High Sierra Topix

Every year my husband Justin and I try to get out for at least one 7-day backpacking trip, which seems to be just the right amount of time for us to do a really satisfying loop out in high country. We usually also try to get out for at least one or two shorter “tune-up” trips to ensure we’re dialed in for the longer trip. In the last couple of years we’ve tried to schedule our longer trip during the week before Labor Day, which gives us M-F 9-5ers a solid 10 days off - with plenty of time to pack and get to the trailhead and at least a day to decompress and clean up after we get off the trail. This year we had been feeling extra out of shape and had only gotten out for a two-night trip to Emigrant, which had felt challenging. So heading into this trip, we were both feeling a little hesitant about the itinerary we had planned, which involved heading in from Wishon Reservoir, over LeConte Divide to attempt to summit Mt. Goddard, which my husband had heard has one of the most beautiful views in that area as it’s higher than it’s neighboring peaks. That Saturday morning we took our time with breakfast, decided to watch a soccer game on TV, repacked our bear cans (attempting to drop food weight) several times, dropped our pets off at their grandparents’ house, and dropped some final food items back off at home before finally hitting the road to Wishon. This would be a rare western entry for us – we tend to come in from the East side so that we can stop by and see our friends who live in Mammoth – and we were happy to find an easy campground right by the reservoir to spend our 0 night.

The first two days of hiking were mostly in the woods, passing streams and meadows with few traces of big granite – though the glimpses we did get showed impressive peaks, and a few views all the way to LeConte Divide and the southern part of the range. A mile or two in, Justin stopped to take a look at some hotspots he was feeling on his heels, and low and behold, had already started developing blisters. This is the result of a long boot-trying saga I won’t get into here. He taped himself up and we continued on. We spent our first night at a deserted lake and then headed towards Blackcap Basin, on a deeply wooded stretch of trail that seemed to go on forever. We spent our second night on the North Fork of the Kings.

Our intended route for the third day was to head towards Ambition Lake and then up and over Valor Pass to take a shot at Goddard Peak on day four. Hiking up to Ambition, I was excited to get out of the dense woods and into a high basin. When we arrived at the lake in the late morning, Justin (who I’ve never known to quit or curtail a hike and tends towards a “tough it out” approach) announced that he couldn’t hike anymore – his blisters, which had gotten far bigger in size and looked extremely painful – had gotten much worse. Admiring our surroundings and feeling thankful to have made it up to this high granite basin lake, we decided to enjoy the day there and camp there that night. We spent the day swimming and fly fishing for the copious and very hungry (and tiny) brookies. It was our third day without seeing another soul (or mosquito) and despite the blister troubles, we were filled with that feeling of contentment that so often comes over us high in the mountains. Ambition Lake with Goddard peeking over the ridge The next morning we went back and forth a few times on whether we would go for Valor Pass and Goddard – not because Justin’s feet were feeling much better, but more to come to accept that we would not pursue that particular big goal for the trip. Luckily, we were already in beautiful Blackcap Basin and decided to spend the day enjoying a High Sierra ramble. We visited Bighorn Lake, Eve Lake, Ram Lake, and Battalion Lake. While fly fishing and lunching at Regiment Lake, we caught our first glimpse of other humans – two people popped up at the far end of the lake and, probably as surprised as we were to see other people, quickly moved on up the hill on their way towards Ram and Eve. We later saw what we assume was their tent as we worked our way down to Pearl, and so decided to keep going to spend a night alone at Cathedral. The fishing at Pearl was very good – with hungry bows in the 12” range biting on pretty much every cast on my spin rod – maybe too good, because I ended up quitting early so as not to overly harass the fish. To my surprise, the fish at Cathedral were slightly larger and also hungry, and especially for flies, which made for some really fun fishing with another stunning backdrop. We had a great time, and even threw one fish in our ramen dinner (delicious). On day 5 we woke up thinking about dim sum and the other things we would treat ourselves to when we got off the trail, and decided to start heading back towards the car. We descended the outlet of Midway Lake (which ended up being a little bit trickier than we had initially expected), and then caught the trail just past Portal. We trudged through the long, straight-ish stretch of trail towards Halfmoon and stopped to chat with two solo hikers heading the other way (the 3rd and 4th people we had seen all week). We shared our last night’s lake with two friendly guys who also volunteer with the Forest Service doing trail maintenance in the area. They seemed to know all the different parts of the trails we had passed (and had their favorite sections too) and we chatted about how nice and uncrowded this part of the Sierra is compared to some of the eastside entries. The final day of hiking felt like a slog. Justin’s blisters were feeling better but other boot problems had emerged and we started talking about burning them in a ceremonial fire when we got home (in reality, he would just return them to REI). While we hadn’t seen much wildlife during this trip, we were, on this final stretch of trail, treated to a glimpse of a California Condor soaring high above, with its distinctive white patches against black wings. Majestic.

We were so tired of salami and cheese on tortillas (we have also resolved to up our lunch game, which previously relied on carrying some fresh produce to make lunches more appealing) and ended up relying on bars to power us to the finish line. After making it back to the car, our first stop was at the Red Onion in Madera for burgers (where the staff were incredibly nice and surprised us with free soft serve after they learned we were coming out of a few days in the backcountry) before heading home. Another excellent trip, and good motivation to be better prepared and in shape for the next one!

