111 Days In The Sierra

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sekihiker
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Re: 111 Days In The Sierra

Post by sekihiker »

Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the next installment.
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richlong8
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Re: 111 Days In The Sierra

Post by richlong8 »

Great part one- looking forward to the rest! My longest trips are usually only 8-10 days. It is shocking to me when I return from a trip, and I get out of my car in what is supposed to be a quiet suburban neighborhood in NW Bakersfield... How noisy, oppressive, and stinky Bako seems after a return from the Range of Light.
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RoguePhotonic
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Re: 111 Days In The Sierra

Post by RoguePhotonic »

Lol just imagine doubling that feeling by a factor of 10!
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schmalz
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Re: 111 Days In The Sierra

Post by schmalz »

Don't leave us hanging too long rouge! I've really enjoyed browsing your photos from this year.
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Re: 111 Days In The Sierra

Post by RoguePhotonic »

Lol Yeah I need to get back on this thing. I wrote most of week 2 out but it's damn boring in my opinion so i'd like to post more with it. Trouble is I have been working 7 days a week for about 3 weeks now and have been staying in a motel room in Lancaster for the last 2 weeks. Now this Friday I am going South for trail work until the end of the month. So I wont be posting too soon on it.

I did write most of week 16 already but what good does that do you lol.
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RoguePhotonic
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Re: 111 Days In The Sierra

Post by RoguePhotonic »

Since the project I was going to got pushed back I had time to work on this. I was going to post more with this but it's probably just better to get it up.

I'll try to work on all of this more so it's not another couple of months before I post the next bit.

WEEK 2

MAP

Leaving Lake 10,410 was an easy task while following the Northern shore this time around. I wanted to avoid following back down the outlet through the pinch point of the cliffs so I hooked wider between two tarn lakes and down some grassy slopes to where the use trail could be picked up. Over all it was extremely smooth and what I would consider the proper way to get to and from this lake.

It was another quiet morning grinding down the rough trail containing damage from the winter. 6 days had passed since I had seen another person traveling new terrain for me. I wondered just how long I would have gone without seeing a person if I had been heading for Kaweah Basin. As I hit the bottom I had to ford the Big Arroyo which was not difficult but so cold that I was in severe pain by the time I reached the other shore. After passing the old Ranger cabin and hooking up with the High Sierra Trail I was back on familiar terrain . The grind up canyon was slow and uneventful as I kept an eye out for some typical compositions I like to photograph. Stopping at the large cascade before the switch backs I took a photo and then realized a person was getting water from the river. I paused as this odd scene was laid before me. It's not every day you see a human after all...

Although I find myself eager to speak with the first person I see I typically find you never have the opportunity which was the case here. The allusive specimen went back to it's mate far from the trail corridor and I continued on my way.

Tackling the partially covered switch backs was not too difficult as I admired the typical sights of 9 Lakes Basin . Topping out and starting down the area was flooded making the travel a bit messy but beautiful. I couldn't make good progress because I was snapping so many photos. Precipice Lake was mostly frozen and I took a couple notes on camp sites in case I wanted to stay up here as I returned in a few days. Although it was time to drop down endless switch backs the amazing beauty of this mountain side was still one of my favorite and it kept me in good spirits. Rounding a corner I caught sight of two guys sitting on a rock. I thought maybe I would be able to speak to them but they were off trail facing away from me so on I went without a word. Down, down, down I went through the tunnel and into the humidity. The vegetation of the Southern slope was putting out a very oppressive amount of heat. But again the views did not let up as I hit the bottom and wandered into a camp to relax. After awhile three guys came down the hill which were the ones I had passed. One of them said to me "glad we are meeting under better circumstances". I had no idea what he meant... Turns out he had been taking a crap in the snow (and using the snow to wipe his butt) when I came around the corner. I guess I looked right over his head because I never saw him. Probably for the best considering such a major contamination of the water supply in progress.

Waking up in the morning I found a nice buck waiting for me. It watched me intently as it was highly trained in humans habits. I walked out to the forest to drain the bladder as the buck followed me the whole way. It stood about 10 feet away from me and licked it's lips in anticipation of the delicious bounty which it attacked the second I walked away. Back at camp I found my trekking pole had been dragged 20 feet away and was all slobbered up.

I began the long trek to Lodgepole. My paper written plan was to go to Merhten Creek for the night but I would just see how it went. I had hiked this section of trail about 7 times so I knew it all well. Down past Lower Hamilton, past the falls, up the hill, down the hill, cross the bridge, climb to Bear Paw Meadow where they were starting to set up for the season. Reaching Buck Creek I took lunch under the bridge which is one of my favorite break spots. Unfortunately I ripped my pants on a piece of rebar so this time it didn't treat me so well. I never did patch that hole...

As I went up, down, left and right I knew I would make it to Lodgepole which helped me along thinking about a cheeseburger. By the time I was closing in however I was beat. The major heat had taken it's toll on me and I had to put it crude yet comically a major case of the red ass. Throw in some chafing and raw blisters on my heals and I was not a happy camper. I hobbled to the bus stop with only one major thing on my mind and that was I wouldn't be able to take a shower since they closed at 5pm "I thought they did".

Reaching these resorts and resupplies often is a funny experience because everyone thinks your done. Or they might ask "are you coming or going?" I'm coming and going was always a nice reality on the trail. I have to admit it was always a bit odd feeling turning into some sort of celebrity as soon as you answer how long you are out for. The whole crowd begins intently listening to what you have to say and everyone has a question which never bothered me to answer no matter how many times I was asked.

