R03/R01 TR: Sawmill to Taboose Creek, Lake Basins in between, 6/29-7/7 2024

[Harlen]

Old friend Eric and I ditched work and went off again into a wild part of the Sierra.  As is my passion these days, I visited some new ground on this trip.  Sawmill Pass was new to me, as was Window Peak's basin-- White Fork Saddle and Pass-- and the high basin east of Arrow Peak. 

Sawmill was a mixed blessing-- more colorful, and ruggedly beautiful than expected, but so long and hot as the first days of a trip that it kind of wrecked us.



I finally climbed Arrow, and Split Mountain too, and am I ever glad I did!  Both were not only fine climbs with great views, but both strangely turned into amazing flower garden paths.  

Arrow Peak at sunrise.

On the way up Arrow I found many scattered patches of Primrose, and whenever I had a choice on the broad east slope I would choose the path with the most primrose ahead.  Then on Split Mtn. Eric and I found ourselves in a vertical field of Sky Pilot!  It was Sky Pilot like I have never seen before, and it continued with us all the way to the summit.  Has anyone ever been surrounded by this flower for more than a thousand feet?  It was funny, because when earlier on we had found the usual couple of Sky Pilot plants high on the Upper Basin Pass crossing, I had remarked that we were lucky to have found this rare flower.  On Split Mtn, using old area estimation techniques from my former field work with plants, I reckoned we were in a population of between 10,000 - 20,000 individuals! [The difficulty was in telling if certain giant clumps were made up of multiple plants.]  It was unreal.  We could smell their pungent odor as we trekked up the mountain.  As the population narrowed near the top of the mountain I said to Eric, "Let's try to find the very highest plants," but they never stopped-- there were a couple of perfect flower clumps right on the summit at 14,058 feet.  This was special for me, as I had chosen to absolutely fill Bearzy's deep grave with all the best flowers in our garden above and below his body.  I had tucked flowers into the Tibetan rug that I had wrapped his body in, all around his neck like a wreath.  And we've all been daily placing new flowers on his garden grave-- so flowers have been a big part of our memorial to Bearzy.  In my altered state, sans Bearzy, I found the masses of mountain flowers an especially moving experience.

The last new Sierra beauty for me was the final basin of the Lakes Basin area-- Amphitheater Basin. 

We dropped down into it from Dumbbell Lakes Basin via a snowy pass directly above the great Amphitheater Lake, and then we left via Upper Basin Pass.  With that in mind, I remember that I have at least three Thank Yous to make to HST friends who inspired aspects of this trip.  First thanks to robertseeburger for the inspiration to hike the Sawmill- Window Peak- White Forks stretch, and then I followed his lead up Arrow Peak.  I tried to figure out where he caught his big trout along the way, but was unsuccessful on that score.  I fished and fished in promising lakes all along the way, with only my usual meager results.  I reckon the only way for me to catch a big enough fish to eclipse my wife's recond will be to follow Bob, or the giantbrookie family to one of their secret lakes, and then pay them to let me hold and photograph one of their fishes.  I topped out with this 13" Rainbow:

Another thank you is to WD for recommending that I fish the narrow lake below Observation Peak.  We did, and it became our best fish lunch ever!  Eric brought a big pan, and we had enough fuel, and olive oil and spices to really do the fish right on this trip.

Eric with a bigger fish than mine-- of course.



The final thanks goes to cgundersen for his very complete and inspiring description of Upper Basin Pass.  It was just as he described it, and we were inspired to try the direct rock slab route, which was a fun challenge, and it looked to us to be easier than the gundersen's ledge system.  Here it is:

It isn't as hard as it looks in the shot of Eric above.  You can see here that there are good hand holds on much of the wall on the right, and that the footing too often has little breaks and ledges for your feet.



