Condition/TR Roads End - Lake Reflection 5/29 - 5/31
Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 1:06 am
I've been an avid day hiker for years but fairly new to backpacking. I've gotten so much useful information from HST - thanks for the great community! I just completed a 2 night trip out of Roads End to Lake Reflection.
Fri 5/29 - We left bay area at 4am and got on trail a little before 9:30. Our goal was overnighting at East Lake but that ended up being a little ambitious. We also lost some time crossing Bubbs Creek. The creek at the East Lake trail crossing looked doable but the RE Ranger suggested crossing upstream might be easier. We decided to see if we could cross "feet dry" upstream of East Creek. We were able to cross Bubbs but didn't see a safe way across East Creek. We debated continuing uphill off-trail but were tired so backtracked to the East Lake trail crossing. Previous hikers had strung a thin blue cord across Bubbs and that's where we crossed. Water was about thigh high and the crossing uneventful.
We overnighted at the campsite immediately across Bubbs Creek on the East Lake trail. Mosquitos were out but not bad enough to break out the Deet.
Sat 5/30 - We continued on to Lake Reflection. I had read campsites were on the south shore but we liked what we saw on the north shore better. Crossing at the log jam required some wading which is what my friend did. I circled back and crossed rocks and logs at the outlet.
We found an awesome campsite on the north shore and spent the day enjoying the setting. No mosquitos...we encountered none since a few hundred feet above about 9000'. There was some snow above about 11k but it melted out noticeably while we were there. I have pictures of the Bubbs crossing (it looks the same as the one posted earlier in May) and the mountains above/around Lake Reflection but I need to resize before posting.
Sun 5/31 - We hiked 15 miles out to Roads End which took just under 7.5 hours. The Bubbs Creek crossing Sunday AM seemed slightly higher and swifter than Friday but still uneventful. We met a PCTer (trail name "Forrest" as in Gump) but no other hikers until day hikers near Roads End.
We wanted to return to Roads End via Longley Pass and Sphinx Creek but needed more time and were concerned about snow up high. We're planning to return to try that later this summer - I can't wait!
Fri 5/29 - We left bay area at 4am and got on trail a little before 9:30. Our goal was overnighting at East Lake but that ended up being a little ambitious. We also lost some time crossing Bubbs Creek. The creek at the East Lake trail crossing looked doable but the RE Ranger suggested crossing upstream might be easier. We decided to see if we could cross "feet dry" upstream of East Creek. We were able to cross Bubbs but didn't see a safe way across East Creek. We debated continuing uphill off-trail but were tired so backtracked to the East Lake trail crossing. Previous hikers had strung a thin blue cord across Bubbs and that's where we crossed. Water was about thigh high and the crossing uneventful.
We overnighted at the campsite immediately across Bubbs Creek on the East Lake trail. Mosquitos were out but not bad enough to break out the Deet.
Sat 5/30 - We continued on to Lake Reflection. I had read campsites were on the south shore but we liked what we saw on the north shore better. Crossing at the log jam required some wading which is what my friend did. I circled back and crossed rocks and logs at the outlet.
We found an awesome campsite on the north shore and spent the day enjoying the setting. No mosquitos...we encountered none since a few hundred feet above about 9000'. There was some snow above about 11k but it melted out noticeably while we were there. I have pictures of the Bubbs crossing (it looks the same as the one posted earlier in May) and the mountains above/around Lake Reflection but I need to resize before posting.
Sun 5/31 - We hiked 15 miles out to Roads End which took just under 7.5 hours. The Bubbs Creek crossing Sunday AM seemed slightly higher and swifter than Friday but still uneventful. We met a PCTer (trail name "Forrest" as in Gump) but no other hikers until day hikers near Roads End.
We wanted to return to Roads End via Longley Pass and Sphinx Creek but needed more time and were concerned about snow up high. We're planning to return to try that later this summer - I can't wait!
