I enjoyed my first backpacking trip in the Sierra with friends Susy and Parker. We spent eight days exploring the South Lake-North Lake loop. From breathtaking high alpine tarns to langourous river meadows, it was a thoroughly engaging experience.

Since I was carrying eight days of food, with a bearcan, plus my usual backpacking gear, I paired down my art kit to the essentials: a couple of 4B pencils plus sharpener, two Kolinsky travel watercolor brushes (the upper half of the handle serves as a brush cover), my small Winsor Newton 12 half-pan sketcher palette with my choice of favorite colors, a few loose sheets of 4.5″x6″ and 6″x9″ Strathmore drawing paper, Arches 140lb, and Museo Carta lighweight cotton paper (a gift), and a 6″x9″ cardboard from the back of a pad, held together with a mini binder clip. I used a small plastic bag or my drinking cup to hold water collected from the closest creek or lake.

I’m grateful for the good company, scenic landscapes, and a few short breaks between hiking to paint!