TR: A Trip That Bombed - August, 2022

[michaelzim]

A Trip That Bombed - August 24th. to 27th. 2022

I decided to write up this ‘failed’ 2022 trip after stumbling onto a YouTube video with the same outcome. The author is Dan Stenziano who has some pretty decent productions of a wide range of hikes. I’d discovered him in my winter research looking into the Sierra High Route. Here is the link to his 'failed' Grand Enchantment Trail in Arizona video in case anyone is interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA-RTNQjW1M

Like him I realized that it may be of interest to some members that not every trip is a bowl of peaches and cream with a staggeringly good outcome. Like “Life” there’s the rough and the smooth, with lessons learned being an invaluable part of the rough edges. I will share some of those that became clear to me once I had recouped a bit afterwards as they may have resonance especially with some of you older hikers out there.

My tribulations were much closer to home than Arizona. I was aiming for the Bear Lakes Basin of the Mono Divide, starting at Bear Creek TH to get to the JMT/PCT thence a short haul south before splitting off eastwards to Seven Gables Pass, etc. I had no particular schedule or itinerary. Once there I would potter around and head in whatever direction beckoned if I handled the X-country passes OK. With food for 8 or 9 days I was comfortably set with a lovely light summer pack weighing 28 pounds - including 1½ pounds of water…Peaches!

Right off the bat things began to bend a bit.

As I get older I’ve been having a harder time sleeping and getting a good night’s rest. Apparently this is such a common age thing I realized it might be here to stay, and perhaps even more of an issue at high altitudes when I traditionally sleep less. I decided to ask my doc for some Ambien as the lower key sleep meds that knock most people out just jazz me up.
I did not try any before my planned drive to Bear Creek as figured I would leave around 6:00 am and needed to be fully functional. However, at 2:30 I was still awake so said “To hell with it” and left for the mountains at 2:45 am. Nice quiet empty roads at least. Until they were not.
Getting closer to the Kaiser Pass there were lots of delays due to tree clearing from the fires so lines of traffic built up. Once the “Follow Me” car came along the line would hurtle forward at a helluva clip for some reason, completely defying the “slow down” corrugated speed-bump plates littering the road. My 26 year old Volvo did not like it. Once back on the open pavement there was a terrifyingly loud front end “CLUNK” every time there was a slight bump in the road.
I pulled over a couple of times to see if the steering arm was falling off, or similar, but all looked OK. By that time I was on the Kaiser Pass. With its funky surface and pot-holes it was audile hell on wheels.
I mentally dulled the angst by telling myself I was in a strong metal box (the “flying brick” as old Volvos were known) and the Gods would either let me get to my destination or not as there was nothing I could do but continue.

By the time I knew I was getting close to Lake Thomas Edison I began to wonder just where blazes the Bear Creek turn was. Finally I saw a sign that said Bear Creek Cutoff and mega gratefully pulled off the ‘clunk-fest’ and parked. Silence! I just sat there in the car for a few minutes absorbing it and trying to pretend I was not feeling like a tightly coiled spring.
I changed into my hiking gear, put a sun sheet over the car and headed for the trail. It was only 10:30 am so I had plenty of time to stop early evening and rest properly later.
The big sign said “Bear Creek Cutoff”……..Mmmmmmmmmm, I wondered. I thought this was just Bear Creek? Though indeed it is a sort of cutoff to the PCT so why not?!
I strode off up the trail and realized from the sun angle I was heading south. I should have been heading east, or even ENE. Mmmmmmm???
After a while I got my map out and realized I had missed Bear Creek altogether and must be on the Bear Creek Cutoff trail…Duh, like the name said!
Sheeesh. I’d never heard of this trail. Too late now as no way was I getting back into the CLUNK zone of driving. I carried on and ultimately joined the main BC trail at the very pretty Bear Creek itself.

