R03 TR: Sabrina Basin & the Lamarcks ~ Sept. 25th - 30th 2022

[michaelzim]

Hey, thanks for all the comments and pics appreciations, etc. - Hence a few more comments of my own to add...

~ Yes, I do believe the amount of rain in the Sierras this summer has helped the water levels a lot. Despite the lack of snow the creeks I was around and got water from were pretty darn clean for end of September. I was on high alert for the "green slime" that has become so yuk of late. I really did not see much of it. Just some tendrils of a more 'attached' to rocks version, not the floating around looking toxic iteration.
That was good, as I have some trepidation about drinking slime mold water even if filtered.

~ The "John Muir" event... Man, I do not know who he was but for sure the oldest person I have ever seen up there. My guess was he was 80 years old and had no intentions of being anything other than who he was. I got the impression he saw me as some well dressed alien in an outfit as outrageously different from his as his was to me. His attire looked totally genuine in terms of severe use, re lying down in the rocks, pine needles and dirt, etc. The lack of tent and paucity of supplies was stunning, as at the speed he was travelling (very slow but steady) he would have had a hard time out-running any bad weather events. And the footwear! I wish I had been able to sneak in a photo. They looked like sort of floppy slippers with 'flaps'??? made of a kind of leather or something, that I think I have seen images of somewhere - like pictures of old mountaineers on Mt. Blanc, etc.
As mentioned, it was really a bizarre encounter.

~ Ha, re pass names and midnight wakefulness. Here is a hint at the one I did not mention = "Snow Tongue". Those of more mature years may remember this graphic well. Now just add a 'snow cone' vision/version to this!

Stones.jpg (29.81 KiB) Viewed 118 times

The Stones rock.

Best ~ M.

[SSSdave]

The Lamarck Col glacierette has obviously mostly melted away versus what had been a decade plus ago. In late season one would still need to climb up across some of the steep rock hard glacial ice. Recall reading someone's post this year about how they went around the snow on boulders that meant indeed it has been shrinking.

[Bishop_Bob]

Akin to the glacial recess at Lamarck Col, I went over Snow Tongue in late July and the tongue is gone.

[Love the Sierra]

Nice report, thanks!
I loved the sunset at Hungry Packer pic. Also Moonlight was fun since it reminded me of the lakes on the North Fork of Big Pine Creek. I also enjoyed the lovely clear green water that reminded me of Blackrock Lake. I envy your getting to go out one more time this season.
Aura

[Love the Sierra]

By the way, was the story of the old guy was pretty wild.

[torpified]

thanks for the great report and pictures! I suspect that there's something about the Sabrina Basin that invites reflection on nomenclature. As far as I can tell, the only three lakes in the basin with individual names that aren't bracingly unsolemn are: Moonlight, Midnight, and Echo. But even that trio of names, taken together, has something playful about it.

The last time I was at Hungry Packer, I discovered, submerged in a ziploc bag, two cans of Sierra Nevada torpedo ale. The collision of the LNT precepts, "Leave What You Find" and "Dispose of Waste Properly" paralysed me. I left them, essentially because of how distraught I'd myself be if, having stashed them, I returned with great eagerness to enjoy them, only to find them missing. Moral intuition poll: what's the right thing to do about maybe-abandoned beers encountered in the backcountry?

[Bishop_Bob]

Moral intuition poll: what's the right thing to do about maybe-abandoned beers encountered in the backcountry?

Here's my vote:

[thegib]

Finding cold beer (not attached to an obvious camp) is a blessing not to be questioned.