Backpacking trip
Ξ December 15th, 2006 | → Comments Off | ∇ Backpacking/Hiking |
We just got back from a backpacking trip over the weekend up in Ansel Adams Wilderness. The original plan was to backpack up to Garnet Lake from Silver Lake area via the Rush Creek Trail entrance. There were 8 of us on this trip: John, Ryan, Robert, Chris, Dave, Jo, & Mark.
Day 1
I got to John’s house at about 0330 on October 8th, apparently I was the only one that knew the time. I had my wife drop me off, what a trooper for getting up that early and doing that. I unloaded my 42lbs pack. Since I was the first one there, I loaded up the pack in the back of John’s car. Dave & JO arrived a short time later and began to unpack their stuff. Next was Mark. JO informed us that one of the other guys that originally had planned on coming was no longer going to be able to make it. Ryan, Chris, & Robert arrived a little while later.
We were all on the road by about 4:15. Thanks to John’s great driving, we were in Oakdale by about 6, pretty good and fast time. We made a pit stop at the Oakdale Starbucks. Got some sandwiches and Bux coffee. We were then back on the road. As we made the southern turn off of SR120, it started to rain, it pretty much rained off and on for alittle while. We took the usual cut off up Old Priest Road that basically cuts the incline climb from 8 miles to 1.5 miles.
I had never been over Tioga Pass before and it did not dissapoint. There were some great views driving that section of Yosemite. The meadow was nice. I imagine it would look even better in the spring time, as it would probably be green. Not so different from the meadow in Yosemite valley itself. We were able to see the backside of Half Dome from one of the sections of the road. As we started to decend on the east side of the sierras, the weather had cleared up somewhat, establishing a spectacular view of the rocky barren mountain.
We took a left turn at 395 to head towards the ranger station at Lee Vining. We were there 15 minutes early, 8:45. The ranger station is perged close to Mono Lake. With the clear skies and the unrelenting wind, it offered some great views of the famed lake. We all stood around while waiting for the station to open, at 3 minutes past 9, they finally opened the door.
While Jo was getting the wilderness permit from the rangers, the rest of were emptying some unecessary packages. To lighten the load sort of speak for our impending adventures. We left the ranger station and headed for a place where we could fill up our Nalgene bottles up with water for the trek up. A cozy little restaurant was found serving breakfast. The original plan was to only to stop for a breif time and get some water. However, after realizing that this would probably be our most civilized meal for a few days we ordered some food. I ended up getting some scrambled eggs with hashbrowns and a side of toast.
It was now about 10:15 and truely it was time for us to head out to the trail. We drove south on SR395, past the entrance back towards Tioga pass. A short distance later we came upon 158, the northern entrance to the June Lake Loop. We drove past a couple lakes to the east of us. One was Grant Lake, the other was Silver Lake. As we approached Silver Lake, we were offered a great view of the impending climb. As John pointed out the cascading waterfall ahead of us, we arrived at the parking lot that would essentially be our trailhead.
There was several minutes spent unpacking, I tried to delay having to put the weight on my shoulders as long as possible. It was time to head off. Snaping a few photos while we were still energized, we were now on our way. Taking a few hard steps on the pavement made me realize, this was going to suck.
We made our way along the Rush Creek trail. The trail itself was like any typical hiking trail that I had been on before. It was about two to three feet wide. Some sections consisted of packed dirt with some baby head rocks sticking out, while others consisted of powdery sand. In the beginning, the trail was relatively flat. It went behind a full hookup campsite and started to ascend towards the waterfall that John had earlier pointed out. As we passed the campsite, the trail began a steeper incline. We began to take some short breaks as the weight of packs began to feel heavier and heavier with each step that we took up trail.
About an hour into the hike, it was somewhat discouraging, as were able to look back down the trail and see the parking lot where are our ride out was. But nonetheless we continued on. A short while later we came to a nice spot were we could regroup and snap some shots of the waterfall - it also made us feel better because the bend prevented us from seeing the parking lot.
The hike continued as the trail got a little bit steeper as well as a lot more steps. The ground was hardend with steps that must have been about a foot or more higher. My knees nearly gave out several times, and my calves were just cramping up occasionally. As we got higher and higher, the clouds started rolling in. We heard what sounded like planes, but were never able to confirm as the clouds had covered much of the sky. By this time there was light snow flakes that made the surroundings get cold very quickly.
We made a few stops as it got colder and harder to climb up the hill. At this point. I think most of realized that we were probably not going to be making Garnet lake today. The decision was basically a question of how far we were going to go. It probably had something to do with the cold, but it seemed to make us more irratable, however some were atleast able to keep our sense of humor.
The actual decision that were able to make was that we would make the call on how far we would had up the hill once we got over the crest of the climb. Basically we were expecting to be able to see over the hill and see the weather pattern that was coming in.
It seemed weird, but as we were resting, here comes two day hikers up the trail. My first thought was, am I delusional now? As these people did not really look prepared for the weather that we were already feeling, nor did I notice that they had much water on them. Oh well, I was expecting them to turn around and come back down the trail as we coninued on our way up. Well I was wrong. about thirty minutes later, still no signs of these two day hikers. Oh well, made it to the fork in the trail. on would lead us on the way to Garnet, the other would take us to Gem. The weather at this point really wasn’t letting up, it was getting quite cold.
…more to come
