TR: Duck Pass to Reds Meadow loop with kids
Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 10:57 pm
I did a trip from Duck Pass to Reds Meadow via Iva Bell Hot Springs (~31 miles) with my 9 year old twins over 5 days this week (7/31-8/4). We drove up from the Bay Area on Friday (7/30) and stopped at Tioga Pass for a quick warm-up hike up Gaylor Peak (just over 11000ft).
Once we started walking on Saturday morning we had a great time and amazing weather - not a single cloud for the whole trip. After a moderately exhausting climb to Duck Pass (1800ft elevation gain), the first night was at Pika Lake, which was incredibly beautiful, and above most of the bugs (~1.5). We'd been warned by the rangers to expect really bad skeeters, but overall we didn't fare too bad, as they seemed to be largely confined to between 8000ft and 9500ft, and three of our four nights were above or below that altitude range.
Then we headed from Duck Lake along the JMT to Purple Lake and down the switchbacks to Fish Creek, with the bugs getting progressively worse as we descended (~2 at Purple Lake, 4 at Fish Creek).
We decided to ford Fish Creek there and head up to the Minnow Creek trail as we'd heard a few people coming the other way complain about the depth of the water at Second Crossing. The ford we used was easy (~2 feet deep with not much of a current) and we camped on the opposite bank at a well used packer campsite, with a pleasant beach nearby, and a fire ring to hold the bugs at bay while we ate dinner.
The next day the skeeters continued to be problematic almost all the way along the Minnow Creek trail until we descended below about 8000 ft near the hot springs (where the bugs were ~1.5 again). We were lucky enough to have the hot springs all to ourselves that afternoon, until another group (a family of 3 doing the JMT) arrived around 6pm.
The next morning we pushed onto Cold Creek (virtually no bugs), and on the final morning we left early with the promise of ice cream at Reds Meadow spurring the kids on to walk the last 6 miles in 2 hours 40 mins.
It was a really fun trip. Its the first time we've tried more than 3 days and I was surprised how much easier the kids found the walking the last two days, once they got acclimatized, so it turned out our 6 mile per day target was a bit conservative by that point. Now we've got to figure out what the target will be for next summer - my daughter thinks Whitney (one of the longer ways) sounds like a good idea. I just have to figure out how to carry all the food for more than 5 days, as between us we emptied my stuffed Bearikade completely (and we couldn't even fit the first day's food in there when we started walking). Unfortunately the kids are now trained to expect decent meals including dessert every night!
Once we started walking on Saturday morning we had a great time and amazing weather - not a single cloud for the whole trip. After a moderately exhausting climb to Duck Pass (1800ft elevation gain), the first night was at Pika Lake, which was incredibly beautiful, and above most of the bugs (~1.5). We'd been warned by the rangers to expect really bad skeeters, but overall we didn't fare too bad, as they seemed to be largely confined to between 8000ft and 9500ft, and three of our four nights were above or below that altitude range.
Then we headed from Duck Lake along the JMT to Purple Lake and down the switchbacks to Fish Creek, with the bugs getting progressively worse as we descended (~2 at Purple Lake, 4 at Fish Creek).
We decided to ford Fish Creek there and head up to the Minnow Creek trail as we'd heard a few people coming the other way complain about the depth of the water at Second Crossing. The ford we used was easy (~2 feet deep with not much of a current) and we camped on the opposite bank at a well used packer campsite, with a pleasant beach nearby, and a fire ring to hold the bugs at bay while we ate dinner.
The next day the skeeters continued to be problematic almost all the way along the Minnow Creek trail until we descended below about 8000 ft near the hot springs (where the bugs were ~1.5 again). We were lucky enough to have the hot springs all to ourselves that afternoon, until another group (a family of 3 doing the JMT) arrived around 6pm.
The next morning we pushed onto Cold Creek (virtually no bugs), and on the final morning we left early with the promise of ice cream at Reds Meadow spurring the kids on to walk the last 6 miles in 2 hours 40 mins.
It was a really fun trip. Its the first time we've tried more than 3 days and I was surprised how much easier the kids found the walking the last two days, once they got acclimatized, so it turned out our 6 mile per day target was a bit conservative by that point. Now we've got to figure out what the target will be for next summer - my daughter thinks Whitney (one of the longer ways) sounds like a good idea. I just have to figure out how to carry all the food for more than 5 days, as between us we emptied my stuffed Bearikade completely (and we couldn't even fit the first day's food in there when we started walking). Unfortunately the kids are now trained to expect decent meals including dessert every night!