This year, after sticking to trails and never wandering very far off, I decided to put my practiced navigation skills into use. I wanted to head over a cross country pass, and since I travel solo (and am a bit of a senior!) I believe in taking baby steps with anything new. I studied the Cross Country Pass section of HST, and decided on Knapsack Pass.
On July 23rd I headed out….and was quickly reminded of the throngs of folks on the Bishop Pass trail…yet another reason to explore cross country. Up and over the pass I went, and jumped off the trail at the upper Dusy Basin Lake. I headed over to Lake 11388 where, already, it appeared I had left the crowd behind. I remembered reading a post about good campsites near the outlet of the next lake down, due east of Isosceles Peak, and headed there. With the exception of a couple trying out their brand new fishing equipment (and having no luck) who left in the afternoon, I had the lake to myself. I had a lovely sunset on Mt. Agassiz and a clear, starry night.
The next day dawned clear and bright. Instead of dropping down to the lower Dusy Lakes and then going back up, I worked my way level over to the area of Knapsack. At one point I had this view…..
and thought, “Should I be doing this?” I decided to get closer for a better view, because I’m never too proud to turn around!
There was a boulder field I had to work my way through and a little bit of willow bashing, but I arrived in the “center” of the route. From there I worked my way up and around easily-negotiable slabs just to the right of the drainage area. A peak back at the lake area where I had started…..
After all of my worries, the route finding turned out to be rather easy and fun! I made it to the pass and was really excited….
I returned by dropping down to the lower Dusy lakes where I explored, then worked my way back up to my campsite.
My winter will be spent studying maps and posts here for further off-trail exploration next summer. A BIG OL’ FAT THANK YOU to all who share your adventures, knowledge and inspiration!