So in all it was a 9 day, 65-70 mile romp through some of the lesser traveled parts of the Sierra.  We placed Eric's truck at the top of the Taboose Creek Pass TH, and drove my van around to the Sawmill TH by the Division Creek Powerhouse.  We saw nobody in Sawmill Canyon, all the way to the big lake where we spent the first night.  And no one the next day up and down the pass, till the afternoon, when we reached the JMT.  We were only on it for 3 miles, till the junction with the off-trail route up to Window Peak Lake.  Predictably, we met about 15 folks in those three miles-- some very nice-- along the JMT/PCT.  From that juncture we met no one else for the next 4 full days in the three Lake Basins- Lake, Dumbbell, and Amphitheater.  We saw humans again when we crossed the JMT/PCT on our way to camp by the big round lake (11,598') west of Split Mtn.  We were first up the mountain in the early morning, but a couple of climbing parties of 2 came up all the way from Red Lake on the east side of the divide.  We chose to parallel the peopled trail for much of our way down the valley to our next and last camp by the lakes under Striped Mountain.  In the past I have captured some of my biggest small trout in these Striped Mt. Lakes, but this time we only caught little specimens.  Who exactly are the Gods of Fish, and how have I offended them? Anyhow, we saw nearly as many deer as people on that day. 

11.-12. map-maps?  Here's our route. [*coming soon]

[Harlen]

Okay, from start to finish in pictures:

Some lovely sage in full bloom.

The entire Sierra Nevada Range, and High Desert is lush from the two years of fine rain.  Buckwheat bursting with flowers!

 Sawmill Pass trail.

We caught some small Brown Trout here-- are there any other kind?  robertseeburger seems to have removed all of the large ones here too.

Next stop, after 10 long miles, was Window Peak Lake.  As Robert told us, you really can see the "window."   A perfect square space, the color of the bright blue sky, sits just right of the summit.

Small trout are all that's left after Robert, Windknot, GB, and that lot have taken all the biggies.... the b$%^&*&s!

On the saddle, looking due east into the canyon of White Fork Creek.

The route to the ridge, midway between White Fork Saddle and Pass. From there to White Fork Pass the route is hidden, but it's a straightforward traverse, with no need to descend. Small, unstable talus, not dangerous but tedious.

Northeast from W.F. Pass, looking into the broad upper basins of the White Fork.

[Harlen]

On the pass, looking down to the 4 high lakes where we thought to camp to avoid mosquitoes.

Instead, we carried on down to this paradise of a basin, where we suffered clouds of mosquitoes.  Hard to fully enjoy the view through a headnet.

I'd been admiring Arrow Peak from many angles, for many years.  I really wanted one day to make a great climb of it via either the north face couloirs, or the long winding northeast ridge.  Eric wasn't keen, mainly because our first 3 days had kind of wiped us both out.  I thought I could at least climb up the easy east slope, but it still would involve 2320' of uphill.  In the night, I thought about shooting off early, so not to leave poor Eric in camp, suffering the hordes of mosquitoes.  My body was still reluctant, but then I thought about dedicating the climb to Bearzy, and as soon as that thought was out, I was going.  I got off by 5 o'clock, and was on top by 7 AM.  Without the pack it was a breeze, and what a great experience thinking grateful thoughts about my old partner Bear.  The summit really is a wonderful vantage point on all sides. 

Cresting the first ridge, I met my old friends Gardner and Brewer in the dawn light.

There was the Northeast Ridge in front of me, and I angled over to join it for a wild finish, with the big drop off to the north accompanying me the rest of the way up.

On the summit I had a view of the vast Kings River high country.

Southwest was a new view for me of Goat Crest, with Goat Mtn. shining bright.

North.

Later that morning we followed the course of the wondrous clear blue water, from pool to stream, to the main creek full of it that falls down the bench to the South Fork of the Kings.  What is it?!  It looks to me like some chalky white, precipitate mineral is coating the wet rocks, and that this must be held in suspension-- though the water is very clear, and that this chemical is the source of the strange but beautiful color.  At the head of the valley east of Arrow Peak there is a contact between granitic, and the older metamorphic rock formations.  Could that contact be the genesis of the odd mineral that colors the water?  Giantbrookie, any insight?  The same combination of rock formations occurs above Marion Lake, and the same odd color exists there too.    

Here's another wondrous blue color-- the eggs of a Hermit Thrush.

We had a fine time in, on and around Arrow Peak and its valley.

[Harlen]

On Cartridge Pass.

Camp at Lake 10,632.'

We caught our standard 6 fish dinner-- all Rainbow Trout since Sawmill Lake's Browns.

I had only seen the famously blue, Marion Lake from this sort of distance-- it's the lake on the right.  I told Eric that some folks say it's the most beautiful lake in the Sierra, and their very favorite, and yet others have written that it is nothing special.  Now I know that it depends on the daylight, and the angle from which you gaze at it from. 

