Today was expected to be our toughest of the four days in the Ritter Range, about 8 miles east and then north up to Thousand Island Lake – this more than any other of our destinations was important to Chris, recalling years before hearing his dad’s stories of backpacking here in the early 60’s with his old Kelty pack, then a high-tech wonder with its external aluminum frame. Our route would take us about 2-1/2 miles back down along Shadow Creek to the JMT where we’d turn left and follow the trail about 3 miles up and over a 1,200′-high ridge and down 300′ to Garnet Lake, followed by another 2-1/2 miles and 400′ up and over a second ridge and down to Thousand Island Lake. Pedro’s knee had started hurting during our cross-country jaunt the day before, and he expected to be slow – Chris woke up feeling a little queasy and took some time packing up, so Pedro decided to hit the trail first and let us catch up to him. Chris and Carter were thus about an hour behind him when they started out at 8:45am. Once on the trail, Chris was feeling much better, and we made good time exiting Ediza Lake and starting eastward down the valley – really easy hiking here through pretty meadows with the morning sun filtering through the trees. By 10am we were at the JMT junction, half expecting Pedro to be waiting here for us for a possible bail-out back to Agnew Meadows given the condition of his knee (to be honest, all three of us would have been fine with that, as two nights at Ediza and the previous day’s stunning hike had already been so fulfilling in the way of experience). But, Pedro was nowhere to be seen, so we turned northward and started up – right away, Carter sped ahead out of sight, and Chris wouldn’t see him again for about two hours. The climb was not as bad as advertised – it looked like an 800′-per-mile gradient on the map but in reality seemed much more gentle than that. It was, however, relentless in its pursuit up the ridge, and Chris took more than a few breaks, especially as the day had gotten quite warm. The route trends northeastward as it winds its way up the slope, eventually reaching the end of a rocky spur off the main ridgeline and turning northward up to a pass at 10,100′. Just after rounding the end of this spur, Chris started off again after a break to find Carter sitting in his chair beside the trail just a few yards ahead – neither of us had seen the other in the woods. Carter had caught up with Pedro 30-45 minutes before, the latter choosing to continue his walk up to the pass while the former waited for his slowpoke dad. Now reunited, Chris and Carter walked together up through timberline and into a very pretty little gully/canyon/hanging valley carpeted along its bottom by a grassy meadow – quite a lovely scene. At the end of the small canyon rose a rocky headwall, and we followed some short switchbacks up to the top of the pass while enjoying views southward to Volcanic Ridge and points much further beyond. Over the north side of the pass, the JMT makes what is considered to be one of the classic Sierra descents, a moderate grade into the Garnet Lake basin with views west to Mt. Ritter and Banner Peak – the trail did not at all disappoint. We caught up to Pedro about halfway down the descent, and we hiked in a 1/4-mile long caravan the rest of the way down to Garnet Lake’s outlet and the log bridge across it. We had talked over breakfast about possibly camping here for the night instead of going up to Thousand Island Lake, and, once here, we quickly decided to do just that – Carter’s knee had started bothering him with an ailment exactly like Pedro’s and further mileage sounded quite unappealing, plus the high clouds that had been forming in the west since the morning had begun to darken and consolidate over Banner Peak. We passed a few nice campsites along the north shore that were already occupied, opting to explore down a use trail leading west from where the JMT started its climb up and away from Garnet Lake. Carter scouted ahead (something that had become a trend) and found a nice site on the water that was big enough for our two tents. We got camp set up and watched Carter fish as the clouds thickened overhead – about 3:30pm, the skies opened up, the rain lasting off and on for a couple of hours. In typical Sierra fashion, everything dried up right away and the rest of the day was really pleasant, a cool breeze off the lake and beautiful views west to the peaks, clouds, and setting sun. It was Pedro’s turn to split mac ‘n’ cheese with Carter, while Chris opted for a cold dinner of beef jerky, pita bread, and peanut butter. We hit the hay not long after the moon rose above Banner Peak, the range silhouetted against the last glow of daylight – a magical view.