I wasn't all that happy to be climbing on the bus that was completely packed shoulder to shoulder since I am a more courteous person and I don't like smelling like an ape for their sakes. Once in the camp ground I did the typical routine of standing in a line of cars on foot. I originally had not planned to stay an extra day at Lodgepole at all but since I had cut out my layover day at Lake 10,410 and I got in a day early I decided to stay for two nights. To my delight the showers were open until 8pm at this time of year. I spent some time talking to a couple while I ate and they invited me back to their camp so I spent the rest of the night chatting with them.

I spent all of the next day just relaxing and stuffing my face. I called my grandmother and aunt which are the two who most enjoy meeting up with me whether it's to bring me my cords or give me a ride so I scheduled that for the following day. When they arrived we had lunch and I got all the items I needed. I also took the opportunity to send home my ice axe. That evening as I sat in my camp studying a map a backpacker was crossing the road. He saw my tent and came over to chat. His name was Blake and turns out he was a PCT thru-hiker that had never spent any time in the high Sierra. What are you doing over here I asked and he told me how he was in a small group and one of his friends needed to get back to Visalia so while at Cottonwood Pass and not knowing the area they decided to hike the 50 miles back to Kennedy Meadows and then hitched around the Sierra. Really!? I said. You know you could have hiked about 4 miles down to the horseshoe Meadows trail head and hitched down from there? Well they didn't and he sure was going to let his friends know when he got back! He currently was wondering about how he could get back to the trail as quickly as possible. I gave him allot of insight into the different trails and how quick it is and also how scenic they are. Ultimately he decided to hike with me on the High Sierra Trail.

The following morning we got a late start and began on our way. It was already hot and I had let Blake lead at first but his pace blew me away so he ended up letting me lead which had the effect of pushing myself harder in an effort to maintain a good pace making the hike more difficult for me while I was still getting in shape out here. Meeting Blake was one of those things you wonder if the universe meant for us to cross paths. I just happened to be the guide he needed for the area and he currently was in the thick of a major disaster in his life. The sort of thing that leaves you at a cross road where the following weeks will determine the course of your life. I could relate to allot of his problems and being a person with such personal turmoil I was all too happy to be an ear for his pains and fears and offer what wisdom I could. We arrived at Bear Paw Meadow at last light closing our first day on the trail.

The whole Kaweah Gap area from just beyond Bear Paw Meadow over the pass is what I consider the highlight of the High Sierra Trail. This could be considered a bad thing since you reach it early on a thru-hike of it. No matter how many times I hike it the views never get old. This time around it was especially fun bringing someone along that had never seen these sorts of views.

We began up towards Hamilton Lake in the oppressive late morning heat. I was once again struggling to maintain a fast pace with a hiker that had already been on the trail for over a month behind me. By the time we were grinding the final steps to Hamilton I was hurting. The heat was terrible but luckily it was about lunch so we took a dip in the lake and sat on the shore in the shade as Blake marveled at Hamilton telling me it was one of the nicest places he had ever been. We were joined by a family as we sat for the better part of 2 hours on lunch. My goal for the day had been to actually cross the Kaweah Gap or at the least stay at Precipice Lake but my schedule was flexible enough that when we debated on staying at Hamilton for the night it was no big deal to me.

We took up camp next to 3 young guys that were doing the High Sierra Trail. Most of them had little to no experience backpacking. Their most notable piece of gear was a full hookah setup complete with replacement glass bowls just in case. Although I had a great time hanging out with all of them well into the night they had a few habits that were less then satisfactory with backpacking. One was that they would leave their bear barrels and bear box open while they went off for long periods of time. Complete with food scattered all about. The second and worse to me is they had dumped a massive amount of rice out into the lake. All down the granite shore line that everyone enjoys was a streak of rice for about 50 feet. This couldn't have been a worse place to dump such a thing because it was on granite so no going into the mud and there was no moving water meaning that rice was going to stay there until a poor Ranger wades out knee deep scooping it up. I told them that a Ranger would probably fine you on the spot for doing that but as I will note later it had no effect.

The grind up the Kaweah Gap was once again extremely laboring trying to not stop with Blake hot on my heels. We leap frogged a bit with another guy we met at Hamilton by the name of Riley. The three of us topped out on the gap together and then split up on our way down. From here the smooth grind down this canyon was a breeze. Once again the camping plans changed. I had planned to go to Moraine Lake but since I was going to the Kern Hotspring next we said why bother pushing on and stopped at the Big Arroyo junction which Riley was also camping at. It was pretty early so we had lots of relaxing to do. I had introduced Blake to wild onion so we spent some time foraging for and cleaning a pile of them to eat with dinner. The first rain drops of this trip began to fall but luckily only last for a minute or two.
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hikerdmb
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Re: 111 Days In The Sierra

Post by hikerdmb »

Thanks for continuing the story. Hamilton Lake campsite sure has a great view!
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Wandering Daisy
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Re: 111 Days In The Sierra

Post by Wandering Daisy »

I am a little late reading this- just finished the first week. I just loved the two photos "vegetation" and "camp". Wow. I agree, no matter how many times you go to Keweah Gap, one never gets tired of it. What a great trail.
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Re: 111 Days In The Sierra

Post by Wandering Daisy »

Sorry, got that wrong. Just finished reading your week 2. Now I have to go back and read week 1! I got everything just backwards.
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RoguePhotonic
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Re: 111 Days In The Sierra

Post by RoguePhotonic »

Lol maybe I should post it all backwards. That would be a strange artistic way of doing it. Or maybe not. :retard:
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