Tink, Screagle and Pippin took off a few minutes before we did, leaving behind a fine, quiet, empty space in which to walk the first few miles. Desolation's stark granitic landscape has a cathedral effect on me, keeping me silent and contemplative. Not many miles passed before the huge rocks and sparse vegetation gave way to the usual widely-spaced Sierra conifers with occasional patches of lupine and random asters.

Trees thickened as the path switched back up and around a mountain, stopping to give an annoying half-ass view at each of several false summits. When we finally reached it, Dick's Pass summit was a disappointing little grassy patch with a sign post stuck into it. Still, ya have to take a picture at Dick's Pass.