High Sierra Topix

Thanks for adding in your detailed story Patty, a good read. You two were definitely closer to the main event. Live and learn, I've been there haha.

Long time ago, August 21>27, 1982, got nailed with a really juicy tropical event right there where you were between Summit Lake and Golden Trout Lakes. Rained all night sometimes hard and at the time I just had a leaky bivy sack. Caught right out in the open. Middle of the night I had to escape as the wicking into my sleeping bag was getting serious. So got out during a minor lull and carried bag off some ways with pack to a couple close together boulders where I somehow plunked down between the two on something not at all flat. Then used the bivy Casper the friendly ghost style sitting up against the rock the rest of the night. Probably put the ground sheet atop the bivy to help. Miserable night, can't recall much now haha. Next morning was a brief lull and I quickly moved over to the lower Golden Trout Lake where I found a good spot beneath a giant boulder in the big talus below the cliff. Was able to take all my gear out and let it dry off below the boulder even though it still rained alot for another day.

Beautiful pictures David..as always! Very much enjoyed reading your TR....sounds like a wonderful time you had with your brother!
Loved the froggie pictures..just adorable!
That rusty red crack is beautiful...Your 1st picture you see when you click on your link..is that Anne Lake? That lake is gorgeous!

Thank you for posting!

madeintahoe wrote:Beautiful pictures David..as always! Very much enjoyed reading your TR....sounds like a wonderful time you had with your brother!
Loved the froggie pictures..just adorable!
That rusty red crack is beautiful...Your 1st picture you see when you click on your link..is that Anne Lake? That lake is gorgeous!

Thank you for posting!

Thanks madeintahoe! I would much rather read stories like that in adventure magazines like Outside or Backpacker than the usual terse treatment of short 3 partial pages of text with a couple pictures. But that old media has limitation due to printing costs. That is where posting stories on the web has a considerable advantage because we can post longer features with the kind of details one gets reading a good book and even add multimedia.

That is Peter Pande Lake while Anne Lake also has some excellent panorama's that are at the end of the Day 5 page.

I posted the following on the backpacker.com TH forum but it went over like a dead fish only getting one response and I think has scrolled onto page 2 there soon to go into the abyss.



Hello I'm Miss Tooey a Yosemite Toad and I have a story. A few weeks ago while I was hopping along on a hilside looking for beetles, two giant monsters appeared and stopped looking down at little me. I tried to hop away but we toads are so slow. I was really afraid when one of the monsters reached down and pointed something close to me. Then I tried to hop away but the monster picked me up, AWWWWwww. Oh oh my heart was beating so fast and heavy! Then it put me back down and I tried to hop away again but the monster grabbed me again...please don't eat me, you know we toads have poison glands so you might not like it. Then it put me down again but I couldn't hop away because the soft pink monster claws were around me like a cage. Then it pulled the claws away and I tried again but down came the claws again.

Then the claws went away again and I was wondering? Last week when that giant coyote grabbed old wartzy, he shook him back and forth and back and forth horribly in his mouth and wartzy was all torn up and no more. But this monster didn't squeeze or shake me at all like maybe was playing a game? So I just stayed still and looked at the monster that talked down at me softly in a scary monster voice and then rubbed my back with those soft warm claws. Then the monsters walked away?

Calherps link to anaxyrus canorus:

http://www.californiaherps.com/frogs/pa ... norus.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hi David...Aww..What a very cute story..And I often think what all these wonderful critters in the wild think of us humans entering their homes! Probably just like you wrote! That frog is so adorable..I can see how tempting it would be to get closer and even softly hold the frog!..I think being gentle is the way!..wish more people like you would respect all wildlife!

I forgot to ask you...how do you like your Copper Spur Ul 1 or 2 you have? How did it do in that rain?..I just got a UL1...I love the simplicity of it..so easy to set up..have not used it yet.

Thank you again for your story!
Anita

Have used the UL1 on 4 trips now over 23 days. No issues thus far with the tent, though has not been in a real prolongued downpour yet. The tent stuff bag has however ripped and is unusable. Because my gear cannot fit in my Aether 70, I've been mounting the UL1 on the back with a couple of bunjis. Likely has been banged some when dropping the pack and bruised while dragging it. At one point on Day 3 dropping steep slabs we had to slide down our packs over a drop so we could free climb. I think the stuff bag is made from the same lightweight silnylon fabric that obviously cannot take much abuse so one needs to be careful with the fabric. Having some trouble finding a replacement stuff bag because of the odd long narrow shape.

I have been using one of those Gossamer Gear Polycryo groundsheets that weigh almost nothing and am afraid how well the tub floor has held up. So need to perform a tent tub test by setting the tent up ouside atop a blue plastic tarp then hosing a shallow layer of water inside the tent tub, then checking for any leaks through.

One has to expect a tent that light is going to have space limitations. Without the fly on the sides if not guyed will narrow. I usually bring along my 32 inch colapsible circular diffuser for closeup work which when opened and pushed to the back end, nicely expands the walls.

I didn't see this post earlier Dave, but I was in the Humphreys Basin on 7/22 as well. In fact, it appears we were just up slope from Patty where the trail crosses the outlet from Lower Deso. We went in on 7/19 to gray sky's, but didn't get any weather until 7/22. It stormed along the pass on 7/21, but we were west of there at Lower Honeymoon and didn't get any weather. We took off on 7/22 with plans to camp at either Tomahawk or Lower Deso. Didn't get to either. Got to where the trail crossed the outlet and had to set tents in a hurry about 200 yards upstream as we could see and hear the storm coming at us from the SE. It started with just some rain at about 1:30 or so, but hit in earnest at about 2:00 with pea sized hail. Rained pretty good until about 4:30. No problem for us as we just sat it out in the tents. We hiked out on 7/23 and it looked like more of the same that day as well. Was raining as I crossed Piute Pass, but it stayed to the west on the hike to the TH.

Thank you David...I am going to order one of those ground cloths from Grossamer..they look perfect to use and so light weight. Glad to read you have had no issues with it...I love the simplicity of this tent..so easy to set up!

On the topic of the Copper Spur, I have the UL2 and love it. To save space, I put the tent in a small stuff sack and compress it instead of using the sack that comes with the tent. I would suggest being careful with the zippers and treat them as gently as possible. I've used it a few times and one of the zippers became unhinged. I think this was my fault as I wasn't being as gentle with it as I should have been, given that it's a small, light weight zipper. It's a great tent. I've used it solo and there is so much room for little weight. The two vestibules are a real plus.

Terrific photos. Thank you.

I have always wondered what the Graveyard Lakes and the Peter Pande area look like. Nice to have an idea now.

- Elizabeth