TR: Summer of `74

[paul]

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John near Granite Chief

July 7th 1974:
Left Meadow Mountain Lake about 9:00 a.m. and walked up to a pad and came down and had lunch at Whiskey Creek. Then we walked up to a pass and walked down and hit a road that wasn’t supposed to be here according to the map. Then we camped at a creek not knowing where we were, and it started to rain.

Memory is a strange thing. One of the memories that has always stayed with me from this trip is an image of a lunch stop, on the grassy banks of a little stream, where I can clearly remember mixing up my Wyler’s lemonade on a nice sunny day. It’s always been clear to me that his had to be somewhere around Tahoe, definitely not south of there, almost certainly not north of Donner Summit. And here it is – we had lunch at Whiskey Creek. Why that stuck so hard, I have no idea. Although it could be because it was the last pleasant thing to happen for several days.
John recalls that it wasn’t raining when we camped or when we went to sleep. We had had no rain at all on the trip thus far, and we threw down our gear in a meadow. It started to rain in the night. John, Tim and Matt were all on one tarp as groundsheet, and they threw their second tarp, intended to be the roof, over themselves when it started raining. I was on my own separate little groundsheet, and either I had actually set my tent fly up (I had just the fly from a one-person tent) before going to bed, or I took the trouble to get out of bed and set it up in the night. At any rate, it stayed up through the rainy night, and by morning my buddies were definitely wetter than I was. I had some rain coming in, but my bag was mostly still dry, as was most of my gear. I seem to recall that I had used clothespins to hang either a plastic garbage bag or my rain parka across the open front of my shelter, and that helped some. During the day the other guys propped up their roof with fishing poles to create some interior room, but it was pretty miserable over there.

July 8th, 1974
Woke up and it was still raining and my sleeping bag was soaked-through and matted. So decided to stay there and wait through the storm and hope it doesn’t last until tomorrow. In the sleeping bag I am cold and wet.

I don’t recall anything about that day, but I think I was a little drier than the other guys – so far.

July 9th, 1974
Today it was still raining, but we had to go somewhere so we packed up and left at 12:30 for Lake Tahoe. At Lake Tahoe we dried out our clothes and sleeping bags at the launder-mat. Then we went to A&W for some root-beers, Ice creams, papa burgers and French fries. Then we camped on the beach of Lake Tahoe.

My shelter luck ran out the second night, as the wind came up and my tent stakes pulled out of the now soggy ground sometime in the middle of the night, and I spent the rest of the night with my fly wrapped over me. By morning I was lying in a puddle. I was able to get the fly back up once it was light, but by then the deed was done.
For Lake Tahoe, read Tahoe City. By the time we left Barker Pass, we were completely soaked and all our gear was wet. Everything we had was wet – even the inside of my bag of M&M’s and peanuts was wet, as I discovered at the laundromat. I remember the colors from the M&M’s running all together. You haven’t lived until you have stuffed a truly soaking wet down sleeping bag into a stuffsack, squeezing the water out of it as you go. I have vivid memories of walking down the Barker Pass Road in the rain, in soaking wet jeans under rain pants, culverts overflowing onto the road. We just walked and walked, no point in stopping to rest in the pouring rain. When we got down to the lake, we walked along Highway 89. It would have been about 10 or 11 miles from Barker Pass to Tahoe City. At the laundromat, my hands had been so cold for so long that they were stiff, and I couldn’t get my damp money out of my wallet to put it in the change machine to get coins for the dryers. Matt had to get it out for me. I guess we pretty much took over that laundromat, the four of us with all our gear, sitting there in wet clothes until the first loads came out of the dryers, then changing into dry stuff so we could start another load. I have to think that A&W food tasted mighty good. I don’t suppose we could get away with camping on the beach at Tahoe City today!

