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Adventures With Rogue Photonic 2014 July 8-August 12

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 1:36 pm
by alpinemike
The long awaited trail report is here! Since we all want to know what it's like to follow Rogue through the mountains I can finally provide you that with a first hand account. I traveled with him for 34-35 days straight. An experience of a lifetime as anyone would say. This will be a very colorful trail report and I'll attempt to make it as real as possible to relate what was actually going on! I'll be posting it by week and I doubt I'll be done with the whole report for at least another couple weeks. Just as a general summary: I started on North Lake on the 8th of July and meet up with Rogue and his friend Derek at Vee Lake on the 10th of July. We traveled through the Mono Divide the next few weeks. Then we traveled into Ionian Basin and the Enchanted Gorge and ending up at South Lake. The last leg was very remote and took us to the fabled Island Bird Lake. At this point I bid Rogue farewell and came out at South Lake on the 11th of August. So here comes Week 1!

Day 1- North Lake to Desolation Lake 7.9 Miles
While this was technically Day 1 of this backpacking trip it was already Day 3 of being in the mountains. I got up to Rock Creek Lake 2 days prior and attempted to climb Mt. Dade but due to bad weather I retreated and got to check out the Treasure Lakes along with Morgan Pass. It rained a good part of that day. The next morning I wanted to climb Mt. Morgan but alas by 6 A.M. it was raining! Another summit attempt failed! It was a boring day as I relaxed and made my way to Lake Sabrina where I could hang out and seek shelter from the rain. It rained off and on all day long. Little did I know but this rain and general weather pattern would not be an exception.. it would be the norm to the entire 37 days! Fortunately though it cleared up and I was able to set up my tent at the North Lake campground that night and enjoy my last night in 'civilization' for a long time. The following morning was July 8th and finally Day 1 of this adventure. It dawned clear and I was excited since I wanted to summit Mt. Emerson. Maybe today I would not be thwarted. But alas as the morning progressed the clouds built stronger and stronger and when I got to Piute Pass by 11 they were dark and ominous. I love climbing mountains but the prospect of bad weather usually causes me to stray away. And in this case especially since it was a long approach with a tricky route as I've heard I didn't want to take that chance. So I skipped it and made my way to Desolation Lake in Humphrey's Basin. Oh.. how gorgeous that area was! It was my first time off trail in this area. I had done South to North Lake last year and was very excited to explore more of the area this year. All day the thunderheads built but not a drop of rain! I was thoroughly confused as there wasn't even very much thunder.. Weird weather I thought. I enjoyed my lazy afternoon and experienced one of the most terrific sunsets I had on the entire trip that first night. The next day would be all cross country to Merriam Lake.
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Day 2- Desolation Lake to Merriam Lake 5-6 Miles
Today was my first full day off the trail. And essentially all of it was on the Sierra High Route. My pack was very heavy with close to 13 days worth of food. I had not only my Bearikade Expedition stuffed to the brim but I also had an Ursack which carried what I couldn't fit into my Bearikdade. And of course on top of all that was 10-11 pounds of camera gear. I estimated that my pack weight was around 48-50 pounds! And with lots of fun cross country terrain in store for me it would be quite an experience. I set out in the morning and went over Puppet Pass, which was an easy Class 2 trek. Today my goal was to climb Pilot Knob. And fortunately for me I was actually able to accomplish my first summit this trip finally! The weather held up great albeit clouds did build all day long. The view from the top had a fantastic view down Piute Canyon! I made my way down and then all the way down the forested hillside to the junction with French Creek and the trail in the canyon. I immediately found the use trail for Merriam Lake and started up my last uphill for the day. Boy.. it was steep in places! I was tired at this point having climbing not only Pilot Knob but also Puppet Pass that day. I finally made it to Merriam Lake right before 6 or so. There I had some company with two gentleman that were doing a section of the high route. One of them was intrigued by my photography enough to want to buy one of my pieces. I am extremely grateful that he did and hope that he enjoys the piece. Merriam Lake was pretty, but something about it wasn't as grand as I had thought it. We enjoyed another pretty sunset over Mt. Humprehys and some distant thunder as we went to sleep.
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Day 3- Merriam Lake to Vee Lake 3 Miles
Today I would finally meet the fabled Rogue Photonic! But first I had plans of climbing both Merriam and Royce Peaks. I made my way up the waterfall above Merriam Lake in short order and enjoyed the vast beauty of the basin above the lake. This was true High Sierra Beauty. I soon dropped my pack and made the trek up to Royce-Merriam Saddle. It was a gorgeous trek up to it and the view from the top of it was profoundly inspiring. The snow on the East side was definitely still there albeit not enough to warrant an ice ax if one wanted to climb around it. I started up Royce which turned into a slog quickly but after about 40 minutes or so I was on the summit plateau. And here things got interesting... I couldn't find the summit register! I also couldn't figure out which point was the highest so I tried all of them! At one point I had to go around a drop-off and I found myself on technical Class 4 terrain alone... That was intriguing to say the least. After all that work I still couldn't find the register and concluded it suffered the same fate as so many others in the Sierra. It was stolen and it became the only peak in the Sierra I've climbed thus far without a register. I was definitely annoyed and as I started to head down to the saddle the imposing wall of Merriam caught my eye.. Oh.. how I wished I could bag this peak too, but time was running short as I realized I didn't want to get to Vee Lake in the dark and have to try and find Rogue and Derek. The prospect of climbing up Merriam and then down and then having to climb up to LaSalle