SEKI Loop, Sept 12-20, 2022

[cgundersen]

Hi Cameron,
Fantastic loop and remarkable photos. The views one gets up the heart of Ionian Basin with Goddard on the horizon before transitioning into the Black Divide with Devil's Crags and Lakes Basin that segues into the Palisades backdrop is simply stunning. So many cool places, so little time? I looked at some old photos of Amphitheater Lake and I would not have tried the traverse that you guys initiated, but it looks like you got darn close to finishing it off. And as for Upper Basin Crossing, I posted (in the XC passes section) a pretty thorough description of the ramp system near the top that either gets you a third of the way down or finishes the climb. But the other 2/3 is unmitigated talus slogging, for sure. And any ideas of what that circular grassy ramp was on the other side of Pinchot pass?
Cheers,
Cameron

[CAMERONM]

Hello Cameron
I intended to post about the circular thing- it just looks too perfect to not be manmade. I was hoping one of the sages of the forum could help on this? Seki Hiker? Picture below.
As for the traverse, I am pretty sure that it is possible, but my son flipped out and I had to stop exploring. He had made me promise that I would not subject him to another west direction Venaccher Col like the last time we went together.

2022-09-19 14.09.52 smaller crop.jpg

[Gogd]

Camping with our children is the best. Me thinks the best photo you share of your trip is the father/son portrait in your blog, taken at the end of the trip. The love of family and love of a shared experience is so obvious.

Ed

[cgundersen]

Cameron,

I've been cogitating on possible explanations, but nothing really pencils out. Among geologists, hydrologists, archeologists I'd think someone could come up with an explanation; I think it's that raised berm around 2/3 of the perimeter that suggests human intervention, but then someone is going to post a photo of something built by beavers and I can just laugh. Anyway, good luck nailing the unconventional route around Amphitheater the next time you're up there. If I beat you to the punch, I may try day hiking it? Cameron

[CAMERONM]

Gogd: perhaps even more than that. This was a major bonding experience, similar to when I took my son on the last leg of the SHR. It helped build up some more trust that I am depending on now. A few days after we got back, my son crashed into a major bipolar manic episode, and it became so severe as to require a short forced hospitalization. It has now been running over three months, and there are a lot of layers that need to be addressed by many professionals. My son took a lot of photos of the trip, and lost all of them when in his manic state he left the car unlocked and the camera was stolen. He thinks he let me down by losing the photos. And he still talks about the cliff-out at Amphitheater Lake in terms akin to PTSD. So the trip experience was priceless, but is also intimately tied to the present.

[zacjust32]

Hello Cameron
I intended to post about the circular thing- it just looks too perfect to not be manmade. I was hoping one of the sages of the forum could help on this?

Twin Lakes Pinchot Timelapse_reduced.gif

Here's some more Recent Satellite Imagery from ESRI

Satellite imagery shows it growing from 33ft across in 2005 to 105ft across in 2022 (prior images are too grainy to measure). I don't think it's man made, but instead looks like it formed as part of the interaction between the inlet stream and the lake. There was probably a spot near the inlet that built up enough sand/gravel to support vegetation. As that vegetation grows, it stabilizes additional sediments along the edge and grows in a radial fashion. The built-up edge nearest the water is likely formed in a similar action to levees.

press&siever13.13.png

[CAMERONM]

Wow Zac, I was sort of hoping for some kind of extra-terrestrial explanation, but yours looks convincing to me.