[paul]

July 10th, 1974:
Woke up around 10:00 and we are hoping for the sky to clear up. Ate breakfast then went up to A&W for another breakfast. Then we walked around and hitchhiked and got a ride to Homewood Resort about 5 miles down the road. After that we walked down to Meek’s Bay and camped at the beginning of the Tahoe Yosemite Trail.

Once we had got all our stuff dried out, we began to consider what to do next. Getting back to where we left off did not make much sense. I think we had already been behind our projected schedule before the rain delay, and now we had lost three full days. So, we made the decision to hitchhike, and pick up our route further south.

July 11, 1974:
Woke up, ate breakfast and started to walk and hitchhike down the road. Stopped for lunch then got a ride to South Lake City and ate the rest of our lunches. Then we got a ride to an intersection of a bunch of highways (I’m assuming the Tahoe Y) and started to walk some more. After about one mile we stopped and hitchhiked for about two hours and got a ride to Hope Valley. Then we sat and goofed around For about two hours and looked for a camp site if we didn’t get a ride. Then, as we were sitting there, a brown pick up stopped. When we found out they were going to San Bernardino we took a 75 mile ride to Lee Vining, about 1 mile from the Tioga Pass road. So we slept in a picnic area on the shore of Mono Lake.

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None of us can recall where we were intending to hitch to. But when this guy said he was going all the way down 395, we decided Yosemite was the place to be, so we had him drop us off in Lee Vining. I had always thought we slept in the town park in Lee Vining, somewhere close to the Mono Kone burger joint, but the diary don’t lie! So I guess I made my story up. What I remember clearly is that there was a picnic table, and John was trying to get star photos with his Pentax, using the “bulb” setting and a cable release to keep the shutter open for a long time with the camera laying on its back on the picnic table.

[paul]

July 12th, 1974:
We started up the Old Toga Pass Road then stopped and hitchhiked. We hitchhiked for about two hours then figured out we were in the wrong place, because there is a newer road built a little ways away. So we walked to the intersection of the new and old roads and hitchhiked. After about an hour we got a ride to Tuolumne Meadows and there we got a Wilderness permit and started off for Young Lakes.

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Dana Plateau from the bottom of the Tioga Road

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Hitchin' a Ride

Boy, that was a different world – walk into the permit office in Tuolumne, mid-day in July, and get a permit for four to go to Young Lakes that day. No problem! And suddenly, we were in Yosemite, heading up the trail to Young Lakes, in perfect, spectacular weather - quite a change from a few days before. And because we had skipped ahead of our planned schedule, we had time on our hands.

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Cathedral Range

[paul]

July 13th, 1974:
We left Lower Young Lake and started off for Upper and got there in about an hour. I spent all day there fishing and didn’t catch a thing.

One of the two nights we were at Young Lakes- probably the second – we had a great sunset. John was the only one with a decent camera. But somewhere I had found out the shutter speed and aperture of my Instamatic, and John had a light meter. So, I had him tell me when the light was right for my camera, and took the shot, resulting in the best Instamatic sunset shot you could hope to get.

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Sunset Young Lakes

July 14th, 1974:
Today we woke up, ate some breakfast and started off for Roosevelt Lake. We spent all day there fishing, eating and talking at this beautiful lake. John caught a 9 inch trout and that was the only fish anyone caught there. Then we went back and ate dinner.

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Hangin' out At Roosevelt Lake

I recall clouds of mosquitoes at Roosevelt – but they didn’t bother us at all. You’d see a little cloud of them, like a ball maybe 6 or 8 feet in diameter, hovering a ways off the ground. But we could walk right by and they paid no attention to us. It’s a very nice lake, big and beautiful with Mt. Conness looming above just to the east of it.

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Roosevelt Lake from the inlet end

At young lakes I remember us putting our packs on the top of a big boulder to keep them out of reach of any bears. I can’t remember if we had heard it at the time, but I’ve heard it said that bears can’t climb any rock route tougher than about 5.6. Though I wonder who came up with that factoid, and what they based it on. At any rate, they didn’t get any of our food!
Since we had time, this was the first and only time on the trip that we took a dayhike side trip.