col did not sound fun so I skipped out on Merriam. I got back to my pack in short order and looked up to see my beast.. LaSalle Col. Very little is known about it and so I ventured as a true explorer. It was the most obvious and best route to Vee Lake so mileage wise I had little to cover. I made my way higher and higher going through mostly Class 2 terrain. But, as the day got later the clouds built stronger and stronger. The sky was downright ominous as I approached the pass. I knew it was raining just over the ridge by Feather Pass so I really was running up that pass to escape the weather. I had to press on and eventually I made the top and sure enough it drizzled literally the moment I made the top! I quickly realized that I had just come up the easy side of the pass and I was staring straight down a bunch of cliffs! Wow... I was not expecting this at all and with impending weather my nerves were on edge. I quickly located some ledges to get down and started following them and hoping no dead ends presented themselves. Sure enough though.. one did and I was faced with a decision... Attempt to backtrack or downclimb a 30-40 foot cliff face. I picked the downclimb which was not the best of ideas as I actually lost the foot hold and slid down the entire face and thankfully landed directly on my feet. What a jolt that was! Didn't suffer any damage and only seemed to hurt my pride a bit. I was lucky I'd say. The drizzle stopped and the sun even came out as I kept making my way down the Class 3 terrain. Eventually I made my way to the massive boulder field at the bottom which took an enormous amount of time to get through. Finally I was tramping through fairly level terrain to Vee Lake. The terrain was beautiful, but I was tired. I looked back at LaSalle col and definitely said I would never want to do it again. It wasn't technically challenging just very long and steep. I finally made my way around Vee Lake and found both Rogue and Derek waiting for me. I had never meet up with anyone in the wilderness before so this was an experience to actually meet the people you scheduled to meet up with. I remember one of the first things I said to them was that Secor must be out of his mind to think LaSalle Col was only Class 2! We laughed I eventually set up my camp and we all had dinner amid a beautiful sunset that displayed some very ominous clouds and color. Vee Lake was just gorgeous. Definitely one of my favorite lakes in the entire Sierra.
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Day 4- Vee Lake to Big Moccasin Lake 3.6 Miles
Today was my first day hiking with other true backpackers. I had never been able to backpack with anyone with more experience than me for anymore than a day or two. Here was my chance to explore the majesty of the Sierra with people who shared my love of the Sierra. We ventured to the outlet of Vee Lake and made our way past the 7 Gables Lakes. The early morning reflections of 7 Gables in some ponds was magical and just the kind of beauty you would hope for when venturing deep in the heart of the Sierra. We made our way up to Gemini Pass, which is another pass that little is known about. Rogue and I took a slightly different route than Derek and his way proved better but alas no worse than any Class 2. The permanent snow field was there and in a good year an ice ax may be necessary but not this year. At the top we had a terrific view of Gemini and the tarn directly below the pass. Our next objective was Gemini. And now is where the first of many ridiculous adventures with Rogue begins. We looked up and saw the route consisted of a horribly steep and loose chute. At some points it was easily a 50-55 degree incline. I was not a fan to say the least but onward we pushed. The chute became extremely narrow and loose. So loose that we would frequently have to yell 'rock' and keep to the sides. There was a permanent snow patch in the chute that was very soft but still presented an unpleasant experience if one slipped on it. The very top of the chute narrowed to a minuscule notch in the ridge-line. At this spot there was actually a snow bank, that was fortunately melted back enough for us to get around it. If it had not melted back this route would have been impossible without an ice ax and crampons and nerves of steel! In all essence and excuse the language but the chute was f***** up. I don't really know another way to put it. Nothing about it was good and I told Rogue that we're looking for another way down and he most assuredly agreed. Unfortunately I have no photographs of this chute since I didn't bring my camera to the summit. We will all have to wait for Rogue to get out in October to see any photos of how nasty it was. Eventually though we caught up to Derek and finished the last bit of Class 3 climbing to the summit. The view was majestic with peaks seen up and down the range. We headed down and Rogue and I found a much better way along the ridge-line and then dropping down another broader slope that had some fair Class 3 but never seemed as awful as the first chute. Derek managed to get down the chute in no time and was back at the packs long before us. Derek truly is a mountain goat! We traversed along the lake and faced a bit of Class until descending the easy slopes into the basin directly East of The Pinnacles. Such a majestic area where very few parties every visit. We eventually made it to the shores of Big Moccasin Lake which were very pretty. The lake itself is situated directly on the edge with an awe-inspiring view into Piute Canyon and directly back towards Pilot Knob, The Glacier Divide, and Humphreys. Definitely a fantastic and adventure filled first day with Rogue.
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Day 5- Big Moccasin Lake to Wampum Lake 3.2 Miles
Today was a pretty mellow day in which we traversed around the South edge of The Pinnacles and found our way around the basin to the West of them and ended up at pretty Wampum Lake. The terrain was fairly gentle with little harder than Class 2. Wampum Lake was cold but we all decided to enjoy a little jump off a rock which cooled us off after the warm day. This day and the previous day had great weather with very few clouds building. After setting up camp we all tramped up to Turret Peak and made the ascent easily. The view was fantastic towards Goddard Canyon. I could see very peak I had climbed the past 4 days. I was standing on my 4th peak on this trip and it was only Day 5! We made it down in short order to enjoy dinner and a beautiful moon-rise over The Pinnacles. That was a sight to be remembered.

