Backpacking in Emigrant

Jeff and I, along with our friends Court, Cat, and their dog Pumpkin, went backpackng in Emigrant Wilderness which is just north of Yosemite. We had planned to leave on Friday afternoon, but the weather wasn't great, so we left early Saturday morning. (The rain and snow Friday evening would not have been fun to sleep in!) The weather was still a little chilly when we started driving. The views were amazing! The picture below was taken from a pullout close to where we started hiking:
We started hiking around 10:30am. It was a little difficult getting used to carrying an extra 30+ pounds in such a large pack, but it was fun and it helped keep me warm. We climbed up to an elevation around 9000 feet. It was well worth it: It was pretty exciting to see snow (although it was so cold, it was hard like ice). Jeff and I are kneeling in the snow:
Then we started a decent into the meadow. We passed a couple of smaller ponds with great reflections:
The colors were also amazing - both in the trees and on the ground:

We rested and ate lunch at Powell Lake. It was pretty cool. Then we continued on for a few miles and decided to set up camp at Chewing Gum Lake. We had a pretty good location just off of the lake. After we set up camp, we decided to hike around the rock formation below:
The sun came out and the weather was pretty nice - still windy, but the sun felt great!
Above is a picture of me on top of some rocks. Jeff then climbed up there and the picture below is of him:
We had a great campfire that night. It got super chilly when the sun went down. We were protected from the wind mostly, but it was still cold. I think we went to bed around 10 or so. Before going to bed we boiled water and put it in our Nalgene bottles and put them in our sleeping bags with us! They really helped keep us warm! I didn't sleep super well throughout the night. I am guessing the weather got down to low-to-mid 20s, so it was pretty cold! We woke up in the morning and made some oatmeal - that was great! W e filtered some water from Chewing Gum before we started on trek back to the vehicle. The weather was great hiking back - probably in the 50s with the sun shining! We stopped along the way and ate lunch - tuna pouches are great for camping! The picture below is just one of the many formations we passed along the way.
The pictures really don't do justice to what we actually saw. It was so peaceful and amazing. We never saw another human and the only animals we saw were chipmunks, squirrels, and birds. We had an amazing time!