High Sierra Topix

kuhio, The wait was well worth it; your second installment really shines-- both the images and your story. I wonder where you spent the next basecamp days? Keep 'em coming! Cheers, Ian.

Well a bit of a break here, sorry, have had quite a bit going on. So back to it.

Lake 9797 as mentioned has a nice flat area with good access to the water edge. Most of the lake is quite shallow and therefore also warmer. No doubt also a result of the slow moving wide Upper Goddard Creek which feeds it. In addition to being warmer than most of the alpine lakes it also is a little weedy, which i guess is not surprising given its depth and temperature. The bottom in the main area of the lake is a bit mucky and you therefore sink into it a bit walking into the water. It is also loaded with small rainbow trout.

I was up early the following day and caught something like 10 fish on 10 casts in a row, however as mentioned, they were all small (maybe 7 or 8 inches max)

Morning on 9797:





Arriving here in 3 days from Florence with the weight we were carrying is good by anybody's standards and we were happy to take it easy and hang around the lake for a while in the morning. There were no other people on this side of Reinsten pass. We had miles of backcountry to ourselves. The plan for this day would be to day hike up the basin directly west of 9797 to the lakes below Finger Col.

After a the well deserved lazy morning, we broke out the daypacks and packed a lunch. Around midday headed across the creek to start up the other creek feeding 9797 which heads up to Finger Peak.

The lower lakes had a similar character to 9797 (shallow and greenish) but were lovely. The walk up into this basin is easy and well graded.







We took our time in this section heading up slowly and enjoying each lake, finally arriving at the second the last lake in the basin at around 10239 feet and our jaws dropped. This is a really beautiful spot.





We spent a long time walking all the way around this lake and the views from every spot were awesome. This lake is fishless but the water is super clear and blue compared to the lower lakes and it was a great spot to swim. We hung out next to the lake and ate lunch waiting for the clouds that were hanging out over Finger Peak to part and give us a good window of sun to take the bite out of the cold water.

We spent a few hours just hanging out at this lake before deciding to head back to 9797 to circumnavigate the lake and spend a chill evening in camp.
There is some talus on the south side of the lake but most can be avoided by simply sticking to the waters edge. There is a stand of trees around the outlet that from the other side looked like it may have a campsite in the trees but it does not. Still a pretty spot to view the lake from. The creek descends from here down into the creek canyon towards the confluence with disappearing creek from the enchanted gorge. Having read a bunch about that particular trip we did not have too much interest in seeing it for ourselves. The east side of the lake has cliffs that go directly into the water however there is enough of an edge to make your way all the way around which we did to get back to camp.

Outlet of 9797 as we walked around the lake:



Back at camp that evening:





Talking that night around the campfire we made a decision to shorten our stay at 9797. The next day we planned to go spend the day at 10232 to swim and fish and just enjoy that lake. I had originally had plans to see if we could take a route up behind 10232 on another day and summit Goddard from there but keeping basecamp at 9797. This now seemed pretty dumb given the 2 mile jaunt back up Goddard Creek. After talking about it we decided to keep the plans to visit 10232 the next day leaving base camp at 9797. Then spend one more night at 9797 and leave the following morning to go back over Reinstein and camp at Martha again to use as a base to climb Goddard on the following day. This would also give us a chance to scout out the bottom of the pass from 10232 and hopefully make the trip back over Reinsten pass shorter than the trip down.

After a good nights sleep we again took it easy in the morning. Not having the hassle of having to pack up camp each morning is really nice, however it can lead to feeling like you have unlimited time and make it a bit hard to get going. Not really too bad of a problem to have in a place like this. The plan today was simply to scout out a better way up the valley back to 10232 than the route we took down, try to look for a bit better route up the pass from 10232, and simply enjoy 10232. See what kind of fish it had and hopefully swim weather permitting.

We decided to still stick to the west side of the creek this time however to go more up the hill around the tree line to stay out of the creek beds and dead fall. My buddy also had some designs on not only looking for a better starting route up the pass, but actually taking it and doing some looking around higher up the hill than I wanted to go that day.

So we started out probably after noon. Travel up higher did indeed turn out to be easier. There was sort of a sweet spot right at the tree line where there was a balance between the steepness of the terrain and foliage. About 3/4 of the way to 10232, my buddy wanted to head up a creek drainage to what looked like a flatter spot on the topo that we could follow directly to the small lakes on Reinstein pass. Looking up the hill, to me it looked just as steep as the route directly up from 10232, so I was not so keen to go exploring halfway up the pass today just to go back down two 10232 and repeat the whole process the next day, however my buddy was determined. So up the hill we went. After the straight up the hill slog up the creek drainage we did indeed find easy travel north along a shelf with some small tarns. However, the sky was darkening and we were starting to hear some thunder far to the west.