Day 6- Wampum Lake to Sandpiper Lake 3 Miles
The day dawned and I found myself a bit tight in my tent. It just so happened that my tent seemed to collapse on itself and on me during the night because of some nasty wind gusts! I was laughing in my tent and soon Rogue and Derek joined in the amusement as I just slept right through it. I would have to pitch it better next time, especially since if real weather threatened that would not be a fun experience. Today we climbed up and over Wampum Pass (not official) and traversed along the ridge-line to get a look at Mt. Senger. Rogue and I looked at each other and definitely knew we had no interest in climbing it. The route was loose looking and annoying and we both just decided to be lazy that day. We continued on to descend Senger Pass down to Three Island Lake. Derek, opted to climb the peak and succeeded in climbing it and came back considerably later in the afternoon when we had already established camp at Sandpiper Lake. Sandpiper Lake was the first time we were camped in trees in 4 days. It was a gorgeous lake with a nice camping area. I would definitely be inclined to visit it again. Another day of beautiful weather but I knew that the weather soon would turn...

Day 7- Climbing 7 Gables
Today was all about climbing 7 Gables. We enjoyed a relaxed morning and the first time we didn't have to break camp. We made our way up the brushy slope and soon encountered the ridge-line and made our way up. Derek, naturally in the lead waited for Rogue and I at the summit. We finally made it and I was definitely astounded! The view I believe was the best I saw on the whole trip. From Ritter-Banner to the Kaweahs and everything in between. And there was fortunately no smoke to hinder the view. Clouds were building though quickly. We all made the awesome move up to the summit block of 7 Gables which is by far the best summit block I've been on. Very easy Class 3 move but with enormous exposure on all sides! 2000 vertical feet down is what you face if you fall. Both Rogue and Derek thought I was going over the edge when I was down-climbing it! Fortunately no accidents for us there. As we descended we saw rain over Mt. Hooper and several bolts of lightening. As we were making our way down it started to rain and it rained a bit in camp that afternoon. Both Rogue and Derek decided to take a swim in the rain but I preferred not to get cold at that point! Soon the rain let up and we had a great evening relating the adventures of Gemini and the other peaks along with 7 Gables and it's glorious summit block.

And thus concluded the first week of this adventure! Stay tuned for more...

Re: Adventures With Rogue Photonic 2014 July 8-August 12

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 1:39 pm
by alpinemike
Here are more photos from the first week:
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Re: Adventures With Rogue Photonic 2014 July 8-August 12

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 5:13 pm
by Wandering Daisy
Looking forward to the rest of the story. I was wondering what Rogue was up to. Glad to hear he is OK. I climbed 7 Gables years ago, and yes, it is a very wonderful summit! I lucked out and found a good route down the cliffs of LaSalle Col, but got hung up in the lower boulders. Easiest way to get to Bear Lakes from the east is Pine Creek TH to Italy Pass, over Dancing Bear pass. Much easier than LaSalle.