Photo 1..jpg

Photo 2..jpg

By mid-afternoon the lack of sleep and that long stressful drive were taking their toll. However, for those of you who know this trail it takes a wide long jog away from the creek until meeting it again some miles ahead near the JMT/PCT junction.
I was slow. It was a slog. I was tired. But there was zero water anywhere. So I had to continue.
I finally staggered into a campsite at dusk and managed to get my tent up in record slow time. Cooking was out of the question. I was not at all hungry, so snacked briefly and went to bed to the soothing sounds of water flowing nearby. A lullaby that used to have me nodding off in no time.
“Not tonight Josephine!”
I was still wide awake at midnight. Then I checked my watch hours later and it was 3:00 am…Gaaaaaah! Too late for an Ambien by then I figured. As the dawn light crept up and I wondered if I had even micro-napped at all? Sure did not feel like it.
I guess that car scene must have disturbed my psyche more than I thought!

That was the excuse I ran with as finished a cold cup of coffee and set off towards the JMT freeway and points beyond. With what soon felt like mild strains of Altitude Sickness hovering at my edges.
"Altitude Sickness??? – No way!" I was up on Forester Pass not long ago at 13,200 ft. with zero issues and this was a measly 8,800 ft. for Pete’s sake!
Mmmmmm…yet another thing to tuck away into the ‘things not quite working out as planned’ bag.

Like the scenery too. I noticed I was not taking my usual splash of photos. Things just looked a bit plain or something…Not a good harbinger.

And the PCT’ers.
I guess I must have had an exhausted and strained look about me as hardly anyone stopped to chat. I like those trail encounters quite a lot so was a bit puzzled by the dearth of them despite quite a few travelers on the trail…Mmmmmmmm.

Once I left the PCT that puzzle faded as the scant trail I was on headed to Sandpiper Lake and clearly no-one had been on it for a while. It was still in forest but finally opened out once at the lake and I got my first wider views of the trip – but only one photo. And no good camp sites to speak of. There were a couple of very uninspiring ones much too close to the water plus fully exposed to the hot August sun.

Photo 3..jpg

So I carried on X-country to Three Island Lake with fading energy and hopes for a nice base camp location in the shade.
Nope. Never have I been at a lake of that size and environ where I could not readily find a flat spot to camp! It was unbelievable.
I dumped my pack and trekked all over the place for nearly an hour until I finally decided the only place was fully exposed up in the rocks at a little grassy spot with just enough room for my tent, if I fudged…Then the wind came up.
I was “tethering” by then, with not a lot of energy left to deal with a tent blowing down for the N’th. time as I stumbled around trying to anchor it with rocks.
When I finally got it up I was wiped out and lay down to rest and hopefully nap.

No dice. So I tried for a cheese snack and some early supper.
“Huh!? Where’s the cheese???”
I emptied out my bearcan to no avail. It did not magically appear.
“Oh no!” I knew where it was. Hidden under a small towel on the back seat of the car. At a trailhead named after BEARS for goodness sake!
Hot sun. Car. Cheese. Yeah, an awfully smelly combo. But nothing I could do about it up there. Except envision what my car might look like with windows peeled back by a hungry Ursus.
I have never done that before, leaving anything aromatic in the car, let alone food. Yet another “casualty” of the CLUNK stress I determined.
Crikey! The list of flubs seemed to be growing.

Night two was no better than night one. I still lay awake even with a full Ambien before bed…and another at 11:00 pm. Zero. No effect. Unbelievable!!!
It was also noisy. There seemed to be a jet going over every minute or two, for hours on end. I eventually put earplugs in but could still hear them. The Wilderness??? Unbelievable.
The night got cooler and my single-wall tent started to attract condensation, which I also found hard to fathom. It was high summer and not that cold. The thing was sopping by the wee hours. I tried to stop tossing and turning which was knocking off drops and no doubt co-conspiring to keep me awake.
Maybe I got a few mini naps in around 4:00 am, but was up well before sunrise…looking at the pinkish sky with a very jaded eye. Sigh.

Anyway, by now you should be getting the drift of this trip. Not a roaring success and the scenery even deteriorated into “Jeeez this is stark!” A bake-in-the-sun fest big time. Looking at my map it appeared that there would be no trees at all at the higher elevations I was heading for. I would sizzle. Mmmmmmmmm.

