TR: Rockbound Pass July 27-30
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:06 am
Trail Report
Rockbound Pass with a 14 year old
July 27-30
Purpose of the trip:
To reintroduce my 14 year old daughter to backpacking after one prior bad experience. After much good advice on this site I decided that this hike seemed to offer a good chance of success. The drive to the trailhead was just a little over 4 hours from my home in the Bay Area which was reasonable. The hike to Doris Lake was 6 ½ miles with around 1500' elevation, which might be pushing it for her but pretty Maude lake offered a good bailout option at 4 ½ miles if necessary. It seemed that there would be some things to do and see if we got to Doris and set up a base camp.
Conditions in general:
This is a very dry year. The first and only water source on the way to Maude Lake was where the trail crossed the outlet to Maude (Jones Fork of Silver Creek). Possibly because of the drying, mosquitoes had tapered off from earlier reports of massive infestations in early July and had become tolerable. Fortunately for us, three days before we started the hike there was a major rainstorm that freshened things up and the flowers were quite nice. There were still two patches of snow near Rockbound Pass, but it was going fast and we never saw any other snow on the trip.
Day 1
We almost did not make it to the trailhead. We left very early from home and my daughter was so discombobulated by the early start that she became repeatedly carsick. After many stops and rests along the way she mercifully fell asleep in the car and slept the rest of the way to the trailhead. Still, we were later in getting on the trail than I wanted and I was worried that she would be hiking in a weakened and demoralized condition. Not a recipe for a good trip.
As we hiked, however, we snacked, and as we snacked she gained strength and picked up steam. At times we rested almost as much as we walked, but we made progress and she got into better and better spirits. While the first part of the hike was rather ordinary, as we approached Maude we passed through a lot of granite–which was a first for her. We arrived at Maude–4 ½ miles and 800' of elevation–5 hours after leaving the trailhead. Maude is a pretty little green lake, and it was heavily camped on this Friday afternoon. I offered her the choice of staying there, but she elected to push on. So we headed up over the Rockbound Pass from Maude late in the afternoon. The pass was an impressive trail that skirted over the tops of the cliffs. My daughter gleefully spotted a pika along the way, and we got in to Doris Lake in time for a dusky dinner.
Rockbound Pass with a 14 year old
July 27-30
Purpose of the trip:
To reintroduce my 14 year old daughter to backpacking after one prior bad experience. After much good advice on this site I decided that this hike seemed to offer a good chance of success. The drive to the trailhead was just a little over 4 hours from my home in the Bay Area which was reasonable. The hike to Doris Lake was 6 ½ miles with around 1500' elevation, which might be pushing it for her but pretty Maude lake offered a good bailout option at 4 ½ miles if necessary. It seemed that there would be some things to do and see if we got to Doris and set up a base camp.
Conditions in general:
This is a very dry year. The first and only water source on the way to Maude Lake was where the trail crossed the outlet to Maude (Jones Fork of Silver Creek). Possibly because of the drying, mosquitoes had tapered off from earlier reports of massive infestations in early July and had become tolerable. Fortunately for us, three days before we started the hike there was a major rainstorm that freshened things up and the flowers were quite nice. There were still two patches of snow near Rockbound Pass, but it was going fast and we never saw any other snow on the trip.
Day 1
We almost did not make it to the trailhead. We left very early from home and my daughter was so discombobulated by the early start that she became repeatedly carsick. After many stops and rests along the way she mercifully fell asleep in the car and slept the rest of the way to the trailhead. Still, we were later in getting on the trail than I wanted and I was worried that she would be hiking in a weakened and demoralized condition. Not a recipe for a good trip.
As we hiked, however, we snacked, and as we snacked she gained strength and picked up steam. At times we rested almost as much as we walked, but we made progress and she got into better and better spirits. While the first part of the hike was rather ordinary, as we approached Maude we passed through a lot of granite–which was a first for her. We arrived at Maude–4 ½ miles and 800' of elevation–5 hours after leaving the trailhead. Maude is a pretty little green lake, and it was heavily camped on this Friday afternoon. I offered her the choice of staying there, but she elected to push on. So we headed up over the Rockbound Pass from Maude late in the afternoon. The pass was an impressive trail that skirted over the tops of the cliffs. My daughter gleefully spotted a pika along the way, and we got in to Doris Lake in time for a dusky dinner.