Re: Adventures With Rogue Photonic 2014 July 8-August 12

Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 8:44 pm
by richlong8
Wow! Keep it coming. Great report. You guys are out of my league, but my hats are off to you. Obviously you made it, or we would not get to read this great trip report.

Re: Adventures With Rogue Photonic 2014 July 8-August 12

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 5:24 pm
by KathyW
Great report and beautiful photos. Seven Gables is on my to-do list - it looks like a beauty. I'm looking forward to reading/seeing more of the journey.

Re: Adventures With Rogue Photonic 2014 July 8-August 12

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 9:45 am
by Jimr
Looking forward to your next installment.

"I remember one of the first things I said to them was that Secor must be out of his mind to think LaSalle Col was only Class 2!"

That seems to be a common theme regarding Secor and many of his class 2 designations.

Re: Adventures With Rogue Photonic 2014 July 8-August 12

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 7:47 pm
by sekihiker
Great photos of a lovely area. Thanks

Re: Adventures With Rogue Photonic 2014 July 8-August 12

Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 6:43 pm
by RoguePhotonic
What!? I'm back and this report is not done? :D

It was good hiking with you Mike. I was worried at times about you following me through some of that nasty terrain but you survived with a fairly minimum amount of injuries. Although you fell down more times than I can count. :p

Hopefully we will be back at it soon!

Re: Adventures With Rogue Photonic 2014 July 8-August 12

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 5:48 pm
by alpinemike
Yeah I definitely fell down a lot... especially in that stupid Enchanted Gorge. I can't wait to write up that part of this report! So without further ado... Let's go on to Week 2!

Day 8- Sandpiper Lake to Lake Italy 8.2 Miles
Today Derek left us in the morning to go back home. We headed out from Sandpiper Lake and soon hit the John Muir Trail. It was the first time I was on a trail since my first day of this adventure. We saw a handful of parties and eventually got to the Hilgard Branch cut off to the Lake Italy trail. We traveled up this gorgeous part of the Sierra at a good pace. It was my first time wandering off the JMT in this part of the Sierra. I absolutely loved the canyon you traveled up and the views got better and better the entire way through. Eventually we made up to Lake Italy and I was amazed. It was the largest lake I had been to at such a high altitude. I thought it was gorgeous. The views toward the Sierra with Abbot, Dave, and Bear Creek Spire were unparalleled. And of course we got there just in time for the rain to begin shortly after. As Rogue was putting up his tent a squally came through and bent his pole. No real damage but it frustrating. Soon the weather turned very cold and Rogue told me it looked like snow weather was coming. The low clouds and fog circled all around us and soon a very real storm began. Hours upon hours of thunder and lightning. The thunder echoed and boomed off the walls of Mt. Hilgard and Julius Caesar! It was absolutely epic. Peaks were getting hit right and left. My tent had some very serious issues. The way I pitched it along with the netting on the bottom caused some seepage and leakage. I soon found myself grabbing my camera gear and putting it close to my head in an attempt to prevent it from getting wet. The storm lasted all through dinner and even into the night a bit. It was very frustrating to cook dinner and not have a vestibule. Yeah.. it sucked! I kept looking over at how nice Rogue had it with his 2 darn vestibules... That's when I realized there's no way I'm bringing this tent on a long trip again... Far too cramped and if it rains I have no way of cooking dinner normally. The storm lasted for at least 4-5 hours and soon I was sleeping softly amid a very wet tent even on the inside.
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Day 9- Climb Mt. Hilgard
Today's objective rested in climbing Mt. Hilgard. Not a challenging mountain from our side. Just a long slog up talus, scree, and some easy Class 3 ridge. I cut my hand at some point on a nice sharp piece of granite. When we finally made the summit block I decided to put my blood into the summit register in memory of Walter (Pete) Starr Jr. as he famously did on Black Kaweah in 1929. The views were phenomenal with lots of clouds building so we decided to get down. On our way down Rogue found a perfectly good looking Cannon Film SLR Camera with several rolls of film. It seems as though it just somehow fell and didn't get damaged at least from the look and feel of it. We packed it out and I'll get to the story on that later. As we got back to camp it was in no time that it started to rain again. This time the storm lasted all day long from noon till after 6. I was so cramped in my tiny tent. Fortunately it cleared up for dinner and we had a nice dinner with a pretty sunset.
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Day 10- Climb Mt. Julius Caesar
Today was another climbing day. We quickly made our way around Lake Italy and got up to Italy Pass. From there it was a quick jaunt to Julius Caesar. There was a fantastic view from the summit which looked directly at the walls of Abbot, Dade, and Bear Creek Spire. As we got back to camp it rained once again. This time though it wasn't strong and didn't last long initially. There was a massive dark cloud mass over the Little Lakes Valley peaks that seemed to hang around for hours. The wind was blowing the storm North, but eventually the wind direction changed and blew the storm South. Which means that entire area got hit twice. And of course where should the wind blow next but directly towards us to the West. Soon we got hit decently hard with the storm. it was stupidly annoying since just when dinner rolled around this happened. Once again I was cooking half in my tent and half outside... It hailed a bit as well, but soon the storm left and we had another pretty sunset.



