TR: Moonlight/Sabrina Basin and the Aggressive Pika 7/21-7/23/23

[windknot]

Thanks for the report! Echoing others, it's amazing to see so much snow there this late in the year. Glad the snow bridge collapse didn't result in serious injury or worse. That's always a fear of mine when making similar crossings.

Interesting about the pika. I've never experienced anything similar, but a dastardly marmot did once chew through my hipbelt pocket to get at a Clif bar that I had inadvertently left there while dropping my pack at the junction near Trail Crest to go walk up Mt. Whitney.

[oddtiger]

Thanks for the TR! That's so interesting. I've seen many Pikas but they are mostly very shy and busy with haying. It's rare to see such an aggressive one. On the other hand, I've encountered quite a few marmots who tried to my rubber/plastic gears. They even once worked as a team to distract me and chewed off the rubber grip of my hiking pole.

[Harlen]

@Ewarford...Just great first post & hoping for many more!
Just stunning to see the Sabrina basin like your excellent photos showed it.

X2.

Great trip, and fine reporting on it.
I've always thought of the Pikas as shy and retiring, and that it is the Marmots to worry about. One Pika did make tiny holes in the tent's inner fabric once, but check this Marmot story:

miter basin-111.JPG

This Marmot up in Miter Basin wasn't satisfied with my spilled soup, it came over and chewed on my bare heel!
Anyone else out there been attacked by the Marmots and Pikas? Maybe we can get a class-action suit going against the National Parks for not minding their rodents.


Here he comes again!

miter basin-112.JPG

[kpeter]

I think we need a new thread: Marmots vs Pikas.

[Ewarford]

Thanks, all, for the replies and the clarification on the name. I thought it was Sabrina Basin, but a couple people on the trail referred to it as Moonlight Basin, which I had not heard before and made me second-guess myself.

As for the pika, I was completely surprised too. I've had my run-ins with marmots going for the salty sweat on my hiking pole handles (and I've swaddled my car against them at Mineral King), but the pika's preference for the plastic glasses case and shoes didn't make sense to me. Glad to know, though, that I'm not the only one to suffer pika attacks. Also glad mine didn't go for my head!

kpeter, the mosquitos at Sailor Lake weren't bad at all. There were a few, but pretty easy to manage. To cross the Blue Lake outlet, I mostly walked across logs, but I took off my boots because it looked easier to take a few steps in the water. I probably could have done it without taking off the boots.

Amazing year! I'm up at Tahoe now, and it's been years since I've seen snow on the surrounding mountains in July. But it's melting fast.

--Elisa

[scottmiller]

I had a pika at Lake Italy that ran all over my gear, between my legs, and was clearly interested in going into my tent but I stopped it. Usually they're not that forward.
I understand that the Shober Lakes are accessible from Sabrina, although maybe not yet this year, being at 12,000 feet. They looked interesting from above, a view I saw after I misjudged the location of Larmarck Col.

[windknot]

I understand that the Shober Lakes are accessible from Sabrina, although maybe not yet this year, being at 12,000 feet. They looked interesting from above, a view I saw after I misjudged the location of Larmarck Col.

The Schober Holes are indeed accessible from the Sabrina TH and are a neat out-of-the-way spot tucked away in a far arm of the basin. I too have peered down at them from above after I similarly misjudged the location of Lamarck Col coming up from Darwin Canyon in 2012. Then I visited the Schober Holes from Sabrina in 2016 and 2018. Wandering Daisy recounts in one trip report meeting a fellow who made the same mistake that we did but in the fading light he committed to it and inadvertently stumbled down the very steep chute to the Schober Holes, mistakenly thinking he was going down the north side of Lamarck Col. And HST member robertseeburger has actually done this intentionally, finding a class 2 route up and over the saddle (higher point than the chutes) from Schober Holes to Darwin Canyon and back.

[Gogd]

First, a question: is it called Sabrina Basin or Moonlight Basin?

The forest service refers to the place as "Sabrina Basin", but there is no "Sabrina Basin" in the Board of Geographic names database. Only Sabrina Lake is official. I haven't come across Moonlight Basin before.

That's a fine first post

Good point. I've often wondered about the proper name for this region.

Perhaps a fun campfire topic. I've always referred to the major basins of Bishop Creek watershed by the three principal branches: North Fork Basin, Middle and South Fork Basins. When I need more precision. I'll resort to references that include nearby lakes, creeks or peaks. As long as others know what we are referring to, it matters little whatever ad hoc names we come up with. So I can refer to the location of Green Lakes as in the South Fork Basin, above Parcher's Resort, and anybody with a map or local familiarity can get there from here. Likewise, for all of the suggestions shared on this thread. (Another good reason to be map savvy.)

Ed

[rodfrogfarkler]

@Ewarford Thank you for this great trip report! I am heading up to Blue Lake from Sabrina with my 10 year old daughter and friend. I'm really looking forward to it. Your trip report is a big help to make sure it will all be doable. I'm usually up higher and more remote, but this year the snowpack has been so awesome that I still had lingering doubts. I appreciate your post and am glad you have a cool trip!