TR: Miter Basin 6/6-6/10
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 9:46 pm
I am a little slow, but have been super busy. I have barely had time to check out my photos from the trip. I have included some sloppy edits to go with the report.
June 6:
After class I drove up to Horseshoe Meadows and arrived at midnight. My buddy had been there for a couple days so I wanted to at least sleep at elevation instead of driving up early morning from almost sea level.
June 7:
Hit the trail at a leisurely hour. We went up over Cottonwood pass. Boy I was feeling out of shape. My pack was weighed down with camera gear (body, two lenses, and a tripod). I really should leave it home for the first hike, but what if…..
We hiked in to Soldier Lake and made camp. I wandered around, tossed a few lures(no luck) and wasn’t too inspired with the photography. Skeeters were almost nonexistent.
June 8:
Another leisure morning. I was up early and shot a few photos and tossed a few lures (no luck).
We headed up to Miter Basin (my first time). I enjoyed the meandering creeks on our way in. We went up to Sky Blue and hung out. I tossed a few lures (luck this time, a beautiful golden and a hybrid).
I decided to head back down below the lake as I felt there were more photo ops. Shot for a while and had a late dinner.
June 9:
I happened to wake up at 1am just before the moon crested the divide. I decided to crawl out of my warm sleeping bag and shoot some night photography for about an hour. It turned out to be somewhat productive and I had fun.
I shot some photos before sunrise and then we packed up and headed back to Soldier Lake.
Hiking along Rock Creek we hit a heinous spot for skeeters. They were thick and it was a surprise as we hardly had seen any until this point. I increased my pace and got up high and away from the creek and it thinned out. We went up New Army Pass and hung out at the top for a while talking to a few folks.
After we descended and went to Cottonwood Lakes. The bugs were thick but they seemed to be about 5 feet overhead. I could hear them whining and thought it was going to be miserable. I haven’t had my floorless shelter in thick bug conditions yet so I was curious how it would do. I thankfully wasn’t able to find out because they stayed high, then the wind helped and then it got pretty cool. The fish rising was a little frustrating. I was wishing I had my fly rod and it was in season. I was pretty tired so I didn’t shoot any photos tonight.
June 10:
I woke up before sunrise and ran up to the upper lake. There were lots of good photo ops and I had a fun time shooting.
We took our time making our way back to the trail head.
The weather was perfect for a hiking trip…not so much for photography. We saw two clouds the entire 4 days; if you can call them clouds. I have seen contrails with more consistency then these. It felt good to get under a pack and wander around for a few days. It had been way too long.
June 6:
After class I drove up to Horseshoe Meadows and arrived at midnight. My buddy had been there for a couple days so I wanted to at least sleep at elevation instead of driving up early morning from almost sea level.
June 7:
Hit the trail at a leisurely hour. We went up over Cottonwood pass. Boy I was feeling out of shape. My pack was weighed down with camera gear (body, two lenses, and a tripod). I really should leave it home for the first hike, but what if…..
We hiked in to Soldier Lake and made camp. I wandered around, tossed a few lures(no luck) and wasn’t too inspired with the photography. Skeeters were almost nonexistent.
June 8:
Another leisure morning. I was up early and shot a few photos and tossed a few lures (no luck).
We headed up to Miter Basin (my first time). I enjoyed the meandering creeks on our way in. We went up to Sky Blue and hung out. I tossed a few lures (luck this time, a beautiful golden and a hybrid).
I decided to head back down below the lake as I felt there were more photo ops. Shot for a while and had a late dinner.
June 9:
I happened to wake up at 1am just before the moon crested the divide. I decided to crawl out of my warm sleeping bag and shoot some night photography for about an hour. It turned out to be somewhat productive and I had fun.
I shot some photos before sunrise and then we packed up and headed back to Soldier Lake.
Hiking along Rock Creek we hit a heinous spot for skeeters. They were thick and it was a surprise as we hardly had seen any until this point. I increased my pace and got up high and away from the creek and it thinned out. We went up New Army Pass and hung out at the top for a while talking to a few folks.
After we descended and went to Cottonwood Lakes. The bugs were thick but they seemed to be about 5 feet overhead. I could hear them whining and thought it was going to be miserable. I haven’t had my floorless shelter in thick bug conditions yet so I was curious how it would do. I thankfully wasn’t able to find out because they stayed high, then the wind helped and then it got pretty cool. The fish rising was a little frustrating. I was wishing I had my fly rod and it was in season. I was pretty tired so I didn’t shoot any photos tonight.
June 10:
I woke up before sunrise and ran up to the upper lake. There were lots of good photo ops and I had a fun time shooting.
We took our time making our way back to the trail head.
The weather was perfect for a hiking trip…not so much for photography. We saw two clouds the entire 4 days; if you can call them clouds. I have seen contrails with more consistency then these. It felt good to get under a pack and wander around for a few days. It had been way too long.