Day 11- Lake Italy To 2nd Recess Camp 8 or so miles
We got up early and made our way around the North side of the lake. Made it up really easily up to Gabbot Pass. From there I convinced Rogue that we were climbing Mt. Gabb. I really wanted to finish the peaks in this area so we trudged up the slopes. Soon we got to the end of the supposed Class 2 ridge to the summit. As usual we were cursing at Secor for an incomplete route description. We soon found ourselves on very annoying Class 3 into Class 4 rock. It wasn't long until we were in another stupid chute. I was about 40 foot below Rogue and off to the side. He climbed up on a rock and declared "this is one of those moments when you have to trust the rock and it is either going to hold or kill you". And sure enough just as he stepped off it the boulder came crashing down the chute! It took both his camera and water bottle with it. Fortunately both survived. The camera was a bit dented still completely functional. As we climbed higher the rock kept getting harder and harder. We found ourselves at a position where the moves went from Class 4 to Class 5. Rogue did a friction move that was easily in the 5.5 range and I said no way to that. I looked for a different route only to find I had one other option which was to say not much better. It was another friction type climb with decent exposure. I climbed up it and got to the top. My adrenaline was pumping harder than ever. That was by far the sketchiest climbing I had ever done at that point. This was the crux of the climb as the rest of it consisted of some boulders and scree. We were the first to sign the new 2014 Register. A terrific view to Ritter-Banner and directly in front of us lay the 2nd Recess and the beautiful rock around Red Slate and Red & White Mountains. We avoided the Class 5 bull**** on the way down and found an annoyingly loose chute instead. When we finally got back to our packs it was quite late.. at least 2 or so in the afternoon and we were dead beat tired, hungry, and thirsty. As we descended the North side of the pass we were treated to a glorious lunch with amazing glacial water. Regaining a bit of energy we made our way to see Upper Mills Creek lake which had the most beautiful glacial turquoise blue color of any lake I had ever seen in the Sierra. We even took a nice dip in it. What a great feeling that was. We made our way past Lower Mills Creek Lake and started descending into the 2nd Recess until we reached the bottom. It was the first time we'd really camped in a forest the entire trip and it was the first time I had really seen one since when I had left the trail in French Canyon to go up to Merriam Lake. We planned on camping somewhere higher up but we just kept chugging along. It was a long tiring day but fortunately good food at VVR awaited us no sooner than tomorrow!

Day 12- 2nd Recess Camp to VVR 12-13 Miles
We got a fairly early start and hammered out the 12-13 miles before 1. Since there was no ferry running we walked along the bed of the dry lake. What an eerie landscape that was. It was a desolate post-apocalyptic looking wasteland especially with the way the clouds were coming in. It took us a long hot 2 hours to cross the entire lake but finally we made it to the fabled promised land... VVR! The first thing I ordered was cheese fries and my Lord it was heavenly beyond belief. We got our tents set up and none too soon did it start to rain quite heavily. This was accompanied by a nice thunderstorm. Since it was Saturday we feasted on Roy's amazing BBQ.

Days 13 & 14 AT VVR
Both of these days were layover days where countless stories were told by lots of JMTer's and PCTer's. Some of the PCTer's told stories about their friends that I had actually met on my June trip way down South by Mt. Whitney. I can't remember anymore if it rained both days but I seem to think it stopped raining on Day 14. A lot of JMTer's told us of all the rain that had occurred further North and it seems as though the ultimate summer of rain had begun! Little did we know what was going to await us as we set out on the next section. On the 14th I even got to wash dishes in the kitchen so that I could get a free dinner. I was definitely running low on funds and wanted to make sure in case of emergencies I would have enough later. And to finish the story about the camera.. We were able to give it to one of the waitresses there. I actually got quite a great deal out of it.. 2 six packs of beer completely for free! I definitely enjoyed my beer there those 3 days!

And thus concludes the 2nd week of this adventure. The next week will feature Ionian Basin and the Ragged Spur.. so stay tuned for the continuation of my greatest adventures yet!

Re: Adventures With Rogue Photonic 2014 July 8-August 12

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 5:54 pm
by alpinemike
Here are more photos from the 2nd Week:
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