TR: Moose Lake via Alta Meadow 6/14/2014

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maiathebee
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TR: Moose Lake via Alta Meadow 6/14/2014

Post by maiathebee »

I was scheduled to give a colloquium talk at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA on Monday, June 16, so I decided to bookend the drive down from the bay area with trips to the Sierra. In less than 9 days, I drove 1,250 miles, hiked 55 miles, gave a seminar talk, spent 3 nights in motels and 5 nights in the backcountry.

The first trip of this crazy week was planned to be a loop connecting Alta Meadow with the Lakes Trail via an off trail route around Moose Lake, but when my hiking partner suffered altitude sickness after our route up to Moose Lake, we decided to make it an out-and-back via Alta Meadow, opting to return on the off-trail route we knew instead of finding our way through the Tablelands. We had time pressure as well since we were hoping to have him on a train in Fresno by 5:45pm. It was a beautiful trip and the sunset alpenglow on the Great Western Divide was some of the most dramatic I’ve seen!

Beta: We encountered no snow on our route and the mosquitos were nonexistent except for a few around the wetter areas of Alta Meadow.

My full trip report is on my blog: http://plutoniclove.com/2014/06/25/moos ... onal-park/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A few photos:

Image
Pleasant meadow just below Moose Lake by snackronym, on Flickr

Image
Checking out the alpenglow from our camp at Moose Lake by snackronym, on Flickr

Image
Heading back to Panther Gap from Alta Meadow by snackronym, on Flickr
Last edited by maiathebee on Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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maverick
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Re: TR: Moose Lake via Alta Meadow 6/14/2014

Post by maverick »

Thank you for the TR, great pictures, and the link to the blog. That is a very
intense alpenglow, very pretty.
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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maiathebee
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Re: TR: Moose Lake via Alta Meadow 6/14/2014

Post by maiathebee »

maverick wrote:That is a very
intense alpenglow, very pretty.
Yeah, it was crazy! I've never seen any as intense. In my experience, the Great Western Divide generally gets a great sunset alpenglow because there aren't any peaks in the way to the west of it, so the sun can get very low and go through a lot of atmosphere and still hit those peaks. Also, helping out this time there were some dust storms in the Central Valley and I think they might have contributed to the color.
oh hey! you're reading my signature.
that's nice. want to check out my blog?
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maverick
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Re: TR: Moose Lake via Alta Meadow 6/14/2014

Post by maverick »

Yeap, as can the Big Brewer Lake area.
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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