High Sierra Topix

Well I finally made it out after being tied up for over a year, I still cannot
believe it has been a year.
Anyways I had two trips on the table one was to visit Pleasant Valley, Irwin Bright
Lake to be more precise.
The other was to Waterwheel Falls and Matte Lake(Wildcat Point).
I had planned to drive by White Wolf to see if Mikes, aka "Old Ranger" our HST
members car was parked at the entrance, if his car would not have been
there than it would have been off to Tuolumne Meadows.
I had caught a cold Tue and was thinking about not going, but knowing that
unforeseen complications in ones life can ruin a season I decided to go anyways.
I made it to the wilderness/permit office 10 min's before they opened.
After getting my permit it was off to White Wolf to see if Mike's car was there.
It was kind of fun not knowing which trip I was going to end up doing, kinda
like the lottery.
When I got to the blocked off White Wolf road I saw Mike's Oregon plates and
parked the car, it was about 9:30.
This was a usual long day for me that started at 4 am from the Bay Area and ended
at around 8 pm in Pleasant Valley.
The weather started off fine but started to cloud up by Harden Lake, and really
go nasty by the time I started my descent into Pate Valley.
Pate Valley
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With thunderheads overhead and lightening bolts right above I descended quickly
down the rocky steps into the safety of the trees in Pate.
Moonlight Thunderheads
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For those of you who have descended from White Wolf know it is an almost 4000 ft
drop down to Pate which should not really be done in the summer, especially
into the reverse.
Morrison Creek had a pleasant surprise waiting, a large blooming Dogwood which
was quite beautiful though situated in an area which was not the most conducive
for my photographic purposes.
I zoomed through Pate with it steadily raining all the way to the Pleasant Valley
Muir Gorge trail junction.
From here it was up another plus 3000 ft which consisted of over 100 switch-backs
counted by Mike.
This is a long haul up and I would not recommend doing this in the summer season
because of the heat, and lack of occasional seasonal creeks, which will be dried up
in a few weeks, or anyone with a nasty cold!
I was running out of light by the time I had descended down another 600 ft to the
basin containing Table, Irwin Bright, and Saddle Horse Lake.
Irwin Bright Lake-Sunset-Rainbow
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I set up camp at an old trail crew camp, ate and hit the sack.
The next morning it was in to Irwin Bright Lake and find Old Ranger.
The route I took into the lake was as I remember, lost of bush and slow going.
I found OR's campsite and set up near him.
He had gone to Saddle Horse Lake to fish for the day so I got to meet him later
in the day.
I had a good time with Mike, the first HST member I have met, we talked for a few
hours and I went to bed.
My original plans were to go up towards Benson Lake, but my cold changed my
plans into more of r&r kind of trip, which is definitely out of the norm for me.
I was just glad to be out and soak up the beauty of nature, I really needed it.
On Sunday we hiked back down to Pate Valley and spent the night there.
Thunderstorms were the norm of the day, but they did not produce much in the
way of rain as they do when they are tropical(monsoon) in nature like during Aug.
Flowers were abundant in Pate but were not much to talk about in Pleasant
Valley.
Lupine-Snow Flower-Busy Bee-Flowers
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Piute Creek was booming and very impressive in Pleasant Valley with a large
cascade, and a series of falls and cascades that rivals the LeConte-Waterwheel
Falls area.
Tuloumne River-Waves
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Piute Creek/ "Old Ranger"
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Saw 2 bears on with was crossing the first Tuolumne River bridge, also saw a
deer swim across Irwin Bright Lake which was a first for me.
Bear
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There was a lot of bear scat all over the place, near the lakes, rivers, and
even on the trails.
Skeetrz were active maybe a #2 in numbers but were not biting me, but liked MIke.
In a few weeks I am sure that will change big time and Pate, and Pleasant
Valley will become anything but pleasant.

Gee Mav

Thanks for the TR now I can abbreviate mine. Everyone--I'm much better looking than the shot Maverick took! That bear photo looked like the same bear that was just s. of the Tioga Pass road that had traffic stopped all over the place when I went out the next day. What a great trip.

Mike

That is probably the same one.
Wish I had my 100-400 lens with me at the time.

Any shots of Lower Mattie? Or fishing results? OR, maybe that's where you come in.

Russ

Matte Lake was the alternative trip if OR would not have been parked
at White Wolf.
I will leave it up to OR's discretion to comment about the fishing, if he want's
to.

Nice report...envious.
I would say something about Mike's (OldRanger's) ensemble, but that would be too easy...like shooting fish in a barrel.
Where did you get those orange shorts?

Hi Marksor

I am sure you'll get a first hand look at them in July.

Thank you for the photos, on my to do list.

Your welcome HD.

Thanks for Sharing Maverick! An area I have yet to explore that is added onto the end of a long 'to do' list. I especially like the second of the "Tuloumne River-Waves" photos.