TR: Into The Blue- Tunemah Lake, Blue Canyon, Goddard Creek At Last! 7/29 - 8/7/21

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Harlen
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TR: Into The Blue- Tunemah Lake, Blue Canyon, Goddard Creek At Last! 7/29 - 8/7/21

Post by Harlen »

Michael(zim) and I had an HST meetup of 2, and followed his plan to reach the promised land of Blue Canyon and Tunemah Lake.  It was Michael's dream, and route plan more than mine, so I'll just provide my sketch of our trip, and some route details that Michael asked me to include, in anticipation of a later, more full TR from Michael.  We followed his route perfectly, until I got to use some of my bright, and less bright route ideas.  We made these work for us, but will not be recommending them to other, saner folk.  We added a few small, but very nice circles to what was mainly an out and back route.  I'll describe these in the photo captions.  It was a great trip, and we both were immensely pleased to reach these remote areas that shine out of the maps to us like beacons.  The branches of Goddard Creek connect to the Ionian Basin as "Enchanted Gorge"/ Disappearing Creek; the "Blue Canyon;"  and combine with other high tributaries of the Middle Fork of the Kings to form one of the largest trail-less areas in the Sierra.

The highlights of the trip for me were first, dropping into Tunemah Lake Basin from the north, to finally gaze on that magic blue water; and secondly, to make the long-awaited climb of Finger Peak.  I chose the south ridge of the mountain, and it proved to be another of those amazing, airy ridge climbs.  There was no one about in any of these remote basins, we even had Martha Lake Basin to ourselves on the way in.  We had 7 of our 10 days all alone in the mountains, and that was fine with us.  For Michael, the journey was even more special, and those of you who read his epic Trip Report in 2020: "A Ridge Too Far," you will understand what this trip meant to him.


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One of the many "pig chutes" of Goddard Canyon.


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These falls were fed by nearly a week of thunder-stormy weather.  


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Michael proved to be a super-fit 70!  Here he is pointing to Gunsight Pass.


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Martha Lake, Mt. Goddard, and the gateway to Mordor, aka Ionian Basin.


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Our path this time was into new territory, beginning with Reinstein Pass, seen here just left of the mountain.



We felt we deserved a rest day after reaching M. Lake in 2 long days (21mi).  I fished and fished, along with the Ospreys and one Bald Eagle, with few results.  I thought we were all after big Rainbow Trout, reputed to spawn in the outlet, but look what I caught?!  My ignorance has its rewards.  As I rarely know what species I'm after, this big Golden was a great surprise.


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This healthy fish was about 14."  On the return trip, we found a much larger one in the shallows, torn in half by either the Osprey or Eagle.  We believe the bird had been startled off it's fish by people arriving, so I retrieved it from the shallows, and placed it back on a big rock.  I had startled up an Osprey at the outlet, while walking toward the outlet to fish, and so, left the area to fish at the inlet end, and that's when I caught the big Golden.

It stormed off and on for the first 3 days, which included some exciting thunder and lightning, and really fine light.  Sadly, this is the same storm that on July 30th led to a fatal lightning strike about 7 miles north of us.


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Michael's silhouette on that fateful night- 7/30. 


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Mt Reinstein far left.
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TR: Into The Blue- Tunemah Lake, Blue Canyon, Goddard Creek At Last! 7/29 - 8/7/21

Post by Harlen »

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On our second day at M. Lake we chose to explore the lake-filled basin to the north. I extended the day by carrying on to the pass that overlooks Davis Lakes Basin. I made a 6 mile, clockwise circle through the basin, crossing the high saddle to the big lake under Peak 12,913, and passing under Mt Goddard's northern glacier. Michael returned from the high lakes to enjoy a peak lupine bloom as extensive as any we had ever seen.


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Corn lily and Fireweed flowers were blooming, along with many species of Paintbrush.


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The rocks around Goddard are as colorful as the flowers. My photos do not do them justice; for instance the large rock to the left of center was one of many rich, mauve-colored ones, which are beautifully matched with many pale green rocks.


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Monkey flower, (Mimulus guttatus), apparently now called Erythranthe guttata, in the Jepson Flora... but as the Bard tells us, through Juliet: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet; so [Romeo] Monkeyflower would; were he not Monkeyflower called, retain that dear perfection, which he owes without the title."


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Looking down onto Davis Lakes Basin from the pass to the south.


