Rock Creek's Ruby Lake on Snowshoes with Bear, Feb. 9-11-2022
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2022 7:22 pm
My trusty canine companion and I sought to bite off another section of the JMT/SHR to enjoy in winter. I was very interested in seeing how the eastern Sierra was looking after the huge December snowfall, and I planned to stop at some hot springs, and again to visit an HST connection-- Niko and Liane-- the former aka "Silky Smooth." Besides being backcountry skiing compadres, they now have land between Walker and Coleville, where they set up the fantastic Coachwhip Cafe, with the finest cuisine in all the east! The hot springs were snowed-in, to my car at least, but I had the pleasure of meeting up with Niko and Liane both coming and going, and Bearzy got to meet Banjo!
Outdoor seating and climbing at the Coachwhip Cafe. (That's Banjo racing ahead-- looks like he only has 2 legs, but in fact, he has 3.)
I chose snowshoes over skis to have a safe and simple trip at Bearzy's pace, but as has happened to us once before, the snow surface foiled our plans. Seven sunny weeks without new snowfall had turned the surface into a rude mix of granular mush, and sharp ice. Bearzy was going to suffer four post-holing legs, and if I had to carry him over my shoulders I would suffer too, so we altered our plans. Our original route was to go from Rock Creek over Mono Pass; then down Mono Creek to the JMT and over Silver Pass. From there to Duck Lake, and the SHR to Deer Lakes, and up onto Mammoth Crest, and out via Mammoth Pass. The highlights would have been the huge trees and diverse forest of Mono Creek; the scenery around Silver Divide, and the airy high route trail along Mammoth Crest, with 360º views. Oh well, best laid plans, and all that. Suffering is said to be ennobling by some, but Bearzy and I just get miserable. If one is going to endure 12 hour nights, the days had better be pretty damn nice.... that's what Bear says. So after a really beautiful morning spent walking the perimeter of frozen Ruby Lake, we turned tails and bailed. We had made it in about 7 miles, to a cliffy camp at 11,000,' just a bit east of Ruby Lake. The road up to Little Lakes Valley was gated at Palisades Campground, which added 4.5 miles of snowy road to reach the trailhead at Mosquito Flat.
We figured there must be something great to do down in the desert. One idea was to walk a circuit around Mono Lake-- something I have long wanted to do in winter, when you can collect snow for water. Another idea was to drive up Hwy 168 out of Big Pine, and head up into the relatively dry White Mountains for the amazing views back on the Sierra at sunrise. But I thought that would include more harsh snowy trails for Bearzy. I immediately thought to camp by one of the hot springs off the Benton road, and to use that as a basecamp, but we nearly got stuck trying to get out to them. So a pure desert trip is what we decided on, and Bearzy was really happy. All coffeed up in the morning, I got bit by the travel bug and started racing off to the Ruby Mountains in Nevada. I got to Tonopah before I slowed down, and where Bearzy pointed out that we were going to be on the roads for closer to 2,000 than 1,000 miles if we carried on to the Rubys. I agreed that it made more sense to do a smaller circle, and the Nevada map showed a way over to Walker Lake, an area famous for large herds of Bighorn sheep that come down to drink its water, and then we'd head west back to Mono Lake via Hwy. 167. It was nice to see some new country, and I'll add that part of our trip as another short report in the Beyond the Sierra forum.
First night in the burned over land on the south side of Mono Lake.
Sunrise on Mount Dana.
By sunset of the same day we were camped high on a cliff in Rock Creek-- don't stumble out of the tent! [I left the damn date and time stamp on! It was 2/10, but sunset was more like 6 p.m].
Mt. Morgan is the highest peak around, at 13,748.'
Sunrise on the high cliffs that hang 2,000 feet above Ruby Lake.
Bearzy and Mt Abbot.
I still enjoy cooking snow for water.
Cold mornings! Bear Creek Spire right over Bear's head.
Stick fetching on Ruby Lake.
Outdoor seating and climbing at the Coachwhip Cafe. (That's Banjo racing ahead-- looks like he only has 2 legs, but in fact, he has 3.)
I chose snowshoes over skis to have a safe and simple trip at Bearzy's pace, but as has happened to us once before, the snow surface foiled our plans. Seven sunny weeks without new snowfall had turned the surface into a rude mix of granular mush, and sharp ice. Bearzy was going to suffer four post-holing legs, and if I had to carry him over my shoulders I would suffer too, so we altered our plans. Our original route was to go from Rock Creek over Mono Pass; then down Mono Creek to the JMT and over Silver Pass. From there to Duck Lake, and the SHR to Deer Lakes, and up onto Mammoth Crest, and out via Mammoth Pass. The highlights would have been the huge trees and diverse forest of Mono Creek; the scenery around Silver Divide, and the airy high route trail along Mammoth Crest, with 360º views. Oh well, best laid plans, and all that. Suffering is said to be ennobling by some, but Bearzy and I just get miserable. If one is going to endure 12 hour nights, the days had better be pretty damn nice.... that's what Bear says. So after a really beautiful morning spent walking the perimeter of frozen Ruby Lake, we turned tails and bailed. We had made it in about 7 miles, to a cliffy camp at 11,000,' just a bit east of Ruby Lake. The road up to Little Lakes Valley was gated at Palisades Campground, which added 4.5 miles of snowy road to reach the trailhead at Mosquito Flat.
We figured there must be something great to do down in the desert. One idea was to walk a circuit around Mono Lake-- something I have long wanted to do in winter, when you can collect snow for water. Another idea was to drive up Hwy 168 out of Big Pine, and head up into the relatively dry White Mountains for the amazing views back on the Sierra at sunrise. But I thought that would include more harsh snowy trails for Bearzy. I immediately thought to camp by one of the hot springs off the Benton road, and to use that as a basecamp, but we nearly got stuck trying to get out to them. So a pure desert trip is what we decided on, and Bearzy was really happy. All coffeed up in the morning, I got bit by the travel bug and started racing off to the Ruby Mountains in Nevada. I got to Tonopah before I slowed down, and where Bearzy pointed out that we were going to be on the roads for closer to 2,000 than 1,000 miles if we carried on to the Rubys. I agreed that it made more sense to do a smaller circle, and the Nevada map showed a way over to Walker Lake, an area famous for large herds of Bighorn sheep that come down to drink its water, and then we'd head west back to Mono Lake via Hwy. 167. It was nice to see some new country, and I'll add that part of our trip as another short report in the Beyond the Sierra forum.
First night in the burned over land on the south side of Mono Lake.
Sunrise on Mount Dana.
By sunset of the same day we were camped high on a cliff in Rock Creek-- don't stumble out of the tent! [I left the damn date and time stamp on! It was 2/10, but sunset was more like 6 p.m].
Mt. Morgan is the highest peak around, at 13,748.'
Sunrise on the high cliffs that hang 2,000 feet above Ruby Lake.
Bearzy and Mt Abbot.
I still enjoy cooking snow for water.
Cold mornings! Bear Creek Spire right over Bear's head.
Stick fetching on Ruby Lake.