[bobby49]

At young lakes I remember us putting our packs on the top of a big boulder to keep them out of reach of any bears. I can’t remember if we had heard it at the time, but I’ve heard it said that bears can’t climb any rock route tougher than about 5.6. Though I wonder who came up with that factoid, and what they based it on.

It's because bears can't find any rock shoes that will fit them.

[paul]

July 15th, 1974:
Headed down towards Tuolumne by way of Soda Springs. At Soda Springs I took pictures of two ground squirrels, one was in John’s hand. Met a nice family with a nice little girl. After having root beer soda we headed for the Tuolumne Post Office. Along the way the family we met gave us two “MD Energy Go!!” chocolate bars. Loaded up our packs with our new supplies of food and walked down Tioga Road and camped.

We had sent resupply packages to the post office at Tuolumne. Since we were not taking the Muir trail south, but instead heading for Parker Pass and Koip Peak Pass, we went up the Dana fork and camped somewhere in the woods south of it – totally illegally. Pretty sure we did another boulder stash with the packs – but now they were chock full after the resupply, a lot more work to get them up there!

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Koip Crest

July 16th, 1974:
Hit our trail at Dana Meadow and went over Parker Pass. Felt really sleepy walking over the pass. Then ate lunch and headed for Coip Peak Pass. Camped on top of the pass and went up Coip Peak. There was a great view of everything (lol) from up there.

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Koip Peak from the trail up to the Pass

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Koip Peak Pass

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On the way to the peak

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Summit of Koip Peak

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Mt. Lyell and surrounding peaks from Koip Peak

I think for all of us, this was the highest elevation we had ever reached. The pass is 12,260’, and the peak is 12,962’. The trail to the pass is great – it switchbacks seemingly endlessly up what looks like a wall when you are approaching it – but turns out to be just a steep scree slope - followed by a final rising traverse into the pass, which is a broad saddle. We found a low rock wall inside which there was just enough room for the four of us, and we camped right on the pass after walking up to the peak for the truly spectacular view. Ever since, I have liked the idea of sleeping right on top of peak/passes, the best being Whitney, which I have done a couple times.

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Summit of Koip Peak 2

[paul]

July 17th, 1974:
Came down from the pass at about 9:00 and fished a little at Alger Lakes and caught nothing. Then hiked over two passes down to the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. Became really sleepy again today. John was too so we figured it was from loss of salt so we took some salt tablets, vitamin and aspirin.

How we got the idea that we were short on salt I do not know, but I very much doubt it, given the general saltiness of our backpacking menus. I hadn’t remembered anybody getting sick. I do remember taking the salt tablets, and then having the feeling that my salivary glands were going berserk, but I had forgotten why we took them.

July 18th, 1974:
John is sick today and feeling worse. Couldn’t get very far before lunch as John fell asleep. I caught a fish there, but I only caught 1 so I didn’t keep it. Then we hiked into Reds Meadow and spent the rest of our money and called our parents. We only went 8 miles today and John was super worn out and coughing so we camped here. I had a small temperature, but that’s all.

I never had much to say to my mom on these phone calls, while my buddies would chat away. We called collect, otherwise it would have taken a lot of change to make those long distance calls from a pay phone.

July 19th, 1974:
When I got up John was still sick. After breakfast he felt worse so we had a layover day. Everyone took a free hot shower from the hot springs.

I had always though we took hot baths at Red’s Meadow, not showers. I even had a clear picture in my mind of the concrete tub. But apparently, I made that all up. Maybe I wished it could be a hot bath instead of the shower.

July 20th, 1974
Left camp around 10:30 and went down the fish creek trail. John is feeling much better. We camped near Iva Bell Hot Springs and took a hot bath in them. It was wonderful.

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Fish Creek

The thing I remember most about the hot springs was the funky bottom – mushy dead leaves and stuff, squishy between the toes. John remembers some guy in a hammock camped near the springs who was not at all pleased to have four scruffy teenagers invade his private hot springs.