I’m jealous in the best sort of way. Except for the blisters thing.

That is such a great area, I’ve only taken one trip there and was also struck by how quiet it was. I’ve wanted to go back and explore the basin more, your post has inspired me to plan another trip!

Sorry about the bloody blisters--what a drag. But then you made a fantastic trip out of the very best of Blackcap Basin (and great fishing!) From the sound of the day trips you guys hiked, Justin did, in fact, tough it out. I'll bet we suffered in the same bouldery cliff section of the route to Midway Lake. We had to heave dogs up it, and decided to try another route down, and there is a dead easy way down the more southerly slope that drops you in Crown Basin, just a bit south of Portal Lake.
Hope you head right back there, and on up Goddard. Since you've now seen that part of BCB, you might try to cross over via the Gunsight-Confusion Lake and Pass route. It's just great up there on the ridge! Kudos on your fine trip, Ian.

Nice report, and of course, an epic giant brookie photo. I know the "burn the boots" feeling because it reminds me of my worst ever blister experience in 2002 when both feet were bloodied and raw on both top and bottom surfaces. This was in the days of resoleable boots and I had this redoubtable pair of boots that is the only one ever to last long enough to get a 2nd resole which apparently made the boots too small. It also didn't help that on day 2 going from Ferguson Creek to Glacier Divide I developed a really bad cold and fever which caused us to pause the trip for a day at Josephine Lake. I think after that rest day we got to the point where my buddy wrapped my feet in duct tape. By the time we got to another fun off trail day going to Lion Lake and climbing Triple Divide Peak en route, my cold was gone, but the feet were a mess. On the very last day we went from a campsite along the HST to the car and one of my friends hiked out in Tevas while giving me his boots which were one size too big but were far more comfortable than my own. This resulted in two pairs of boots being disposed of after the trip: mine because I couldn't wear them again and they had tortured me as no boots ever have and his because my 8-day foot oder polluted them beyond all hope of rehab (they were in fact old and he was planning on replacing them soon anyway).

Funny about craving dim sum on the way out. In the old days Judy would start daydreaming about what she'd eat post-trip on day 1 of a long trip. More often than not, it would be steak or pizza the evening we got out. Dim sum would have certainly been on the list were it not for the fact that it's a morning thing. The one "morning after trip" meal that is done when a trip goes out of Fresno is a trip to Batter Up which is my very favorite breakfast place on Earth (last did post-trip meal there with Dawn in 2019 following an epic Clark Range off trail adventure). Bummer that neither Dawn nor Lee likes dim sum, otherwise I can see that as the next morning return meal.

I love that area. What a brookie! Thanks for the report and photos.

Nice report and photos, and a very impressive fish! I'll second Harlen's suggestion to circle around the Midway ridge to the west and south when traveling between Portal and Cathedral - it's a bit out of the way but extremely easy cross country. BTW, on USGS maps the lake next to Ram is called "Ewe", not "Eve". I suspect that name on the MapBuilder/OSM maps is just a typo.

Harlen wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2024 6:43 am Sorry about the bloody blisters--what a drag. But then you made a fantastic trip out of the very best of Blackcap Basin (and great fishing!) From the sound of the day trips you guys hiked, Justin did, in fact, tough it out. I'll bet we suffered in the same bouldery cliff section of the route to Midway Lake. We had to heave dogs up it, and decided to try another route down, and there is a dead easy way down the more southerly slope that drops you in Crown Basin, just a bit south of Portal Lake.
Hope you head right back there, and on up Goddard. Since you've now seen that part of BCB, you might try to cross over via the Gunsight-Confusion Lake and Pass route. It's just great up there on the ridge! Kudos on your fine trip, Ian.

Harlen, you're absolutely right - he did indeed tough it out! And go figure that we both missed the easy way down into Crown Basin!

We do have designs on Goddard for next year - thanks for the tip about Gunsight-Confusion, that ridge sounds lovely!

giantbrookie wrote: ↑Fri Sep 13, 2024 1:35 pm Funny about craving dim sum on the way out. In the old days Judy would start daydreaming about what she'd eat post-trip on day 1 of a long trip. More often than not, it would be steak or pizza the evening we got out. Dim sum would have certainly been on the list were it not for the fact that it's a morning thing. The one "morning after trip" meal that is done when a trip goes out of Fresno is a trip to Batter Up which is my very favorite breakfast place on Earth (last did post-trip meal there with Dawn in 2019 following an epic Clark Range off trail adventure). Bummer that neither Dawn nor Lee likes dim sum, otherwise I can see that as the next morning return meal.

It usually only takes us a day or two to start talking about all the things we'll eat when we get out - not just for a first meal but for several post-trip days of gluttony. In this case, once we got back to Oakland we got distracted from our original dim sum mission and ended up "settling" for homemade breakfast sandwiches, sushi (first lunch), Thai food including mango+sticky rice for dessert (second lunch) and roast chicken with a gigantic salad (dinner). Steak or pizza also regularly make it onto the list!

Also, tremendous thanks (and credit) are owed to giantbrookie for route and fishing advice for this trip!