Adventures With Rogue Photonic 2014 July 8-August 12

[RoguePhotonic]

Derek has completed a video for the section he was with us:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcDbMWL ... ture=share" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[sekihiker]

Derek has completed a video

Really enjoyed this amazing and well-produced video.

[tanngrisnir3]

Derek has completed a video for the section he was with us:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcDbMWL ... ture=share" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Like a mini-compresso version of "Mile, Mile and a Half"!

Well done!

[FeetFirst]

Derek has completed a video

Really enjoyed this amazing and well-produced video.

Ditto. Thanks for sharing.

[Hobbes]

Excellent.

Q: Did Derek ever wear his boots? He was wearing his NB minimus even on the trail sections of the video. I was wondering if he just got used to walking in those all the time.

[alpinemike]

Hi Hobbes. Derek only wore those NB Minimus. He didn't bring boots, which I thought was quite impressive. I was wearing a trail shoe by NB but after this 12 day section it was showing some serious signs of use. And after the following 14 day section they completely fell apart. I'll post a photo at some point. I now use approach shoes as I find them the perfect shoe for both walking on the trail and cross country terrain without the weight and bulk of a large boot.

[Shawn]

Excellent video, thanks for sharing.

[alpinemike]

Alright... finally found some time to write up Week 3 of this adventure. Being an undergrad at a university and trying to work definitely gets in the way of writing up trip reports let alone climbing mountains! But without further ado.. here comes Week 3 which I would say was the most tumultuous week of my life with adventures filling almost every other day. I will be as straight as possible and try not to embellish anything. Hopefully that will allow all of you to try and experience what these adventures were like if you were in our shoes! Let's begin..

Day 15- VVR to Blayney Hot Springs 5.2 Miles
Today started out quite funny. We missed our ride to Florence Lake originally and thus had to wait around VVR for several hours longer. In the meantime we feasted on our last good meal for what to me seemed like eternity afterwards. Chili-Cheese Fries was the meal of choice. It would be 15+ days before I got to taste something so magnificent as that. Rogue was able to get us a free ride to Florence for which we were quite gracious. Florence lake oddly enough wasn't nearly as low as Thomas Edison and thus the ferry ran all the way across the lake. We crossed the choppy water and began the trudge to Blayney hot springs. I believe we had 14 days worth of food... Well technically Rogue had 14 and I think I had slightly less. I just couldn't muster up the strength to carry any more.. and boy would that bite me hard later! We had our delicious breakfast burritos from VVR for dinner and then decided to cross the San Joaquin river and jump into the hot springs. I only dipped my feet in but no doubt it was very nice. I was completely barefoot crossing the river both times and on the return trip it was already quite dark.. that was an interesting experience! Today marked the last time we camped by anyone on this entire section until the very last night out! Difficult to believe that but there are places in the Sierra where that is still very much a reality.

Day 16- Blayney Hot Springs to North Goddard Creek 11.5 Miles
Today it was up Goddard Canyon to where North Goddard Creek meets the San Joaquin. It was a long, hot, and brutal day. Mostly due to the weight of our packs which was easily in the high 40's, low 50's range. We jumped into the San Joaquin at the bridge on the Muir Trail and the water was magnificent. Icy cold and most likely the coldest water I've ever jumped into before oddly enough.The views in the canyon were quite gorgeous with all the waterfalls and cascades. This was my first time in the area and it was definitely living up to it's beautiful reputation. When we reached North Goddard creek we crossed the mighty San Joaquin although now it was no more than a mere trickle! Had a great campsite there with an awesome fire and turned in for the night. Tomorrow would begin the adventure of adventures.. The first of 11 days without seeing a trail.