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The weather was still pretty wild on our third day. We wondered how Wandering Daisy-- the self-described "fair weather backpacker"-- had fared during this "monsoon." She had been out in it during the worst days, just prior to our entry.


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I'll borrow one of Michael's nice shots of our finest sunset. Here I am in the process of taking the following photo:

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Photo thanks again to Michael. We found a very scenic campsite up on the cliffs above the inlet to M. Lake. I am looking for high diving possibilities, and there are none, unless you can jump like Bob Beamon.

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Michael is gazing south into "The Promised Land" of Goddard Creek from atop Reinstein Pass.


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And this is the view north-- note Seven Gables Mountain in the distance. R. Pass is no problem from the north, and little problem if one stays right- west on the descent of the south side.


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The route south down R. Pass shows well here, with nice bedrock ledges on the right, and the hint of cliffyness on my left.
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TR: Into The Blue- Tunemah Lake, Blue Canyon, Goddard Creek At Last! 7/29 - 8/7/21

Post by Harlen »

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The lovely Lake 10,232, which we would save for the return trip.   Above me is the broad slope that leads over into Ionian Basin.  WD may know this route best, but it seemed to us that the way to cross would be to stay left, away from the steepest stuff.


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Looking down valley. The basin that holds Lake 10,232 is lush and colorful, and a great habitat for wildlife.  We saw a lot of animal sign (scat and tracks), but no big mammals.


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This is where Goddard Creek plummets all the way down to Rattlesnake country.  From Lake ~9,800, barely seen here, the canyon drops 3,000' in less than 3 miles.  The mountains seen here are a combination of Cirque Crest, and Monarch Divide peaks.


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3 miles down, then up from Lake 10,232 put us in the basin northeast of Finger Peak.  It was a total of 7 nice backcountry miles from our camp by Martha Lake to this pretty Lake 10,320.  


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Sunrise on Finger Peak, with Blue Canyon Pass seen on the left, about where the shadow meets the light.


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Our crossing of the Finger- Blue Canyon Peak spur was 1 mile due east of B.C. Pass, and the pass was dead easy, mostly on bedrock ramps.  From the top of the pass, you carry on up a couple hundred feet till a big talus traverse leads you over to what seemed like an easy saddle just east of the small peaklet we thought we'd have to climb to drop into Tunemah Lake's basin from the north.

               
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Note the very approximate route marked here.  I am looking back to the pass from near the saddle. 
[I hope Michael will include a photo of the view of the saddle we used from the first pass.] It is a reddish-colored, soft looking saddle, and would be the obvious choice for most of us.  At 11,680, it is about 200' lower than the over the top crossing, but it's easy looks were deceiving. The saddle is composed of that hardened dirt with more or less well-embedded boulders.  I chose to stay far right where I saw bigger boulders, but we found that some were lightly perched, and ready to go!  We climbed through very carefully, like scared cats, which is what we were.  I should have chosen the middle of the saddle, which may be more slippery, but would be less dangerous.   


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Here is a poor photo, showing just the top of the saddle.  We took to calling this crossing "Mercury Pass," in keeping with the Greek, or at least Roman iconography, since we'd just skirted the Ionian Basin.  Turns out that Mercury is not only the fleet god of travelers, and this was meant to be a speedy shortcut, but he is also a "divine trickster," and he sure fooled us.

So, to clarify the route without bs'ing about the gods: the pass we used above the basin NE of Finger at 11,200' is straightforward class 1 from the northwest; the short (3/4 mile) talus traverse over to the saddle on the ridge is easier than it looks, just contour around to meet the lower of the light-colored granite bedrock ramps, and then either carry on up on ramps and boulders, over the shoulder of Peaklet 11,920 (probably class 2-3), or do what we did in crossing the slight saddle on the ridge at 11,680. It is not a bad ridge crossing, of the "Snow-tongue Pass" type-- just 50' of your choice of loose boulders, or slippery dirt to the top. It is a great short-cut to Tunemah.


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Michael descending from the ridge to Tunemah Lake; also class 1 ambling down.


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The red arrow is where we crossed, the blue dashed line is where you might want to cross instead. 

The first thing I did upon reaching Tunemah Lake was to doff my clothes and dive in- you just have to!


