A Purple Creek
Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 10:05 am
A couple of us will be doing a 4-day 3-night backpack from the Coldwater Creek TH at Mammoth Lakes over Duck Pass and up into the Purple Creek basin. I've always wanted to see purple water and in fact there is a Purple Lake there that must be a real sight all purple. (: Of course at this time of summer most of the Inyo NF quota trailheads are all reserved for Saturdays and Fridays as one can see at the recreation.gov site. Noticed there are still 3 open permits for Thursday August 7 so am giving a heads up to anyone, M or F, on our board that might want to independently visit that basin too and tag along as much as they want.
My own timeline is as usual rather unusual versus what normal backpackers do as I always have detailed photography plans requiring being at specific locations at best times of each day and generally making efficient use of my time. My bros interest is mainly fishing so in that spirit I'll also be carrying my rod with some #16 Adams and Kastmasters to hopefully fit some fishing time in too supplementing our protein. Note will be lugging up the Gigapan Epic 100 robotic head with my A6000 instead of the usual much heavier 4x5 sytem as the former was productive making some huge PS Photomerge stitched images on my recent Kearsarge Pass trip,.
Accordingly we will get the permit from a nightbox on our drive up Wednesday evening probably getting to the TH between 10pm and 11pm. Then get a jump on the trail by hiking for an hour till after midnight when we can legally say we are camping on Thursday. Will get a short night's sleep then be up at sunrise and quickly on the trail by maybe 6:30am. Duck Pass at the 3.6 mile point is a 1700 foot effort so that ought to leave us less than 900 feet to get over the pass by 8:30am or so. Yeah and I always hike slow with every waist height boulder and log along the trail our friend. Then will ramble down to the Duck Lake outlet at the 4.5 mile point where will spend a couple or three hours tossing out lines giving ourselves a mid-hike rest. Then late morning will continue on to Purple Lake that is mostly level traversing on the PCT/JMT highway at the 7.5 mile point. Probably reach there by early afternoon and go the half mile around to the backside of the lake for a camp spot with a few hours to enjoy at the end of the day.
So next morning Friday will rise at early dawn, pack up, and be off by sunrise for the short one mile and 700 feet or so up to the upper basin where by about 7:30am will find a camp spot and work morning photography. Next day Saturday, will pack up in the afternoon and after afternoon photography will leave by about 6pm, moving back down the trail to the PCT junction at Duck Creek. Never seen a creek of ducks instead of water either? Then Sunday morning will get up about sunrise, pack up, and probably toss lines in awhile at Duck Lake before climbing the pass and returning to the trailhead.
My own timeline is as usual rather unusual versus what normal backpackers do as I always have detailed photography plans requiring being at specific locations at best times of each day and generally making efficient use of my time. My bros interest is mainly fishing so in that spirit I'll also be carrying my rod with some #16 Adams and Kastmasters to hopefully fit some fishing time in too supplementing our protein. Note will be lugging up the Gigapan Epic 100 robotic head with my A6000 instead of the usual much heavier 4x5 sytem as the former was productive making some huge PS Photomerge stitched images on my recent Kearsarge Pass trip,.
Accordingly we will get the permit from a nightbox on our drive up Wednesday evening probably getting to the TH between 10pm and 11pm. Then get a jump on the trail by hiking for an hour till after midnight when we can legally say we are camping on Thursday. Will get a short night's sleep then be up at sunrise and quickly on the trail by maybe 6:30am. Duck Pass at the 3.6 mile point is a 1700 foot effort so that ought to leave us less than 900 feet to get over the pass by 8:30am or so. Yeah and I always hike slow with every waist height boulder and log along the trail our friend. Then will ramble down to the Duck Lake outlet at the 4.5 mile point where will spend a couple or three hours tossing out lines giving ourselves a mid-hike rest. Then late morning will continue on to Purple Lake that is mostly level traversing on the PCT/JMT highway at the 7.5 mile point. Probably reach there by early afternoon and go the half mile around to the backside of the lake for a camp spot with a few hours to enjoy at the end of the day.
So next morning Friday will rise at early dawn, pack up, and be off by sunrise for the short one mile and 700 feet or so up to the upper basin where by about 7:30am will find a camp spot and work morning photography. Next day Saturday, will pack up in the afternoon and after afternoon photography will leave by about 6pm, moving back down the trail to the PCT junction at Duck Creek. Never seen a creek of ducks instead of water either? Then Sunday morning will get up about sunrise, pack up, and probably toss lines in awhile at Duck Lake before climbing the pass and returning to the trailhead.