Maverick's 2019 Annual 7/25-7/26 HST Meet-up

[alpinemike]

So did anyone make the meetup location?

Rogue and I had planned on it until the last minute when various things pushed our schedule back a couple days. So... we actually stared up the route from Deadman Canyon and weren't feeling it! Hence we walked right by it and could have made it up there but it was like 3 days before the meetup date itself. We ended up doing a pretty interesting snow traverse up to Coppermine Pass and down into Cloud Canyon facing insufferable mosquitoes in deadman along the way. I started calling them apocalyptic... they were something else. We had massive downpours in Cloud Canyon to the point where I literally had to dig trenches around my tent to prevent more substantial flooding.. because I was already flooding. It was a comical sight to see me digging trenches with an ice ax in the pouring rain.. something out of a horror movie comes to my mind.

I climbed Glacier Ridge and we tried to get Whaleback but alas the weather was not cooperative. So I'll have to be back but getting up to those lakes on Glacier Ridge certainly won't be a priority at this point. We ended up leaving several days early because of the seriously challenging conditions. I bagged some peaks before and after the trip and will continue to do some more this weekend around the Rock Creek area.

[Ashery]

If anyone made it, they haven't shown their faces here.

As you noted, between the storms and the mosquitoes, the conditions were a bit...rough.

[rlown]

Mav hasn't been online. I think he might have gone. Now we wait..

[cgundersen]

OMG, if alpinemike and rogue got stymied, I cannot imagine what mere mortals encountered/managed. Just not sure whether Mav is mortal..........

[alpinemike]

One of the major reasons why we weren't feeling as up to it was because our packs were really quite heavy. We still had 11 days worth of food and all the snow/ice gear for this season and it being the first time Rogue backpacked in a while... he really didn't have as much interest or motivation as he would have normally. If he was more into it I'm sure I would have been too.

But overall the conditions in general were extremely difficult... everything was either out to get you or just plain against you.

[Flamingo]

Hi All, unfortunately I didn't make the meetup location. I'll post a longer trip report soon. I departed from Marvin Pass trailhead on Monday July 22nd with plans to climb Belle Canyon, traverse along the Kings-Kaweah divide, and then return via Deadman Canyon and the meetup. Long story short, the persistent electrical storms pushed me off the divide route. IMHO, camping in the Tablelands was not safe. I watched lightning strike Big Bird Peak, and I felt that (scary) static buzz feeling while traversing the shores of Moose Lake. I dropped to Alta Meadow and enjoyed the thunderstorms from a safe distance. I ultimately bailed out via Pear Lake and Wolverton trailhead. I had a great time last week, but it's not quite what I had planned. I would have loved to see ya'll.

And yes. . . the mosquitos were *extremely bad* in the Sugarloaf watershed, especially at Seville Lake and Lost Lake. Fortunately, Alta Meadow was basically mosquito-free.

[rlown]

Who actually made the Meet-up?

[maverick]

No one did Russ, except myself, but was not expecting anyone to make it because of the weather conditions, and yes, mosquitoes in Deadman Canyon were bad, which was my exit route, but it was even worse in Cloud Canyon, which was my starting point up to the Meetup, via Josephine Lake and pass west of Lake 11062.
This was a very last minute, fast moving trip, went from trailhead to Cement Table Meadow day 1 (Wed), then Josephine to Lake 9914 (Thur-Fri), Sat to Lost Lake, and out to the trailhead (Rowell Meadow) Sun. Did not take my photo gear and other unnecessary items, which was kind of liberating being free of all that weight, allowed me to move much faster and be much more nimble, but was prepared to deal with the rain and mosquitoes.

[Jimr]

What's up brother? Glad you were able to get out.

[maverick]

What's up brother? Glad you were able to get out.

Looking forward to seeing you guys in the Minarets for the search, less than a month to go.