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Michael had heard from Wandering Daisy that the better camping was in the basin down to the east, and we followed her good advice.  It's a pleasant 3/4 mile stroll through flowers and frog land back up to T. Lake, which we did each of the days (2) that we stayed, and again on the way out.  I casted into the deep blue of Tunemah Lake, and didn't get a bite; I'm not sure I had enough line to get to the bottom-- it seems like an endlessly deep lake!  Diving in and swimming underwater was magical.  


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This was the impressive local mountain.  That lake basin to the east is itself a great place to explore, swim, and fish for rainbows.
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TR: Into The Blue- Tunemah Lake, Blue Canyon, Goddard Creek At Last! 7/29 - 8/7/21

Post by Harlen »

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To the left is that same mountain, seen from Tunemah Lake. On my first free day I chose to climb the long northern ridge to Tunemah Peak.  This is the beginning of that ridge, where it holds back T. Lake.


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Looking to the north from the top of T. Peak.  The view is bracketed by Mt. Goddard and Mt. Agassiz.  At the center you can find Charybdis, Black Giant, and Mt. McDuffie.


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The view east shows all of the Palisades on the far skyline, and a lot of remote Sierra valleys.  I am intrigued by the high basin that sits northwest of the Devil's Crags, which are superimposed on the main Palisade group.  Anyone been up there? (click twice to enlarge) Looks like it could be reached from the top of Rambaud Creek out of LeConte Canyon.


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Meanwhile, back on the ground, and in the water, there was a lot of life.  I just learned this about pollywogs: "After nine weeks, the polliwogs begin to look like a frog or toad with a tail. They are especially vulnerable at this stage; they can no longer swim very well, yet they aren't able to live on land." Good news for the snakes!


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We never saw any hunting, I think the snakes were stuffed.  There were 4-5 of these Mountain Garter Snakes (Thamnophis elegans elegans), and hundreds of pollywogs.

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I had luck hunting for Trout. The problem with adding so many fish meals is that you end up packing food out.

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Find the Chorus Frog.


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And another.


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We returned one last time on our way to Blue Canyon- the last of the 3 promised land destinations.  


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From the south end of the T. Lake, we traversed high to the west, and chose the higher pass (11,200') 3/4 of mile NE of Dykeman, for our crossing.  Perhaps another short-cut, but this time unintended.  It was an easy crossing (Cl. 2-3), with seemingly less talus on the north side than Dykeman, but if we had used the real Dykeman we would've seen a bit more of Blue Canyon.  In this photo you see some of our path down.  Note that the prominent pass, right of center, is Mantle Pass, which is largely granite slabs, and looks like a wonderful way to go.


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We camped by this lake, under that big, weird looking tree against the sky.  Unlike the first lake, which was tepid, and fishless, this one had fish.  


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Those are very big rocks, and very long pine needles that are making my fish look small.
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TR: Into The Blue- Tunemah Lake, Blue Canyon, Goddard Creek At Last! 7/29 - 8/7/21

Post by Harlen »

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Many Spirea plants were blooming perfectly in this dry year.


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I have long wanted to climb Finger Peak.  The south ridge looked great, and it really was, even reminiscent of Mt Russell's east ridge route. The broad south slope can be easily climbed anywhere between the east and south ridges... and "boot skied" down in 15 minutes! Our next pass- Blue Canyon Pass- is seen on the right hand shoulder of Finger Peak.


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It was beautiful in the early morning light.  The solid rock allows you to play with pretty wild exposure.


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From here you can see the false Dykeman Pass we crossed (red arrow), and the true Dykeman (blue).


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The view to the NW from the top.  Cathedral Lake near, Division Lake far, and the North Fork of the Kings country.


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Looking north, with Mt God. right of center.  The near view shows the small lake that leads to the notch of Finger Col.


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We descended B.C. Pass with little difficulty, and passed this nice lake again.


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Here we are back in the lush green valley habitat of upper Goddard Creek, which leads to Lake 10,232, but once again, we missed the big mammals.  Oh well, we did find great piles of Bear scat in Blue Canyon.  And on this trip, we had been graced with amazing birdlife, snakes, frogs, and trout. And Michael saw his first clear sights of a Pika- a whole family!, which was another goal of his.  We saw around 10 each of the Golden-mantled Squirrels, Belding Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, and Yellow-bellied Marmots, and I thought I saw a Heather Vole in the wetland below Martha Lake.  On the first day, when I thought I spied a deer high on the slopes, my binos confirmed it.  Coyotes serenaded us the first night at M. Lake, which is the next best thing to seeing them. So I thought we might be in for good luck with the big animals. That "Bear lucky" Wandering Daisy had probably attracted them all to her!


