instead of my typical "Africa" by Toto. The switch wasn't welcome, it's funny how even a delightful sounding melody can sting in the early morning. Instead of leaving the night before, we decided on an alpine start. I walked out to the living room, Ali was crashed on my couch. He woke up to the sound of my footsteps, and groans as if we were working on a mere 3.5 hours of sleep.

We rendezvous with the rest of the crew and begin our journey out of LA, loaded up in Ali's 4Runner, we stop for gas in Burbank. It's hot outside and the air smells of ash. The La Tuna wildfire raging in the Verdugo hills is an eerie view in the 3am night. Standing in the thick, stuffy air makes the thought of a mountain lake a welcome relief from the heatwave that has punished Southern California for the past week.

But wildfires can be mesmerizing.