Looking back toward the south from this area you could see clearly down to 9797 and the gorge to the south. We could see sheets of rain further south of 9797 and the weather did not look to be likely to quickly improve. It was at this point I realized we did not fully close the tents. Any wind driven rain would surely soak our sleeping gear. As we pondered this mistake it was clear that weather was also coming at us over Mt Reinstein above with thunder getting closer and the wind picking up. So we quickly decided to get down to 10232 as we started to see lightning flash above us. Funny how a bit of lightning can help you find a straight and fast path down to cover. lol

Running down the steep bouldery slope to 10232 with the clouds and rain coming in from the west down by our camp at 9797, and lightning chasing us down the slope.



Quickly down to the bank of 10232, pity that the weather and our hope to get back to camp before our gear got soaked would keep us from spending quality time here:



Looking like the rain had not hit yet to our south we wanted to make it back to camp as fast as possible to keep our gear dry. We decided this time to head down the east side of the creek. This turned out to be the best way to travel between 10232 and 9797. I can say that definitively as we basically tried all possible routes. Its also the most scenic. We did not get any great photos on the way down as the weather was coming in and we were more in get back to camp mode however since this way proved to be best, we took the same route the next morning on our way back to Reinsten pass and the area in the morning light did not disappoint.

Its best to stay on open ground above the trees for the first half of the jaunt down and then enter the trees and pick your way down to 9797. We did find an area that had collected about 15 mylar balloons spread all over the ground and did take the time to collect them so we could pack them out. It adds no weight and it was just seemed a shame to have anything trashing up this pristine isolated area. We made it back to camp and the rain ended up skirting 9797 so all of our gear was dry. The clouds cleared and we spend the evening swimming in 9797 and were treated to some great lighting at sunset.



The agenda for the next day was to get camp packed up early and hopefully find a quicker path up this side of Reinstein to get back to Martha to stage for climbing Goddard the next day. We were packed and out of camp by 7:30 or 8am (early for us). We were worried about a repeat of the afternoon thunderstorms and wanted to make sure we were over the pass by then. The valley was gorgeous in the morning light. We did our best to retrace our steps up on the hill to the east of the creek. We were very quickly up the valley towards the 10232 outlet and the magnificent slow flowing Upper Goddard Creek.

Upper Goddard Creek with little trout breaking the surface everywhere in the morning:



Just sublime:



Sunny today at 10232, no time to linger however:






Interesting colors in the morning light. As you can see, we decided to go straight up from the late on the north side of the creek that flows down from the pass. It is sort of straight up the hill but there really seems to be no avoiding that at the bottom of this pass. That said, charging straight up saves you from wasting time route finding.




Wish I could give you a detailed description of the middle of this pass but it is a bit confusing up there and I cannot really say exactly. We somehow managed to not even see the tarns halfway up the pass, I think we stayed to the north of them until we passed them. The one thing I had in mind this time from the beginning was avoiding the slabby cliffs directly below the pass and instead head to the left under the peak of Reinstein. This proved to be a good way to do it. Only required climbing one cliffy section directly below the pass. We made good time and we were up on the pass by 12:30pm.






Best to go left under the peak and then work right near the top of the pass in the picture below:



Only one cliffy section to negotiate near the top this time.



Happy to be virtually over the pass in good time and without storms.



It seemed like it only took 20 minutes and felt like running down the slabs on the Martha side of the pass being so much easier than slog up. We were happy to spend the afternoon swimming and fishing in Martha and were treated to a light show that evening with our next objective, Mt. Goddard looming above our tents.

What a TR. The pics are really really good, plus I like the golden trout you caught, since I am a fisherman. Thanks for sharing.

Texan

I'm still enjoying your report; rereading it now, and picking favorite photos. There are so many great shots, but I think for a pure landscape shot, my favorite is the one below Lake 10,232.' The one with this caption: Sunny today at 10232, no time to linger however.
I also really admire the image of you on the cliff, with your giant pack , and with the rain clouds above you. Great "people in nature shot." Great work around Martha Lake too; makes us want to go there right now. Thanks again, Ian.

Seconded re great photos and luscious TR...with strong memories of all that terrain from 2021. It sure is gorgeous.
You could sell that first pic of prior post titled "Morning on 9797" to Zpacks (is that what your tent is?) with some sales title of: "THIS is where you could be with your XYZ tent!" Just a fabulous photo. Though others are too..."Just Sublime" looking down Goddard Creek is very evocative of just that title! Great stuff.
Looking forward to seeing if you get up Goddard as it was on our tentative agenda too. Did not get to it...and wonder if I could have anyhow.

Michaelzim

michaelzim wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 2:30 pm Seconded re great photos and luscious TR...with strong memories of all that terrain from 2021. It sure is gorgeous.
You could sell that first pic of prior post titled "Morning on 9797" to Zpacks (is that what your tent is?) with some sales title of: "THIS is where you could be with your XYZ tent!" Just a fabulous photo. Though others are too..."Just Sublime" looking down Goddard Creek is very evocative of just that title! Great stuff.
Looking forward to seeing if you get up Goddard as it was on our tentative agenda too. Did not get to it...and wonder if I could have anyhow.