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Iva Bell

[paul]

July 21st, 1974
Started off late again at 10:10 and ate lunch on Fish Creek. Then we hiked on. We got caught in a big Thunder storm and walked back a mile to find a good place to camp.

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Crossing Fish Creek

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Junction with the JMT

We must have camped on Fish creek, below the start of the climb up to Silver Pass, because I have a photo taken at Squaw Lake that is obviously on a clear morning. Probably we had started up the hill and then, in the rain, realized there were no decent campsites until well up the hill, and that was why we turned back.

July 22nd, 1974:
Started at 8:00 and met some real nice people on top of Silver Pass. One person was talking a poll of backpackers and he spoke with two people that were 67 years old and had been backpacking for 36 years. Then we went down to Mono Creek Canyon near Quail Meadows.

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Ritter Range/Minarets from below Silver Pass

I think we ate lunch at the little pothole lake that is just north of the low point of Silver Pass, a little off the trail.

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Peak 11424 above pond at Silver Pass

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South from Silver Pass

July 23rd 1974:
A heavy dew fell today and we had to wait until 10:00 a.m. to dry out our sleeping bags. Looks like another thunderstorm is piling up. Ate lunch at Bear Creek. Then walked up Bear Creek until a little below Seldon Pass and camped near the headwaters of Bear Creek. Had our third thunder storm in a row today.

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Seven Gables from Bear Creek

You may notice, no mention at all of Bear Ridge. By this time we were walking machines, and had eaten up a good chunk of our food weight, and no amount of uphill was worth a mention. I remember thinking the whole Bear Creek area was really nice. I’ve been back there few times, and my opinion has not changed.

[paul]

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Marie Lake

July 24th, 1974:
Started out about 8:00 a.m. and made it to Seldon Pass by 9:00. Fished at Harte Lake, but caught nothing. As we walked we looked into the inlet and saw a bunch of Golden Trout. Ate lunch at Sanger Creek, then went down until we hit Piute Creek and crossed on a bridge. Then we went about two miles more and camped on the South Fork of the San Joaquin River.

I recall being impressed by the size of the canyon of the SJ as we came down into it. It started to rain either on the way down or just about the time we got to the junction for MTR. I remember walking along the trail in the rain, most likely around Aspen Meadow, and there were people camped all along that section, on both sides quite close to the trail. We had to keep going for a while to find an empty spot; it was a nice one, though, right near a little waterfall . The rain stopped around dinnertime, and by the time the stars came out it was clear.

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South from below Selden Pass

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Ward Mtn.

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Entering KCNP

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South Fork of the SJR

[paul]

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Goddard Canyon

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Looking down Goddard Canyon

July 25th, 1974:
Left camp at 7:30, a good early start. Headed down the trail, left the John Muir Trail and went towards Hell For Sure Pass. We took a cross country route towards the pass up some cliffs that cut off some four miles. Ate lunch along a creek that followed the trail. Then we went over the pass and down to Disappointment Lake.

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Approaching HFS Pass

I have always remembered that we took the “hell for sure route” up to the pass – pretty much directly up the side of the canyon, roughly following the creek that starts just below the pass on the east side - in preference to the route of the trail, which runs quite a way up Goddard canyon before branching off to the pass by way of a long traverse back to get below the pass and then climbs up to it. Having taken the trail last August, coming down from Martha, I think we made a good call back then, as that long up and down traverse is annoying. Talking about this recently, John said he thought that the old map showed a trail closer to where we went. And sure enough, if you go all the way back to the 1912 Mt. Goddard 1:125000 topo map, the trail heading up to HFS pass from the east is much closer to what we did in 1974 than to the route of the current trail. Those old guys knew what they were doing!

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At the pass

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HFS Lake

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HFS Pass from Disappointment Lake

We got rained on at Disappointment, the last rain we had.