When I put my pack on it sure seemed a lot heavier!? Or the inverse, I was a lot weaker…and still too tired to be hungry.
After another snack breakfast I headed for the route to Seven Gables Pass but soon found myself veering left on the way back to Sandpiper Lake. I plain did not have the “Oooomph” to go uphill. No way. It was time to throw in the towel on this one.
I retraced my steps, with a somewhat discordant stride and made it to a camp spot just short of the Bear Creek diversion dam before calling it quits for the day. I did not want to camp out next to the dusty main Edison road. That was my excuse anyhow. I think the real reason was I was balking at seeing what the bears had likely done to my car.

After another near sleepless night even with THREE full Ambiens I reached the car at 7:30 am and discovered one good thing of the trip. The bears had given me a pass! No break-in. Which I doubt I could have handled the state I was in by then. With CLUNKING to put up with for another 375 miles to get home!? Nope. Thanks bears!

Going 75 mph on the freeways in all that traffic, was a classic combo of fatalism and accumulated stress. By the time I got home, and actually believed I was home, I was a mess. I took me a week to recover and get my body to not spasm into little “shock flutters” at incongruous moments.

Sheeeeeeeeesh…Indeed a trip that bombed!

However, I did glean some important lessons that I think I have taken to heart, as my next trip to Sabrina Basin and the Lamarcks a month later was an unbridled success in comparison.

A few of these lessons being:

~ I am not in my youth any more. I may think I can drive half the night and hike all the next day, but it has a cost. Adrenalizing me into pushing way too far than is sensible and disrupting essentials like sleep.
~ Driving hundreds of miles in a car where the front end may fall off at any moment is just plain hyper stressful. No matter what I may think my Crocodile brain (or whatever) does not take it lying down, so when I do lie down I cannot sleep. Answer…I got a new car. Closing in on 27 years the list of things not working on the old one was getting too long. It also needed to sleep, c/o the junk yard. Fittingly it qualified for the “Cash for Clunkers” program.
~ The freeways of the CA Central Valley are intense. Packed with high speed traffic. Congestion. Delays. Super alertness needed at all times. For the Sabrina trip in September I went east over to 395, and my goodness what a pleasant drive in comparison. MUCH more relaxed even though a bit longer. Plus I took a rest night in the desert before starting my hike. Way to go!
~ Better planning for heat and sun exposure in treeless areas. I know this of course, but forgot for some reason. The Bear Lakes basin zone I was going to spend all my time in was maybe not the best choice for me in August. I like trees and shade for a base camp. Don’t think I would have found that up there.
~ I sold my single wall Tarptent. A great tent but I am done with condensation. I switched it for a lightweight double wall tent of nearly the same weight instead.
~ I re-researched air traffic on flightradar24.com and indeed I was camping right under a major jetway at Three Island Lake. San Jose, Oakland and Fresno flights all converge over the Mono Divide. So, I head further south from now on.
~ Don’t go backpacking if my home sleep pattern is in a way out of whack episode. It will only get worse at altitude
~ Pack more and better snacks in case I get too tired to cook much for some days.
~ Take more Backpacker’s Pantry Crème Brulee. Dynamite, super tasty, easy to eat energy boost if feeling lazy!

OK, that’s it. I hope this meander into the ups and downs of the mountains helps pass some winter downtime for you and maybe has a few helpful snippets to forestall one of your trips starting to veer off into nether zones.

Best ~ Michaelzim

[c9h13no3]

I love reports of others misery :-) Thanks for sharing!

[rlown]

Nice report. Thanks for the honesty. Recently, I'm sleeping about 2 hrs a night. I was only going to Evelyn lake a couple years ago. On Metoprolol and Lisinopril to control pulse rate and blood pressure. Had two other friends on the trip and just said "go ahead and if I catch up with you I will." Two of the best nights of my life; one about 4 miles up the trail and the next night near the water bars. I decided that fishing wasn't that important and just camped and watched the deer and the marmots play. 40 mph wind actually lets me sleep great. The kicker was that I had the only working stove!! Cold freeze dried food doesn't sound like fun. Offered my friend a spare MSR head, but he ignored me.

