Emigrant - Crabtree to Gem 8/28
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 1:20 pm
We planned a nice 5 day circuit in and out of Crabtree. We were headed to Gem Lake, Long Lake/Wire Lakes, Toejam Lake, Chewing Gum Lake and back to Crabtree.
This trip was jinxed from the start.
Drive to Crabtree from the SFBA;
Livermore traffic was horrific even past Tracy. Uhg, how do people do this as a daily commute. First stop was in Oakdale at the CVS because I started to develop a nasty head cold. My buddy in the passenger seat did not appreciate my sneezing and runny nose.
Day 1 - Crabtree
Zero sleep with my head cold. But on the positive side, zero mosquitoes.
Camp Lake - beautiful as always. This is where my buddy's water bladder broke.
On the trail - I'm sneezing and my nosing is running like Usain Bolt. It turns me into a mouth breather and i'm partched.
Lilly Pad Lake - Very nice, plenty of water. One other pair of hikers were there.
Piute Lake - Water was a little cloudy but it was very nice. Nobody was there.
Water crossings between lakes - nothing was flowing but each water crossing did have some pools with water. Some water was clear and trickling through rocks. Some just has stagnant pools. Water was available in a pinch but if you just pump your bladder at the lakes so you have a liter, there was no need to pump from a creek.
Gem Lake - beautiful
There were about 5 groups there on 8/28. One group of 3 people has what appeared to be a 5 man tent. it was massive and I didn't even want to think about what it was like to carry in. This is where my buddy's Sawyer back split. There goes the backup water filter. I set up my Helinox Ground Chair. I never really liked it because it's too low to the ground. Sure enough I try to sit in it and kind of fell down onto it. Broken. great, now I get to haul around 22 oz of broken gear. Time to break out the Caldera stove. This has a Pepsi can alcohol stove. I made the mistake of carrying White Gas instead of denatured alcohol. It burns so huge that I can't cook on it. it overwhelms the wind screen and it borderline dangerous. My stupid mistake and now i have to use my friend's stove.
Day 2 - Gem
I've had enough. I can't sleep, we keep running into gear issues and I'm sick as a dog. We decide to hike out.
Positives:
No mosquitoes anywhere on the whole trail. That part was heaven. Also it was really warm at night. So warm that I was kicking my 30 degree quilt off in the middle of the night. Sitting around at night I was wearing a tee shirt. That's nice to do at 8200 feet! We also got lucky with a fantastic full moon. The lake and surroundings were light up all night long.
I'm rescheduling the trip for October.
This trip was jinxed from the start.
Drive to Crabtree from the SFBA;
Livermore traffic was horrific even past Tracy. Uhg, how do people do this as a daily commute. First stop was in Oakdale at the CVS because I started to develop a nasty head cold. My buddy in the passenger seat did not appreciate my sneezing and runny nose.
Day 1 - Crabtree
Zero sleep with my head cold. But on the positive side, zero mosquitoes.
Camp Lake - beautiful as always. This is where my buddy's water bladder broke.
On the trail - I'm sneezing and my nosing is running like Usain Bolt. It turns me into a mouth breather and i'm partched.
Lilly Pad Lake - Very nice, plenty of water. One other pair of hikers were there.
Piute Lake - Water was a little cloudy but it was very nice. Nobody was there.
Water crossings between lakes - nothing was flowing but each water crossing did have some pools with water. Some water was clear and trickling through rocks. Some just has stagnant pools. Water was available in a pinch but if you just pump your bladder at the lakes so you have a liter, there was no need to pump from a creek.
Gem Lake - beautiful
There were about 5 groups there on 8/28. One group of 3 people has what appeared to be a 5 man tent. it was massive and I didn't even want to think about what it was like to carry in. This is where my buddy's Sawyer back split. There goes the backup water filter. I set up my Helinox Ground Chair. I never really liked it because it's too low to the ground. Sure enough I try to sit in it and kind of fell down onto it. Broken. great, now I get to haul around 22 oz of broken gear. Time to break out the Caldera stove. This has a Pepsi can alcohol stove. I made the mistake of carrying White Gas instead of denatured alcohol. It burns so huge that I can't cook on it. it overwhelms the wind screen and it borderline dangerous. My stupid mistake and now i have to use my friend's stove.
Day 2 - Gem
I've had enough. I can't sleep, we keep running into gear issues and I'm sick as a dog. We decide to hike out.
Positives:
No mosquitoes anywhere on the whole trail. That part was heaven. Also it was really warm at night. So warm that I was kicking my 30 degree quilt off in the middle of the night. Sitting around at night I was wearing a tee shirt. That's nice to do at 8200 feet! We also got lucky with a fantastic full moon. The lake and surroundings were light up all night long.
I'm rescheduling the trip for October.