Michaelzim

Thanks for all the comments on the photos. I do lug my old Canon 6D around with a 24-105mm L lens on it. However, many of the photos actually come from my buddies Iphone 13. I work in the image sensor industry making the type of sensors that are used in the phones and have until now always took the hit of carrying my SLR, but with the quality we are getting out of phones these days the margin is much much slimmer than in the past. There is still nothing that replaces a really quality piece of glass though.

haha, yes it is a Zpacks duplex. Highly recommend this tent. Perfect balance of weight, size, and durability IMO. Ill see if they are interested in my pics lol

It was a great afternoon/evening with another light show at Martha Lake. Such a nice spot. Not least of which is the excellent fishing. I did not fish all that much and easily caught 5 goldens all of good size. Took a quick dip in the lake that afternoon after coming off the pass that felt great.

Our tents at Martha. Staged for Goddard the next day.



Another good size Golden:



During that afternoon we did finally run into one other person. A young man who was fishing and circumnavigating the lake. He commented the great fishing and mentioned that he came in over Lamarck and planned to stay out 7 days but mentioned not being quite sure on account of the weather. I thought it was kind of a strange comment at the time because the current weather was great and I didn't realize he was talking about the forecast which of course we had no knowledge of having been out for a while. More on this later.

We had a nice long afternoon at Martha, took a walk north over the ridge to the lake directly north of Martha but mostly we just fishing and hung out in camp excited to try Mt Goddard the next morning.

The next morning we woke up to a little bit of wind around Martha. Nothing major but still noticeable. We didn't take too much time hanging around camp. Ate, packed up the day packs, and headed up towards the hump between Goddard and the pyramid shaped mountain peak to the south of Goddard. Ignore the blue line as the actual line is quite a bit lower and you end up skirting the left side of the hump to get over the first ridge. The red line is the unfortunate route we ended up taking back to camp after summiting, I would not recommend this route either, more on that later.



We did have a route beta saved in my buddy's phone so we knew we were aiming for a chute that goes up to the main ridge starting above the lake at 12270. However, as was typical for him, my buddy preferred we skip the lake and cut straight to the chute staying higher on the flank of the mountain. This ended up working out and saved a bit of time and elevation. Added a little adventure as well.

Working our way to cutting the corner to the chute. Looking back towards Martha you can see me mixed in with the rocks in the middle of this picture:



The direct route:





A look back at the tarn at 11988 taken from the top of the ridge that gave us access to the chute on the other side.



Going up the chute towards the summit ridge:



A good idea of the slope in the chute. As the beta said, annoying, but not dangerous. I would add slippery.



From the top of the chute with lake 12270 in the background:



Somewhere on the summit ridge:



Back towards our tents at Martha from somewhere on the summit ridge:



Having some lunch on the south summit, not a breath of wind.



My buddy and I on the south summit, you can see Upper Goddard Creek and lake 9797 way down there where we were just the previous day.







Telephoto of Upper Goddard Creek drainage seen from the summit of Goddard.



We decided that the south summit was good enough and we didn't need to do the class 3 to get 10 more feet up to the north summit. This shows what that looks like:





Looking back to the false summit we came up towards Martha and Mt. Reinstein.





Straight down to 12270



We lucked out and got perfect weather. As mentioned, no wind at all on the summit. We lingered for a while just taking in the views in every direction watching the hawks ride thermals up higher than the summit with the back drop of the creek drainage we had just spent 3 days in. It was fantastic and a real sense of accomplishment having basically covered all of our intended goals of this trip.

After hanging out for a while we started heading back down with the intent of taking the usual route closer to the lake edges on the way down.

Hard to believe this shot my buddy took of me heading down the summit ridge was taken with an Iphone. The view from here is out of this world.



The terrain is, um, not real comfortable...



In my zeal to stay next to the lakes on the way out (per the description of the route) we took it a bit to far and decided to follow the outlet of the tarn at 11982 thiking we could follow that creek back to Martha. This turned into sort of a slot canyon and ended up coming out jut below the pyramid shaped peak above Martha on top of a bunch of cliffs and at least 500ft higher above Martha than we wanted. This is why we ended up coming down along the red track in the photo I posted. If it were not for a single passable chute, we would have had to turn back cliffed out. It was sketchy but we were able to slide down about 50ft of that chute to get to steep but passable ground all the way back to Martha.



The only snow we had on the route, preserved by being in the deep slot canyon facing north.



The view from camp later that night. Went to bed with a deep sense of accomplishment. It would turn out that red sky at night was not sailors delight. Final installment to come...

Thanks for this great TR! Your pictures are stunning. I'm the one who said hi north of Martha on your second day. It's nice to see the pictures of the southwest ridge of Goddard. I ascent via the Starr's route and descent via a northwest chute to save some time but it's terribly loose. Also congrats on your monster goldens! I guess you'll take fishing poles with you for future trips from now on. There are also a variety of boletes in August/September in the high country that would pair with golden for a good meal.

Great report so far. Sounds like a great trip! I climbed Goddard (south summit only - agree with you that the class 3 to the north summit not worth it) from Martha Lake back in 1977. At that time, there was a decent use trail that we followed all the way from the slope above the lake to the summit. Did you see any evidence of this use trail?
-Phil