I wish I could sleep that sound anymore. Working on that with the doctor. My friend suffers from acute hypoxia or maybe claustrophobia. It was 14 degrees at the campground we stayed at pre-trip to acclimatize (Tioga Lk) and he was dancing around all night in his rain gear. My sleeping bag is my safe place. If you close your eyes, the space is a big as you think you want it to be.

[paul]

Boy this is great to hear about a rough trip and how fine the line is between great fun and misery. And points up the interplay between the phyical and the mental. Your stressful drive combined with lack of sleep leading to fatigue and cross pollinating with altitude and lack of appetite all leading to misery. Yet its easy to imagine how a few small differences at the beginning might have led to a totally different outcome. The hardest thing I think is to find a way within a trip that is going wrong to pause and reset, to save what can be saved of the excursion. Sometimes that is possible and sometimes not.

[kpeter]

So sorry to hear about your sleeping issues, Michael. I am fortunate in that my sleep improves a great deal on a backpacking trip. At home I have to get up a lot and seldom sleep through the night After a day of exertion at altitude I've been known to sleep 8-9 hours uninterupted-something I never ever do at home. In fact, the last time I slept that well was on my last backpack in late July 2022. Probably a combination of exhaustion, dehydration, and being away from electric lights. So sleeping is one of the things I look forward to on a backpacking trip.

I have had some disaster trips. Blisters, mosquitoes, smoke, heat, broken gear, etc can all unexpectedly change the best laid plans.

I am with you on sun and the lack of tree cover. I like hiking through places above treeline, but I really like to camp where there is some shade. In particular, if I am spending two nights in a place, I want my tent to be shaded in the afternoon so I can take a snooze or at least lie down in the shade without sweltering. Without some shade and green and water for a long period I get demoralized.

[wildhiker]

Thanks for this honest reflection on a problematic trip. As a fellow "elder" on this forum (70), I also have come to the realization that my body just can't do what it could do 20 years ago. I haven't had any significant sleep issues, luckily, but I don't have the "oomph" of my younger self. So I plan trips with shorter mileage days. Still, there are problems, such as the fact that I've managed to perfectly time my big trips from the last two years with the most intense monsoon rains! But being out in the wilderness in the rain is still a refreshing contrast with urban life.

I'm sorry to hear about the intense airplane overflights at Three Island Lake. We camped in that area back in 2002, but I don't remember any significant airplane noise. Airplane noise is a bane of our otherwise perfect Sierra, being so close to major urban areas.

I, too, find the highest elevations above timberline to be too stark for camping. I needs some trees and greenery.

-Phil

[balzaccom]

Oof. That sounded hard. I find that I sleep really well on the trail--but not so much at home. I think the altitude actually helps me sleep.

Meanwhile, my wife has sworn she will never again let me talk her into the Kaiser Pass Road. Construction and fire damage only make a terrible road even worse. She loathes it.

And finding a shady campsite for our afternoon naps is crucial. Not sure what we would do if we coudn't find one!

[Wandering Daisy]

Sorry that things did not work out. I have also had a few "bombed" trips.

Although I have never been on the Bear Creek trail, I am not fond of its location, in spite of the fact it is a short entry to the high country. I prefer the Florence Lake entry even though it is longer. As for Bear Basin I prefer east side entries even though they take a day longer.

There is a nice hidden sheltered camp area at Three Island Lake on the north shore, east side. I have also camped where you did. It is scenic but, yes, windy!

I too absolutely hate the road into Florence and Edison. My big fear is meeting a horse trailer and having to back up when I am on the outside edge.

I sleep terribly both at home and on the trail; no different when I was young. I just accept it and stay calm and relaxed. Benadryl, Advil, sleep mask and ear plugs help.

One of my weirdest experiences is being in the mountains for three days and NOT hearing or seeing any airplanes. Happend to be 9-11! I had no idea what had happened.

[John Harper]

I sleep terribly both at home and on the trail; no different when I was young. I just accept it and stay calm and relaxed.

I've had trouble falling asleep all my life, just resigned myself to it. It does suck at times.

John

[Shawn]

Type 3 fun?

The thing is, you were out there in the mountains while most of us were not. Seems to me that's always a measure of success.

Nice TR.