PART 2. – Monsoon Milestone with a dash of misty Midway…
Day 6. I spent what I call a “flappy night” in the tent with not much sleep. The gusting wind kept coming and going, only settling down very late in the wee hours. Cloudy skies with a sort of ominous feel to the east soon had me on the trail to Milestone Basin where I hoped to base camp for a few days and get some rest.
En route I kept looking north to the ‘south sides’ of the peaks there trying to make out the supposedly ‘gentle eastern slope’ of Little Joe’s Pass. It’s such a confusion crest of features I never did find it for sure thus axed it as a possible return route.
I did begin to get my first clear views of Milestone Peak, Milestone Pass and Midway Pass ahead, realizing that one of those two was now my likely route back.
Pic. 15. Milestone Mountain, with Milestone Pass to the left and Midway Pass to the right (red arrow).
When I reached the upper Kern River the mosquitoes came out in force and had ‘serious intent’ for the first time in the trip. I plunged south on the trail then shortly after took a right, heading west for Milestone Creek.
To my surprise I found an old on again/off again trail that made the first half of the ascent much easier. It petered out half way but was easy enough cross-country terrain after that.
Once more though there were threatening skies pushing me and after some confusion about just where I was I found the odd shaped little lake at 11,535 ft. and hastily put up the tent with an excess of rocks holding it down. It was a very exposed site at high altitude and I suspected this big “weather event” was about to make its entry.
Pic 16. Lots of anticipatory rocks holding the tent to Terra Firma.
I managed to get everything set up and a snack in while I surveyed my options for exit if the weather refused to become balmy enough for base-camping.
Sheesh!...Forget Milestone Pass! Golly, with a pack on that looked a challenge and a surefire slip fest for me.
Pic 17. Zoom in view of Milestone Pass...Click on the photo, then click that photo to get a super zoom in of the pass!
Midway Pass appeared to be much milder, on this east side at least. The contour lines on the west side were considerably more indicative of steeper surprises though. I would decide later. The rain was beginning to spat with its serious intent.
Rain!!! Crikey…that was rain alright! Almost deafening for a couple of hours nonstop. Then the lightning and thunder…Wow!!!
Is there any other word than pure, unadulterated “VIOLENCE” for that stuff?!
Jagged tendrils of exploding air and light. Percussive booms of huge magnitude. We are indeed puny in comparison.
It was pretty exposed feeling, with once again, not much I could do about it.
When the very distractive percussive party died down a bit I realized there were puddles on the floor of my tent! Aaaaaargh…How could that happen as I had done a very careful job of seam-sealing it. Aha. The tie-up points for the netting on the left and right of the entrance! The intensity of the rain was beating its way through the stitching giving me drips at those two places. I used my pak-towel to soak up one and my cup to catch the other. Hah…yes, those who have done the same. Do NOT kick over the cup!
Sheesh, live and learn.
With great relief the rain lessened around sunset and even stopped for a short while. The light was sparse but impressive.
Pic 18. Harbinger? Not quite.
Pic 19. Evening light, Milestone Basin.
Impressive too was the new waterfall. If you look in the top left area of pic 15. you will see a wet streak on the rocks which is the outlet stream from the top lake in the bowl between Midway and Table Mountain. Ahhhhhh…that was now a raging white torrent with a roar worthy of a dragon. In just a few hours!
Oh!...But I have to cross that to get to Midway Pass. Ooooops.
Before I could process that one the rain re-started and I was back in the tent for a very interesting night.
Keeping up with the “drips” kept me awake for a long time. The temperature plunged and I must have dozed off…until I woke feeling very cold in the lower half of me.
Aaaaaargh #2…The bottom half of my sleeping bag was wet all over the top.
I knew I would knock over the cup so had replaced it with a bundle of ‘soak-up’ clothes. This new wetness culprit was the impressive condensation on the tent walls! I had slithered into the side of the tent while asleep and my bag had merrily mopped up the moisture from the fabric. S - - T!!!
I began to realize that I could be in serious trouble if this scenario kept up. I didn’t panic, but had plenty of “what if” thoughts as I stoically analyzed my predicament.
I’m sure others have been in a similar high altitude jam, and well, it kinda kept me awake for the rest of the night and hyper aware of every teeny nuance of rain velocity.
Day 7. Fortunately. Very fortunately, the rain stopped around 4:30 am or so and the morning dawned on a very wet world with cloudy skies.
Seeing as I had been in exactly this kind of storm just last September near 60-Lakes Col en route to Gardiner Basin (which I aborted too early), I decided to give it until 10:00 am before deciding anything. Midway was in clouds, so no way was I going to try it if I couldn’t even see it!
Pic 20. Misty Midway - somewhere around the red arrow.
Ten o’clock went by but I procrastinated. An hour later it was looking a little hopeful so I decided to “be an idiot and try it!” If it cleared I would go over. If not I would skip it and return to the lower elevations of the Kern River and decide what to do from there.
Thus I crossed the now lessened dragon torrent and headed for where I thought the pass was. Maybe 500 ft. from the top I had to admit that I was being a total ditz. I had not researched the pass. I knew this east side could be a fake-out for a steep and slippery west side. And in the mist!? Duh…I sighed and turned around for the Kern. Half way down to there the Gods had a laugh. The sun came out!
Pic 21. Sun tease on Milestone and Midway.
It did not last long though and half an hour later Midway was in the clouds again. And the mosquitoes were at the Kern again too! Somehow they had survived the overnight pasting.
Taking stock, my choices now were:
1. Head south along the Kern and loop around to Colby Pass, Cloud Canyon and eventually Avalanche Pass back to Bubbs Creek.
2. Retrace to familiar Forester - with that tempting custard class grade.
The choice in my sleep-deprived state was easy. With two passes to do, possibly ravaging skeets along the Kern, and huge losses and gains of altitude, I skipped option one. With still threatening skies I decided it was time to call this trip a ‘wash’ in terms of best laid plans. Going back to Crème Brulé pass again made the most sense.
Golly the steady climb from the river to the high point where the Lake South America trail heads north seemed to be gargantuan. The huffing and puffing of that little venture cemented for me that deferring on option 1. above was the correct decision. I was kind of wasted by now.
Once again the rain and some wind was nagging at me (from the west this time), and Milestone Basin was socked in. I quickly cut the corner to the JMT/PCT, decided I had had enough open exposure for now and made camp just as the trees petered out on the way north to Forester. A little spring had water and the trees cut the wind down some.
Oh…I decided I had better test my backup Platypus
Quickdraw filter before the trip ended so I gave it a whirl. Zip! No water came out, just like the darn first two
Squeeze filters! I must have a “Hydrophobic Filter Magnet” chip embedded in my credit card. Platypus will of course be hearing from me.
Pic 22. Camp in the trees about 4 miles south of Forester Pass.
I was lying down in the tent by 4:30 pm with the odd spits and spats to keep me there until evening when things began to lighten near sunset. The short but dramatic evening light show reappeared again.
Pic 23. Weather all around.
Pic 24. High-lights to the east.
I finally got a cooked meal down then slithered around in my somewhat damp sleeping bag on the Uberlite skating pad. However, I think I actually got some sleep that night.
Day 8. Blue sky!!! It was a dramatic change and sure gave a welcome expansiveness to that huge open basin south of Forester.
Pic 25. The basin – looking south.
Pic 26. The basin – looking north. (Red arrow is Forester Pass)
BRIEFLY CONTINUED BELOW:
