TR - Ashley lake 6/26
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 7:58 pm
First off, I'd like to say a huge thank you to Mav for everything he does here. I had a few questions about this trip, and PMed him for some intel. Less than an hour after the Pm, he had me linked to a great site regarding Nancy Pass and answered every question I had with great detail. I sure appreciated it, and I know he must get PMed constantly, but he's always quick to help me.
Now the trail report. Not much of a report due to circumstances but I figured I'd write a report since I received help on this trip and also to document what an isolated and great area this was. I headed up 395 Thursday night and on the way my buddy gets carsick. Its happened before, and after making a deposit, he feels fine and we continue on. We then headed out of devils post pile by 9 AM on Friday and thought that things were looking up since although the meadows were beautiful green, there was not a bug in site. As we made our way up the hill to the group of lakes south west of the minarets, we were greeted with blazing 70 to 80 degree heat with dead calm wind. Near the top of the first hill at around 9k, the mosquitoes became pretty thick. At this point my hiking partner said he wasn't feeling well again and proceeded to throw up. Again, he felt better after and we continued on to Ashley Lake. As mav had described it, we were all alone at a beautiful lake.
The mosquitoes were about a 3 or 4, so head nets were worn even though we had a descent breeze and had camped on a large rock outcropping. The next day as we got up, my partner said he wasn't feeling well and was now throwing up and had diarrhea. Since things seemed to be headed sideways, we decided to forgo Nancy pass and just loop around the basin and see how he felt after a few hours. It didn't take long to realize this was not going away, so I lightened his pack and we limped back to the post pile thinking he had serious altitude sickness. We got out about 3 in the afternoon and his illness continued. After speaking with him today, he still isn't well and hopefully will get it figured out. My intention is to head back in there and do the pass as intended. For any one looking for a quiet basin for base camping and great day hikes that is a relatively short distance from the trail head, this is the perfect area.
Now the trail report. Not much of a report due to circumstances but I figured I'd write a report since I received help on this trip and also to document what an isolated and great area this was. I headed up 395 Thursday night and on the way my buddy gets carsick. Its happened before, and after making a deposit, he feels fine and we continue on. We then headed out of devils post pile by 9 AM on Friday and thought that things were looking up since although the meadows were beautiful green, there was not a bug in site. As we made our way up the hill to the group of lakes south west of the minarets, we were greeted with blazing 70 to 80 degree heat with dead calm wind. Near the top of the first hill at around 9k, the mosquitoes became pretty thick. At this point my hiking partner said he wasn't feeling well again and proceeded to throw up. Again, he felt better after and we continued on to Ashley Lake. As mav had described it, we were all alone at a beautiful lake.
The mosquitoes were about a 3 or 4, so head nets were worn even though we had a descent breeze and had camped on a large rock outcropping. The next day as we got up, my partner said he wasn't feeling well and was now throwing up and had diarrhea. Since things seemed to be headed sideways, we decided to forgo Nancy pass and just loop around the basin and see how he felt after a few hours. It didn't take long to realize this was not going away, so I lightened his pack and we limped back to the post pile thinking he had serious altitude sickness. We got out about 3 in the afternoon and his illness continued. After speaking with him today, he still isn't well and hopefully will get it figured out. My intention is to head back in there and do the pass as intended. For any one looking for a quiet basin for base camping and great day hikes that is a relatively short distance from the trail head, this is the perfect area.