From here the colors are normal, but I am thrilled by the mountains that hang over the lake.

From this angle, the ethereal blue suddenly appears.  [Note-- none of these lake photos have been edited at all.]  

Here it is the same wondrous blue that we saw in the creeks and pools in the valley east of Arrow Peak.  There must be something common to both places.  We had run down from our big lake camp to see Marion, and we are very glad we did.

Luckily, we saw a few nice live Deer.

Because then we found this oddity, a drowned Bighorn ewe in the depths of one of the lakes.  It took me several minutes to convince Eric I wasn't BS'ing.  I told him, "There's a sheep in the lake,"  and he ignored me.  "No really, it's an underwater sheep!"  "Eric, check it out, you've got to take a photo of it... Honestly!"  Finally he took a look, and said "&%$#! That's really interesting." 

Flowers for the poor Sheep.

[Harlen]

Day 6-- crossing Dumbbell Pass, with the Palisades in the distance (click to enlarge).

Sierra Primrose continued to follow us.

We are heading toward Observation Peak, which we hoped to climb.

We are up!

A truly lovely new basin for me to enjoy in my coating of 90% deet, but Eric was indignant, and spoke of inventing a small flame-thrower... and then he wished he could just snap his fingers and kill every mosquito for 100 miles!  Oh well.  He hid out in his tent for meals, and that helped a lot.

[thegib]

Great stuff. Those bird's eggs are a marvel.

[c9h13no3]

That's a trip report right there.

[Harlen]

Cataract Creek Pass.  The sun-cupped snow helped our descent. 

 

The rare and beautiful Sky Pilot, little did we know that we'd soon be surrounded by them, and their heady fragrance.

Upper Basin Pass.

Camp 7, where Eric and I saw a purplish hue on the north slope of Split.  I wondered if it might be a rock layer, then we both thought of Lupine flowers; Sky Pilot never occurred to us.

Dinner was fish again-- "Gold-bows?"

On our way up, the blooming question was answered!

1400 feet of rare flowers!

Looking south along the Main Divide.  Williamson and Whitney, through to the Kaweah Peaks in the farthest distance.  Also noteworthy, Owens Lake is pretty full of water.

[Harlen]

Fine image of a primitive man in water. [This is one of my best shots of the trip, in which Eric, and his nice phone camera are responsible for most of the images-- thanks Eric.]

Eric came upon these 3 bucks standing in the shallows.

Last camp, by Striped Mountain Lakes.

A last futile effort to land a big fish.

East of Taboose Creek Pass on Day 9-- the "Golden Pillar" of Mt. Goodale.

Junco's nest?

I love these tiny alpine buckwheats.

We searched the pass area for obsidian flakes, and possible arrow points after reading Kim Robinson's account of all the Indian sites up there.  We found just a few flakes, and left them.  

We entered the smoking hot world of the High Desert.

Fir and Jeffrey Pine forest halfway down, with water everywhere.

In the heat, it was fitting that we were pointed toward a cinder cone.  



We made it out, down to the 108 degree heat of the lower valley.  On the trail down, we dunked our heads and shirts underwater every chance we got, and that allowed us to keep our cool.  Lizards were everywhere, and Green-tailed Towhees in the sagebrush; the brief forest environment was graced with Western Tanagers, Hummingbirds and Woodpeckers.  Twice I thought I saw the blue flash of a small bird that I hope was a Lazuli Bunting, but it was unconfirmed.  In the mountains we had seen a Bald Eagle up close, and many Pikas, Squirrels and Chippies, and a few Marmots.  Deer were the only large mammals, but we found a lot of sign of Bighorn Sheep, and Bear tracks in the shallows at one of our lakes.  On the last night, the Coyotes screamed on both sides of our lake, and came in close enough for me to hear them "woofing" as they sniffed around our camp.  At first, I thought it was a bear, and popped out of the tent to defend my Ursack.  The Coyotes made a last close up scream for Eric and me, and that was a fine goodbye.  Eric was a champion again-- amazing performance on only his second backpacking trip.  We had a blast.

[astrogerly]

Stunning photos and great report. We are really hoping to get back to several of those areas this summer. Those photos of UBC are great - we ran into a Ranger on the way down from Amphitheater two years ago that told us about the 'book like' slab option. Many thanks for posting.