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Day 17- North Goddard Creek to Lake 11,196 (North of Davis Lake) 3.5 Miles+
Today the mileage was not a lot but the terrain was completely new to both of us. We made our way up North Goddard creek quite easily for much of the way up to Davis Lake. The views were fantastic and the terrain was mellow. I was hoping not to see anyone today, since that could potentially ensure an entire 11 days worth of not seeing anyone else, but also we actually ran into a whole Boy Scout Troop! We looked up at Mt. Mcgee and definitely decided we didn't want to climb it, for it looked like an awful climb. We got to the outlet of Davis Lake and had a fantastic view across to parts of the Goddard Divide. We rounded the corner and then began angling up and around a knob. Wow, that situation got annoying and sketchy quite fast. We were left standing on a ledge where the only good move was up a Class 4 one. Full pack on too! I was not a fan of it at all but we made it no doubt. We made our way around Davis Lake which does have the tedious talus as described and finally made it to our glacial flour colored small lake. It was a very pretty lake with fantastic open vistas. The guardian Mt. Goddard loomed above us. We found a nice campsite there and turned in for the night as tomorrow we would trek into the mystic Ionian Basin.

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Day 18- Lake 11,196 to Lake 12,080 (Scylla Lake) 3.5 Miles
This day would be a special one for I would finally get into Ionian Basin. Last year I had intended to make my way in there but I never made it in. Finally I would see this mythic land. We went up and over Davis Lakes Pass and Wanda Pass. Both of which were straightforward and provided awesome views. From Wanda we could see the Southern Part of the range which included the Kaweah's. Almost as soon as we descended and started eating lunch two other people came down the pass. They said that they may go down the Enchanted Gorge and up Goddard Creek into Ionian Basin all in one day. Rogue and I definitely thought this to be quite unlikely given the awfulness of the Enchanted Gorge. At any rate we ventured deeper into the heart of Ionian Basin. We passed several lakes with a color that one could only dream up.. The deepest darkest shade of blue. And not only the color but also shape/texture of the rock was amazing. Most of it was black and fractured and undeniably sharp. It's as if one isn't even in the Sierra anymore. All of it is the ancient metamorphic rock that once made up all of the Sierra. We topped out on a ridge and I laid gaze upon most likely the single most amazing sights I would see this entire trip. My words and photographs do not give it justice. The lake below Scylla was just set beautifully in a basin where the wall of Scylla rises straight up and the Three Sirens stand guard close at hand. The awe that came over me was unparalleled. We camped on the peninsula, which presented rough and hilly camping, but we made do. The evening gave way to a very pretty sunset and soon we were in our bags for it was the coldest night I remembered. At 12,080 even in July it doesn't get much higher than the mid 30's. I slept soundly that night amid ancient tales of Greek Mythology swirling in my head.

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[alpinemike]

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Day 19- Scylla Lake to Lake 11,840 (Ragged Spur Lake) 2.5-3 Miles
Today would prove to be an adventurous day. Rogue first told me about his plan to visit this unnamed lake deep in the heart of one of the most remote regions of the Sierra many months prior. I was immediately hooked on the idea. The thought of being able to visit a place that most likely no human has ever ventured before truly excited me. It is just a fact about our human nature that we are curious creatures and this opportunity was as great as any one could hope for. I was even more excited to hopefully get some Black and White film images of this lake. So, morning came and we headed around Scylla Lake quite slowly since the terrain is quite cumbersome. We eventually rounded it and then began up the slope of the Ragged Spur. The rock was unreal... nothing I had ever seen before. This rock was even more impressive than what I had seen in Ionian. Nothing about it seemed inviting or pleasant. Black, sharp, and crumbly. We eventually reached the ridge-top not far from the summit of Scylla. I had skipped bagging Scylla the day prior because I just didn't want to deal with walking around the lake that many times. Even now I was too lazy to get up there, and I figured a return trip into Ionian would be a great experience. The ridge proved to be fun and annoying with Class 3 rock that definitely liked to move around. None of it was dangerous, so long as cautious eyes and feet were exercised. We followed the ridge all day South. The views were about as great as they could get. Almost in every direction you have an unobstructed view. Goddard dominated the view to the Northwest, Palisades and Black Divide to the East, the remote White Divide to the direct West, and of course the entirety of the Southern Sierra unfolded directly to the South. One could see everything from the Kaweah's to the Great Western Divide and all the way to the Whitney region. It was absolutely gorgeous and probably a view as grand as Mt. Gabb's except this view continued for hours! We were quite on top of the Sierra. We climbed remote Mt. Hansen on the ridge along with several other unnamed peaks. Clouds were building all day and I knew that weather was brewing and definitely coming for us. This would prove to be quite interesting as the day unfolded. Eventually we reached a spot above our lake and decided it was time to angle down towards it. The route was not fun nor was it technically easy. First a Class 3 knife-edge ridge was navigated to a horribly loose talus and boulder slope. The entire slope kept sliding as we traversed on it. Finally we got to the lake very tired and dehydrated. I snapped off a few shots of the lake and then the fun began. We looked absolutely everywhere for a place to pitch tents, but alas we were out of luck. Rogue found 2 places where we could lay our bodies...That was it.. NO Camping at all. To make matters more fun, the water in the lake was teeming with both water fleas and copepods. And of course on top of all that it started to rain! Yes, it started to rain in this miserable wasteland with no place to put up a shelter. To put it as honestly as I can we were f****** pissed. I crawled under a rock which Rogue called my Hobbit Hole. I stayed fairly dry but it was awfully cramped and uncomfortable. He used his tent as a cover for his gear while he just sat out in the rain. I used his rain-fly to cover mine. The scenery there was nice but not nearly as nice as hoped for since there was no good view across the gorge and the lake was hemmed in by sheer rock cliffs. I will never forget how miserable we were there. The place clearly did not want us there. Everything about it pointed to sinister feelings and quite honestly I can easily see why no one has ever been there. We got to the point where we joked about how nice it would be in the safety of Ionian! To think.. Ionian is actually now a safe haven for us, when it's considered one of the starkest and inhospitable of the places in the Sierra. Finally it stopped raining and we quickly had dinner under some flashes of lightning. We slept under the stars that night since there was no other option and prayed to God it wouldn't rain that night. For if it did start raining we would be put to a very serious test of mother nature and our wills...

