We got to the Gov't Trail trailhead late in the day, but early enough to consider starting out on the trail rather than camping at the trailhead.  The well defined trail petered out just as the light faded so that we couldn't see the cairns to go on, so we pitched our tents on the mesa top where dark found us.  I found a nice sandy spot to pitch my tent. Later that night we had a bunch of rain and snow and I found out why my nice sandy spot existed - it was a puddle and my tent bottom became a water bed.  Fortunately, Roger had pitched his tent on a slightly higher spot so I transferred my bag to his tent for the remainder of the night.