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This time we enjoyed an overnight stay at Lake 10,232.  I only caught small rainbow trout, but I wondered if there aren't bigger fish down there?


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Back on top of Reinstein Pass again, looking north... and seeing the first of the bad smoke moving in.


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Martha Lake never gets old.  We began to see people again, and even met a big, friendly O.B. group there.  We were lucky to have had it all to ourselves on the way in.


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Michael walking on down Goddard Canyon. 

 
We were very lucky in many ways, and I credit Michael's thoughtful planning too.  He noted the lessening of mosquitos this dry year, so we went in earlier than planned, and we did largely miss them.  He also predicted the coming fires and smoke, and our earlier trip, plus luck, allowed us to just miss the smoke by a day or so.  And by heading in on Thursday, and hiking hard for the first 2 days, we missed the crowds.  I was very glad we made this trip, and found our way into that "Promised Land." 
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Re: TR: Into The Blue- Tunemah Lake, Blue Canyon, Goddard Creek At Last! 7/29 - 8/7/21

Post by sekihiker »

Thanks for this great report, Ian, with all the fantastic photos. I don't remember Finger Peak being that scary. Of course I picked a route with the least amount of exposure. The north face cliff is impressive from both sides. This was an interesting and creative route. I never would have thought to start from Florence Lake. The scenery in Goddard Canyon sure makes it worthwhile. The lakes east of Finger Col are some of the most scenic I have ever seen. At least one of the lakes in Blue Canyon is full of large fish who weren't the least bit interested in my lures. I was there during a big hatch of some kind of bug they were stuffing themselves with. I wish I had dropped over to Tunemah Lk but I wasn't aware of its charms when I passed through the area.
Here is a link to a trip report from 1990, a blast from the past: http://www.sierrahiker.com/FingerPeakLoop/index.html
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Re: TR: Into The Blue- Tunemah Lake, Blue Canyon, Goddard Creek At Last! 7/29 - 8/7/21

Post by cgundersen »

Hi Ian/Michael,
Truly majestic; that was as close to perfectly threading the needle (dodging bugs, smoke and rain) as one can do during these bizarre times. I'll be keen to see comments from some of the other members of that small club (like, sekihiker, giantbrookie, robertseeburger, and daisy) who have made it out of the black and into the Blue. Great report! Cameron

PS. And what has happened to all the big mammals? We saw one deer in 11 days on our early June trip and zero deer/elk/bears on our latest 11 day trip. It's not as if you weren't in remote enough terrain?
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Re: TR: Into The Blue- Tunemah Lake, Blue Canyon, Goddard Creek At Last! 7/29 - 8/7/21

Post by Harlen »

Hey Thanks Bill and Cameron. I wish you could have held off till now to see the report. I finished it at 4 AM, in a pretty groggy state, so there were a few typos to fix, and clarifications to make. I have done so, and also added a Caltopo Map of the route.

Bill, I did check out your Trip Reports into Goddard Creek, and quite a few more of your old reports. I too once thrashed around in the brush of lower Goddard Cr., after descending Enchanted Gorge. We too found that the "Enchantment" only went so far... to about 8,500 feet, and then it was Hell! Your trip reports are great reading Bill; thanks for putting them all together over many years. Cheers, Ian.
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Re: TR: Into The Blue- Tunemah Lake, Blue Canyon, Goddard Creek At Last! 7/29 - 8/7/21

Post by astrogerly »

Great report and photos! Looks like a wonderful trip. We visited Davis/Martha/Goddard last week and it was wonderful - except for a bit of wx (drove us down North Goddard Creek instead of a more direct-ish route between Davis and Martha. We’re itching to get back - such a gorgeous area.
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Re: TR: Into The Blue- Tunemah Lake, Blue Canyon, Goddard Creek At Last! 7/29 - 8/7/21

Post by giantbrookie »

What a terrific trip, route, and photos of the most magical part (to me) of the High Sierra. Nice route up Finger Pk, too. That south ridge looks tremendous. I did the pedestrian SE slope.
Since my fishing (etc.) website is still down, you can be distracted by geology stuff at: http://www.fresnostate.edu/csm/ees/facu ... ayshi.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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