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[alpinemike]

Day 20- Ragged Spur Lake to Chasm Lake 3.2+ Miles
To quote out of the journal that I kept... "Fortunately it didn’t rain & on Day 20 we got the f*** out of there." My sentiments here definitely describe how we felt about visiting Ragged Spur Lake. At many times we kept asking ourselves why we were there.. because there truly was no good answer. As Rogue erected the small cairn for our register I wrote on the slip of paper that I have named this "Dumb ass Lake" for very obvious reasons. I think it goes without saying but I shall warn anyways.. I would never recommend anyone to ever go to this lake. Many have asked why not.. And the only good answer I have is that there is absolutely nothing good about it and the feeling of evil seems to breath around there. To continue with our trek out of there we decided to follow a different way out. We decided to go Northwest out of the basin of the lake and climb up a slope and chute to what became known as the Pinnacle of Salvation. It was a much faster, more direct, and not as awful way as the day prior. The clouds at 9 A.M. were already menacing so we moved quickly. Eventually we made it to the final climb which definitely got very real fast. Class 5 climbing with a full pack is what we faced. No.. I was not a fan of this at all, but as I mentioned earlier this week would be one of the most tumultuous in my life and so it continued. The rock became harder and harder and finally reached the crux of the climb. It would be the hardest rock climb I would do on this trip. A classic open book crack with the first foot hold waist high! It was a gymnastic feat to climb it but we did and within minutes we were on the top of the ridge shouting victory against the evil lake and praise for the Pinnacle! It was no doubt that this was a first ascent of this Pinnacle and probably the last ascent.. As we turned the corner we saw our chute that we initially traveled up and found it ended at a col that went all the way to the ridge.. mostly Class 2. Of course we didn't think it would be that easy and we always seemed to take the "extra fun route". We quickly traversed along the ridge as the storm was fast approaching. We reached the final slope down to Scylla Lake and that's when the rain hit hard. We weren't too concerned for lighting anymore since we were off the top but we quickly made our way down. I fell once on the annoying slick rock but fortunately where there was only sand. The plan was to camp at the lake below Wanda Pass but we pressed on during intermittent rain all the way to Chasm Lake. We were able to actually set up a nice camp there on a knoll overlooking Chasm Lake which had a direct view towards of all things.. Black Kaweah! We were quite grateful for finally being down in Ionian and away from all the stupidity of Dumb ass Lake and the Ragged Spur. It rained some more before dinner but then cleared up a bit for a nice evening. Of course.. this was only the calm before the storm!

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